The domain name is the most important thing!!!

[DancingWithPoodles]

I have been looking at the results for local search in London and Manchester and it seems that the domain name is the most important thing at the moment when ranking a website for a trades based business.

I have seen dozens of examples where a domain name with almost no links will rank higher than a better structured website with 10 times more links.


I also saw that some website can actually rank higher than the local results.

sooo strange and it looks so messy as well

 

[PrestigeShopping]

I have been looking at the results for local search in London and Manchester and it seems that the domain name is the most important thing at the moment when ranking a website for a trades based business.

I have seen dozens of examples where a domain name with almost no links will rank higher than a better structured website with 10 times more links.


I also saw that some website can actually rank higher than the local results.

sooo strange and it looks so messy as well

Coming from the Poodle who has a .webs domain :|

 

I have been looking at the results for local search in London and Manchester and it seems that the domain name is the most important thing at the moment when ranking a website for a trades based business.

I have seen dozens of examples where a domain name with almost no links will rank higher than a better structured website with 10 times more links.


I also saw that some website can actually rank higher than the local results.

sooo strange and it looks so messy as well

Having a keyword rich domain can be very powerful in the low to medium competition area's ,more so when geo targeting local towns.

Earl

 

[SEO Lady]

My first 'test' website is page 1 result 3 for the desired keywords and only went live 5 days ago, with no authority links.. it has the keyword in the domian URL.

Note: This is not aimed at local traffic though

 

[pickaweb]

Having the keyword that you are trying to target in the search results in your actual domain name can make a great difference to your position in the search engines.

 

[fisicx]

I don't have a keyword in my domain and still manage to rank on page one (worldwide) for a whole range of keywords. Agree it might be a strong ranking signal in some cases but certainly not all.

 

[r1creative]

It makes sense when you think about it because the domain name is the first thing that any search engine will see.

When setting up a website also think about the domain.

 

[ORDERED WEB]

the chrome on the bumper of a car is the most important thing

Without the road the car is usless
Without the fuel the car is useless
Without the engine the car is useless
Without a driver a car is usless

If you want a well ranked website, firstly focus your mind on a decent, high quality site, with interesting well structured relevant useful information

Ponce about worrying about domain name keywords afterwards. Seo is a vehical for getting things to your site, not the site itself

 

[beakus]

At the moment, it is definitely an advantage to having keywords in your domain. however, I am pretty sure that Matt Cutts has spoken about this and i have got the general feeling that Google will be reducing the impact of a keyword rich domain name.

If that does happen, where does that leave you? You have a domain that is not your company name, that is probably longer than ideal and is doing nothing for you.

I would always stick to a domain name that matches the company name, work hard doing SEO and get results that way.

 

[Signify_1]

At the moment, it is definitely an advantage to having keywords in your domain. however, I am pretty sure that Matt Cutts has spoken about this and i have got the general feeling that Google will be reducing the impact of a keyword rich domain name.

If that does happen, where does that leave you? You have a domain that is not your company name, that is probably longer than ideal and is doing nothing for you.

I would always stick to a domain name that matches the company name, work hard doing SEO and get results that way.

Yes but by then the OP should have already build some decent content secured some good backlinks for his keyword rich domain in which case should still rank strongly despite Google reducing weight from a keyword rich domain.

 

[Curious]

It does help a ridiculous amount though; I set up a few satellite sites for locations near us for one of our businesses. Out of interest I didn't put any links to them at all to see what would happen; and they rank well for the local terms. They do have unique content on them but I wouldn't have thought they should even be indexed in all honesty.

So we have our main domain ranking for the keyword location term but we also have the keywordlocation site as well. Which is nice.

 

[beakus]

Yes but by then the OP should have already build some decent content secured some good backlinks for his keyword rich domain in which case should still rank strongly despite Google reducing weight from a keyword rich domain.

Absolutely, but I would rather have a website which is my business name than a keyword. I also do not like sites where they use redirects from their company domain to a keyword rich domain. that is just personal preference.

 

the chrome on the bumper of a car is the most important thing

Without the road the car is usless
Without the fuel the car is useless
Without the engine the car is useless
Without a driver a car is usless

If you want a well ranked website, firstly focus your mind on a decent, high quality site, with interesting well structured relevant useful information

Ponce about worrying about domain name keywords afterwards. Seo is a vehical for getting things to your site, not the site itself

And if you buy an old banger you are not likely to go anywhere.

Earl

 

[pchealer]

What's your guys and girls opinions of sites with hyphens in?

 

[thetime22]

Domain name is 60% of the fight. Especially in yahoo.

 

[ORDERED WEB]

Domain name is 60% of the fight. Especially in yahoo.

back this up with proof

 

[scentedserendipity]

great info!! thanks!

 

[zummcreative]

I highly value the use of primary keywords in a domain name. It seems that most Search engines recognise the keyword when the domain is posted without an anchor.
This means that low quality links regardless of anchor, still attribute toward rankings for said keyword.
Bearing in mind that no-anchor links are alot easier to acquire than anchored ones, this leads a domain to acquire a great competitive advantage on the desired keyword.