Domain Name vs SEO

[ibz75]

I have been reading the SEO forum with some interest. I am still trying to get my head around the principles and have a quick question:

If I had a website called abc123_co_uk and someone entered ‘abc123’ in google, would my site automatically show as #1 ?

Or could someone with a website called xyz345_co_uk optimise their site for the term ‘abc123’ and rank higher?

In a battle of SEO which one would untimely win?

In summary, is it better to have your desired key word in the domain name (if available) rather than have a fancy domain name and optimise it for a specific key word(s).

 

[WebU]

Having your keyword in the domain certainly helps, but does not guarantee page one. Google weighs hundreds of other factors as well as the domain name.

 

[robertt]

IMHO buy the best domain name you can - I am not talking £50-100 reg fee style names.

 

[DesignerNick]

I have been reading the SEO forum with some interest. I am still trying to get my head around the principles and have a quick question:

If I had a website called abc123_co_uk and someone entered ‘abc123’ in google, would my site automatically show as #1 ?

Or could someone with a website called xyz345_co_uk optimise their site for the term ‘abc123’ and rank higher?

In a battle of SEO which one would untimely win?

In summary, is it better to have your desired key word in the domain name (if available) rather than have a fancy domain name and optimise it for a specific key word(s).

It does make things a lot easier, but be sure not to use any trademarks!

 

[newsvend]

On a pure SEO level, a domain with your keyword in it, and little or nothing else, will do better than one that doesn't, ALL OTHER FACTORS BEING EQUAL.

And we are talking a decent TLD like .com or .co.uk

However if you have a budget and vision large enough, you can often achieve a better all round result with a good brand. A brand ( i.e. Amazon,Yahoo,Google) is easier to trademark than a generic term i.e cheapbooks and offers more interesting marketing possibilities.

 

[Codefixer]

Having keywords in your domain name will help for SEO, there's no doubt about that particularly if you get links from other sites with your domain name in them.

Nevertheless I wouldn't go for a domain name based solely on your SEO keywords.

What happens in the future if Google turn the dial down on keyword rich domains?

Also for branding purposes and other advertising opportunites a keyword domain name might look poor.

I would use the company name.

You can place the services you offer services into the url structure of your company name based URL.

A keyword rich domain might be an idea if you want to build a satelite site that targets a major keyword that you chase.

 

[DesignerNick]

On a pure SEO level, a domain with your keyword in it, and little or nothing else, will do better than one that doesn't, ALL OTHER FACTORS BEING EQUAL.

And we are talking a decent TLD like .com or .co.uk

However if you have a budget and vision large enough, you can often achieve a better all round result with a good brand. A brand ( i.e. Amazon,Yahoo,Google) is easier to trademark than a generic term i.e cheapbooks and offers more interesting marketing possibilities.

It is a lot harder with a brand though. If my brand was "superwoosh.com" and I sold used cars. It would be a lot harder to rank for used cars in Google than if I had usedcars.com.

 

[newsvend]

It is a lot harder with a brand though

Oh yes, I agree. It's hard to create a successful brand. Though creating a brand is more appropriate in some sectors than others, i.e. fashion. Superdry or CoolFashion.com / Tshirts.com / Knickers.com ?

 

[DesignerNick]

Oh yes, I agree. It's hard to create a successful brand. Creating a brand is also better in some sectors than others, i.e. fashion. Superdry or CoolFashion.com / Tshirts.com / Knickers.com ?

I agree with that

I guess it depends on your type of business

 

[MASSEY]

i dont think it can turn the dial down on the power of exact match.

Part of the reason the meta description has been de-valued is people were trying to optimise for other companies in a hope of stealing business.

If the get rid of the power of exact match it will cause them headache when they get "why is he ranking for my company name stealing my customers", thats my take on it anyway.

 

What happens in the future if Google turn the dial down on keyword rich domains?

Also for branding purposes and other advertising opportunites a keyword domain name might look poor.

I would use the company name.

.

An H bomb may drop on you in the future,but at this moment in time keyword rich domains have a big advantage in ranking.

A websites URL is of very little importance to the general public,its the company name they will remember.

The URL extension has no effect on ranking according to Google.

Earl

 

[bdw]

I think keywords included in domain names and URLs are very important. If you want evidence all you have to do is look at the results of many Google searches.

I thought I would chose a term at random to see if I could illustrate this. The first thing that came into my head was "green shoes" so I googled it.

Have a look at the list of results paying particular attention to the words that Google has bolded. Note how many of these include the words green or shoes in the domain name or URL. Note also the website in the number one position.

.

 

[Codefixer]

I don't think anyone disputes the importance and ranking benefits of a keyword rich domain.

Keyword rich domains are usually limiting. Most websites offer more than 1 service or product.

For example greenshoes might work very well for greenshoes, but what if they wanted to rank for accessories that they sold such as handbags. Admittedly they could go greenshoes.co.uk/handbags in the url structure, but it looks a bit strange IMHO.

I have a number of keyword rich domains that have their place and work well, though in most cases I wouldn't use one of these to promote my main business.

 

[bdw]

greenshoesandhandbags.co.uk?

