Importance of keywords in domain names.

[pinxer]

This topic was discussed a little bit in my previous thread and has me thinking more about it.

Does it make a difference to have your keyword in your domain or URL?

From my personal experience, when Google indexes a site, it definitely favors a site with a descriptive domain. I've tested this with a site i created a few weeks ago... loanmodmortgage.com.

With the keyword "LOAN MOD MORTGAGE", Google indexed this site easily within the first page without any content. With added content, as of yesterday, I am number 1....applause..high five! It's not a competitive keyword but who cares,... This example demonstrates that keywords in domain does make a difference and is the fastest way to get SE's to favor a website.

What are your guys thought on the matter.

[AugustaREGroup]

I thought that too.. I would be interested to see what your site does in the next few months. Recently I had a website that had all my keywords in it (Augusta real estate investing). I quickly was on the 5-6 page after a few days.. Added some content, and went to number 1 (After a month or two)

Then posted 2-3 blog posts... (not saying this is related, but mentioned that I continued to add content in the form of blogs).. and my traffic increased, and I fell to page 2 (after 3 months)

So who knows.

[Discover Davis Homes]

There will be people who tell you it does but just think about sites that rank well where the URL has nothing to do with keywords they are targeting - also if the domain name was so important - wouldn't that mean that sites would only rank for specific terms?
Pick a name, design a good site and then optimize for whatever terms you are trying for. You gotta give up on that domain you wrote about in the other thread - it will only cause you trouble later. Real Estate agents KNOW all about this - for the most part realtor can not be used in a domain name - we probably all know people that this has been a problem for. Trust us on this.

[pinxer]

..think about sites that rank well where the URL has nothing to do with keywords they are targeting..

Thats my question. The importance of keywords in domain names.

Loanmodmortgage.com happens to have the keyword "LOAN MOD MORTGAGE." My targeted keywords are "loan modification" and "mortgage loan modification". After many hours optimizing my site, I should achieve favorable rankings under both keywords.

anyways,..How much harder does one have to work on their link building to achieve the equivalence of a optimized domain name?

Would it take just one mediocre link? A dozen low quality links? Who knows, thats what i'm trying to figure out..

perhaps this is something i should do a test on.. But If I'm sure with one thing, it is that a keyword stuffed domain name gets a head start among others.

[Discover Davis Homes]

So what if it gets a head start - in the long run it doesn't matter - it is the authority of the domain that's important.

Don't really think it takes that much more work. All I know is you will likely regret using a domain name that in any way implies google.

[pinxer]

So what if it gets a head start - in the long run it doesn't matter - it is the authority of the domain that's important.

Don't really think it takes that much more work. All I know is you will likely regret using a domain name that in any way implies google.

Ok I guess your right...

I'm starting a new thread on the benefits of keyword stuffed domains.

[Ron Tarvin]

So what if it gets a head start - in the long run it doesn't matter - it is the authority of the domain that's important.

Don't really think it takes that much more work. All I know is you will likely regret using a domain name that in any way implies google.

I guess if you are ambitious and want to start new sites every couple of weeks that get that big bang out of the gate that would work...but who has time for that!?

I must have missed the part about implied GOOGLE.

[Discover Davis Homes]

Yeah, Abe has a domain name that has google in it - trying to convince him it's not worth using.

[jamesww]

Keywords in a domain name help but it is not necessary. If you have keywords in the domain you will have to do less work for that keyword to stay at the top of SERPs. It is a huge plus in Yahoo and a lesser positive in Google. I will look for the video again but their is a clip of Matt Cutts being asked if Google cares about keywords being in the domain name and he responded "yes, because it matters to end users." Now does this mean we should run out and get a keyword heavy domain for every keyword we are trying to rank for, no. But, if there is a major keyword that gets a substantial amount of traffic in your market it makes sense to have a domain name with that keyword in it. I still do not understand why this is up for so much debate there exists tons of evidence that keywords in the domain help in fact it probably has the second most evidence for assiting in rankings second only to link building.

In conclusion does it help to have keywords in the domain absolutely is it a necessity, no. Some will be of the opinion that a domain that allows one to build a brand is more important than the added benefit to rankings one gets from the keywords in the domain. That argument has merit. The argument that keywords in the domain are not helpful does not.

[Phoenix]

I personally love having KW's in my domains!

Yep, it's a brainless effort to rank #1 for your domain name, in fact, if you are not #1 for your domain name you're doing something horribly wrong. LOL

My very first SiteLinks came from the search for Phoenix Homes via Google. Have had many more KWP return SiteLinks since then, but it sure is nice to see your very first set (even though I got them the easy way). Even my newest acquisition ScottsdaleHomes.com is showing SiteLinks now and again and I've only owned that domain for about a year.