Exact Keywords Domain name
-
Hello everyone!,
I would love to have your opinion on this matter.
I am working on a company e-commerce site; these guys would like to change their domain name AND their company name, so the most logical thing that came to mind was to name the domain after the company name. However, they also bought in the past a domain that have the exact keyword they would like to rank for.
I know that keywords in the URL are not as important as they used to be in the past, but nonetheless when I do a Google search for those keywords, 3 domains out of 10 on the first page are slight variations of those same keywords, meaning that they might have a really good domain name (also the other result are government, medical stuff and so on). And, no matter how many times I have read that keywords in the URL are not so important anymore, I still see a lot of sites ranking also because of their domain name (well at least outside the US)
So, my question here is: would it be better for them to use the exact match keyword-domain name or should they use their company name for their new site? Or some sort combination of the two? (the keyword-domain that in some way points also to the brand domain).
Thanks for your opinions on this; really appreciate it!
Cheers
-
Am guessing the easier way out of things is just to say build a blog, which in a sense means more content, fresh content, involvement from the company and maybe new links. It also allows you to attract new keywords.. so blog is not such a bad idea. I just hope that you could find more people that would devote their time on their content and website rather than just say "ohh I have an seo to do that, he does everything and we don't wanna get involved"
but yes there is tens of other things other than a blog that are more important..
-
eheheheh I like your thinking
-
---> SEO's often say "build a blog" blah, blah, blah. If you believe you'll have a 'following' with your blog, or if you believe you can create 'compelling' content on an ongoing basis that is related to what your site is about, and if you can create unique (no duplicate) content on a regular basis... go for it. If not; don't waste your time.
Recently I heard an SEO 'Content Representative' for an SEO company advise a small local oil pipe fabrication company to build a blog... Well, I could have advised 10+ considerably more important things they should have been doing that would have been much more important at bringing in targeted traffic than starting a blog, for almost no one who could care less
-
Hi Andy,
thanks a lot for your answers
I see what you mean, and the geo modifier thing makes sense actually. Just out of curiosity what would be the reason behind your using a blog on an ecommerce? I mean, a useful blog helps users and create brand awareness but as a consequence it brings in links, likes, retweets and all this stuff
Thanks again
Elio
-
"If they are good sites I don’t see why Google should penalize them just because of their domain name"
"If they made a really good site, would the domain name still be a problem? "
---> Google has done this to a good number of 'good sites'."a blog would make more sense on their main site because it would attract links."
---> that would not be the reason I'd create a blog.
---> I wouldn't bother using the kw rich domain name if you choose to go with a brand name domain name.- my name is Andy Kuiper, andykuiper.com ranks #1 for most (and in the top 4 for the rest) SEO related search terms in Edmonton 'and' Calgary Canada. (each city is 1 million+ population). "andykuiper" clearly isn't a commercial kw... I think you might be putting too much emphasis on the kw
* and - just reading the comment posted above, if you add a geo modifier to the KW, you're "unlikely" to have an issue with Google
It wouldn't be an EMD, and Google (so far) has been pretty good about not giving a hard time to domain names that contain KW's and 'city name' (as an example) URL's
- my name is Andy Kuiper, andykuiper.com ranks #1 for most (and in the top 4 for the rest) SEO related search terms in Edmonton 'and' Calgary Canada. (each city is 1 million+ population). "andykuiper" clearly isn't a commercial kw... I think you might be putting too much emphasis on the kw
-
I was reading a few things here and there and came across a couple of interesting things.
Here, Casey Meraz’s contribution doesn’t seem to go against EMDs…at least for local searches (but that would not be a problem since it would be a local ecommerce).
On the other hand according to the searchmetrics’ white paper ranking report, keywords in URL have a negative effect …if I’m getting it right……
-
Hello everyone and thanks for your opinions
Very much appreciated!
So, the specific keyword itself would bring a decent amount of traffic, but I totally agree that the company name should communicate something and not just be a keyword name (and it is also common sense if they want their site to be part of their overall marketing strategy). From an SEO perspective, I also sense that having exact keyword domain names might be a problem in the future, but there are two things that still puzzle me:
1) If they are good sites I don’t see why Google should penalize them just because of their domain name. And this is also true for those guys. If they made a really good site, would the domain name still be a problem? I am not saying that keyword-domain-name sites are necessarily good, but they could be….
2) If they chose to go for a unique brand name domain, would the keyword domain name (they already own it) still good for something? I mean, like a company blog, and I know that private networks are evil, but a simple link from that site would be SO bad? But then again, a blog would make more sense on their main site because it would attract links.
Baffling stuff….