 

[MASSEY]

Well today i have woke up to find i am outranking exact match url's of competitors.

If you look here you will see my site in #2 and the exact match in number 3.

Its down to high page rank links and a good volume of them.

Im pretty proud of myself

 

[nitro23456]

there has been some research that suggests that if you have your keywords in your address (not just the domain) such as domain.com/keywords.htm it carries more importance than if it is solely in your description tag.

obvioulsy it would be better to have it in both

 

[MASSEY]

there has been some research that suggests that if you have your keywords in your address (not just the domain) such as domain.com/keywords.htm it carries more importance than if it is solely in your description tag.

obvioulsy it would be better to have it in both

Having keywords in your description makes no odds.

It does help to have the html page saved as keywords you can tell that just by looking at results pages.

 

[nitro23456]

Having keywords in your description makes no odds.

What have you been smoking this evening MASSEY?

the 'Birmingham Electricians' that matches in bold from your sites search below is from your description tag mate.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=e...ectrician&meta=&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

 

[nitro23456]

an even better example for your site is:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=vss&q=birmingham+houses+as+little+as+%C2%A31500&meta=&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

that is from your description tag as in your actual content you use the word 'properties' not 'houses'

 

[bdw]

Having keywords in your description makes no odds.

the 'Birmingham Electricians' that matches in bold from your sites search below is from your description tag mate.

Google may highlight keyword text that it finds in description fields but it does not use them for ranking.

This can be easily proven by searching for a unique string of description text enclosed in quotes. "Please call Chris on 0121 429 1586 for more info." note that while there are results for this none are from the website in question.

 

[nitro23456]

Yes, this is what we are told via webmaster tools and google.

Indeed in an example where we look at the description in isolation this does seem to be the case, but when terms in the description reinforce some of the terms in the title it does make a difference.

I had a client who had, lets say, 'Brown Horses & White Sheep' in their title & in the description only 'horses and sheep' (ie without the brown and the white). When the description was updated to include 'brown and white' their positions jumped up a few places for such searches. No other changes were made.

The plot thickens.

Moral of the story is..... you should pay attention to your description anyway....why not?..... if nothing else it will help clickthrough.

 

[MASSEY]

What have you been smoking this evening MASSEY?

the 'Birmingham Electricians' that matches in bold from your sites search below is from your description tag mate.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=e...ectrician&meta=&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Ok nitro.........

This is what i like doing on here catching seo's out its fun

Im going to remove that term from my meta description ok.

Goggle that term in 7 days from now , the "birmingham electricians" wont be their and the site will still be in position 2.

I only put it in the description as it makes sense to add it their for users when they are skim reading.

You can give me a high pr link for free for teaching you something.

 

[nitro23456]

Ok cool.

I never said your position is down to the fact that it is in your description. Its in your title (and URL) and has obvious effect there. I am merely pointing out that from my recent experiences, words in the description reinforce what is in the title if they match.

Your never going to score from your description alone, I didn't say that.

I have had a fair few clients where a few words in the description have reinforced whats in the title and helped their position. You need both. This is my observation My original post was saying that the URL is more important than the description i.e. title>URL>Description.

Now the 'keywords' tag is a waste of time google-wise but its still good practice to fill it correctly for other engines. The description tag needs proper attention as it is human nature to opt for sites where the eye sees a lot of bold highlighted.

I stand by my observations

there was something on hoboweb saying something similar, can't find the blasted article now!

 

Here is some double dutch from Google:-

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/09/improve-snippets-with-meta-description.html

Earl

 

[bdw]

Yes, this comes up on a regular basis. Here's the telling statement ...

And it's worth noting that while accurate meta descriptions can improve clickthrough, they won't affect your ranking within search results.

 

Yes, this comes up on a regular basis. Here's the telling statement ...

As I said double dutch.

Earl

 

[nitro23456]

Yes, this comes up on a regular basis. Here's the telling statement ...

Thats what they're telling you. I have recently observed something different. Thats all Im saying.

 

[MASSEY]

Thats what they're telling you. I have recently observed something different. Thats all Im saying.

Dont tell me when you make the statement "i do things that no body else does"

That the meta description is one of them

 

[nitro23456]

might be might not be that would be telling you'll be asking me how I pleasure my wife next.

 

[bdw]

There are millions of people in the world who claim to know the secret to just about all the world's mysteries. What they all have in common is their refusal to reveal it.

 

[dagaul101]

It is better to have your desired keyword in the domain name for better optimisation, but saying that just having your keyword url as abcde dot com and someone searching for exactly abcde may not always see your site as the top result, if the term abcde is being heavily searched for, then many other factors could come into play, such as number of backlinks, age of site, age of backlinks, reputation of backlinks e.t.c could play a major factor in placing a site without abcde in its domain ahead of your site

 

[richlaff]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]However the reality is that many sites will simply link to you by using your domain name as the text link, obviously a link won' be that much effective as the one which contains keywords. So in such a case domain names with keywords are beneficial.

[/FONT]

 

There are millions of people in the world who claim to know the secret to just about all the world's mysteries. What they all have in common is their refusal to reveal it.

Just waiting for the right deal.:|

Earl