Thanks again you all for your contribution
Elio
-
---> ..."dynamically generated string of random characters" instead of targeted kw's in URL's
ack! - I definitely wouldn't do that
-
Been thinking about this lately for our situation. We are revamping a major section of our site and are considering a URL structure that no longer includes a targeted keyword but rather a dynamically generated string of random characters. As much as I tell my colleagues that URLs aren't the ranking factor that they once were, I'm finding it hard to leave the old URL structure behind.
Mike
-
The 2 answers you have received are dead on - whatever you do, I wouldn't create an exact match domain name period. You're likely asking for trouble down the road if you do that. Partial match domain names are much safer. As for the company name - I wouldn't bother trying to create a company name with the intention of making it 'work'; as a domain name
Andy
-
Hi there,
This is a long disputed question in the search marketing community, the answer of which depends not only on how different search engines treat keywords in your domain name, or URL, but also the size of your advertising budget, and other factors.
While it may be true that search engines take into account keywords in your domain name, it’s important to consider how much traffic that will really get you in the long run. At the time of this writing, domain names have become quite sparse, and the odds of registering a domain name that also has high search volume for its keywords is slim.
3 tips to choosing your domain name:
- Easy to Remember – your domain name should be catchy, simple, and easy to remember. Remember that people will need to type in your domain name. You should therefore take into account potential misspellings and keep it short to avoid typos.
- Makes Sense – you want your domain name to make sense, to reflect what it is you do. Since you haven’t had the money or time to make people understand what yabaloo.com means – you will need to create a name that makes sense right off the bat without having spent money on branding. An example would be bluewidgets.com – your customer automatically expects to find blue widgets.
- **.COM – **ideally (unless you live outside the United States), you’ll want to register a .com (dot com) domain name, because that’s what people default to when typing in a domain name. Additionally, it helps to avoid hyphens if possible.
Hope it helps you.
-
They way you are thinking is something that has bothered the community for more than a decade. Yes, you are actually right that keyword based domain names are ranking higher than non-keyword based. Most likely over time this will change. Something that I always seen with Google is that they are trying to implement changes slowly (meaning that over time these keyword based domain would most likely fade away).
But if you look at the issue at a marketing prospective does this client only want to rank for one keyword? Y/N?
- Yes: then go for it! if this eCommerce will not be targeting now or in the future other keywords then stick to a keyword based domain
- No: if you have a lot of different products and you are looking to rank for different keywords, its better to build a brand name for your company by having a brand name oriented domain name!
I tend to focus to the brandability of the domain name (short,catchy, .com, etc) rather than the keyword focus, UNLESS we you are going to target an extremely competitive keyword which by it self could bring tons of traffic!
Some articles worth reading are:
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-your-domain-name-will-impact-seo-social-media-marketing/
http://www.motocms.com/blog/marketing/10-tips-choosing-domain-name/
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Search results performance affected by similarly named Adult business?!
Hey This is an unusual one I guess and one we've scratched our heads on for ages without reaching any definitive answer, so would be very grateful to the Moz community for some thought and guidance! Client website: https://www.themassagerooms.com This is a professionally run, therapeutic health business offering on-demand ("mobile", ie visiting customers at their homes) massage service. Importantly, please note again (you'll see why in a minute) the exact URL and the fact that this business, our client, is a registered therapeutic health and wellness business (ie it is genuine, real, massage services). The business has been around for about 10 years and used to rank very highly for many dream keywords for their industry. However, several years ago they got approached by a domain reseller offer to sell them "massagerooms.com" (ie the same name but without the "The" at the beginning) for a few thousand pounds. They rejected the offer. Interesting Aside: This happened a short while before the Facebook movie was launched ... if they'd seen that movie perhaps they would have accepted! (Facebook was originally called The Facebook but then one of the key investors advised them to drop the "The"! Anyway, unfortunately for them, that offered domain name (massagerooms.com) was then sold to an online adult video services company. Soon after, themassagerooms.com rankings started to suffer. Today, TheMassageRooms.com have a technically very clean site (great scores on Google LightSpeed etc), with regularly updated relevant health and wellness content. They are doing ok in terms of rankings but no where near as well as many of their competitors who on the face of it seem to have significantly worse on and off-page scores as well as many spammy links. Also, TheMassageRooms.com have a much better Moz DA then those competitors that are ranking better. The big question is whether the existence of an adult services website, MassageRooms.com with such a similar name is causing them issues in search results? Especially since many people (regular customers and even their own staff), do search for TheMassageRooms (ie the therapeutic health and wellness company) by only typing "massage rooms". So, there is a clear argument for saying "The Massage Rooms" = "Massage Rooms" in many respects, even through the two URLs which match these exact terms lead to very different businesses. Of course, one solution, might be to change the URL and 301 redirect everything. But would that actually make a difference if the actual issue is that Google's algorithm is somehow connected "MassageRooms.com" (adult site) with "TheMassageRooms.com" (our client's health and wellness site). Also it seems a bit drastic to ask them to change a 10 year established brand name etc.
Algorithm Updates | | AmerTMR0 -
Should plural keyword variations get their own targeted pages?
I am in the middle of changing a website from targeting just a single keyword on all pages to instead having each page target its own keyword/phrase. However, I'm a little conflicted on whether or not plural forms and other suffix (-ing) variations are different enough to get their own pages. SERP show different results for each keyword searched. Also, relevancy reports for the keywords score some differently and some the same. Is it best to instead use these as secondary and third level keywords on the same page as the main keyword for a page? See example below: OPTION A (Use each for different pages): Page 1 - Construction Fence Page 2 - Construction Fences Page 3 - Construction Fencing Page 4 - Construction Site Fence Page 5 - Construction Site Fences Page 6 - Construction Site Fencing ... OPTION B (Use as variations on same page): Page 1 - Construction Fence, Construction Fences, Construction Fencing Page 2 - Construction Site Fence, Construction Site Fences, Site Construction Fencing ... Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | pac-cooper0 -
Keywords in Footer
Do keywords in the footer carry the same weight as keywords on the rest of the page? Should we avoid having some keywords in the footer?
Algorithm Updates | | bloomnation0 -
Sub-domains and keyword rich domains
Hello All I'm hoping for some opinions as i am confused as to the best action for me to take. The problem:
Algorithm Updates | | jonny512379
Although i say the below, we have never been penalised by Google, not taken part in any bad link building and don't do too bad with SERP. but i worry Google may not like what i do these days. We have one main site that is broken down into areas/cities (i,e London, Manchester, etc) so the domain looks like www.domain.co.uk/London But in addition to this we also use Sub-domains to target popular areas (i,e. http://London.domain.co.uk).
These sub-domains take the content from the main site but of course only display results relevant to London and are optimised for "London + Keyword"
Any page that gets duplicated (i.e London.domain.co.uk/profile123 and www.domain.co.uk/profile123 are ALMOST the same content) we add a rel="canonical" link that points to the main domain+page on www.
All these sites have a large amount of links back to www.domain.co.uk/?Page so the user can also search in other areas other then London, etc. This method has worked well for us and is popular with both users and Google search results. All sites/sub-domains are added to GWT under the same account and all sites have unique sitemaps. I do however worry that Google may class this as link manipulation owing to the amount of links pointing back to the main domain and its pages (this is not the reason we use the sub-domains though) In addition to the above sub-domains we have a few domain names (5/6) that are keyword rich that we also place the same content on (i,e www.manchester-keyword.co.uk would show only content relevant to Manchester), and again these sites have links back to the main domain, so users can navigate other areas of the UK. I worry that these additional domains may also not be liked by Google What do people think? I have started to reduce/replace some of the additional keyword rich domains with sub-domains from the main site and then 301 the keyword rich domain (i.e. www.manchester-Keyword.co.uk now goes to http://Manchester.domain.co.uk) as i feel sub-domains may not be penalised as much as unique domains are.
There are domains that i dont really want to 301 as they bring in good amounts of traffic and users have bookmarked them, etc. Any opinions or what you think i should do would be great, as i really worry that if Google stops giving us good results, i'm in real trouble. Although im not sure if what we do is wrong with Google or not.0 -
How did a competitor's brand name get in google's related search list?
When doing a google search for the term "ulster county real estate" the related search list at the bottom of the serp includes 7 obviously related search terms and 1 brand name of a competitor. (see attachment) The competitor doesn't rank for this term organically at all yet he enjoys a link on the first page with those of us that do by being in the related search list? I don't get it. Anyone know how something like this happens? Innhs.png
Algorithm Updates | | jhogan801 -
Do we need to worry about where our domain is hosted anymore?does it make a difference anymore?
I went to a really interesting conference last week and one of the speakers who has been working in the SEO industry for 15 years now said that it doesn't make a difference anymore ranking wise. I would like to see what the community thinks on this subject? Thanks Ari
Algorithm Updates | | dublinbet0 -
Keyword rich domains sliding fast
I decided not to worry too much about the statements from google indicating that they were going to consider key word rich domains as a negative for ranking since any of the sites I work on that have them are totally relevant to the content on the sites. However, since recent Google algorithm updates I see these domains have suddenly slid from top 3 positions to page 4 or beyond in Google SERP's. Nothing has changed on these sites in the intervening time and no change is evident in Bing or Yahoo SERP's. Is it just my imagination, or are others seeing the same thing for keyword rich domains? and has anyone yet determined the best way to deal with this problem?
Algorithm Updates | | ShaMenz0 -
If a page one result for a keyword is mostly directories, do I have a chance to rank for this keyword?
I feel like although directories carry a lot of weight and links, I'd think that my client would be able to gain a top position, since none of the others are competitor pages, nor are the directories engaging.
Algorithm Updates | | randallseo0