Does A Keyword Domain Translate To Any SEO?
“Will a domain (i.e. ColoradoPaving.com) make my company more visible in search results than my competition?” It’s a common question and it’s based upon an uninformed view of how & why search works. Search engines, including and especially Google, have a sincere interest in satisfying every single person that searches. The reason is simple: we expect Google to give us the best answers available on the entire world wide web when we search. If not and consumers stopped visiting Google then its’ advertising business, which counts on 1 in every 10 visitors to click and Ad’, would fail. If their advertising business failed they might cease to exist.
Google, obviously, does not wish to fail. It must rely on finding then providing the best answers possible to keep people searching and, if so, their advertising business can work. Google can never simply rank a ‘keyword domain name’ high when serving results up for a search. Unless a website located at that keyword domain (i.e. NJLawyer.com) offers some of the best answers to a search how could it possibly satisfy the consumers, needs?
Focus On Answers & Information, Never A Domain!
In fact a business can certainly succeed without a keyword based domain. It is a web presence, based upon the merit of its’ content, that succeeds. According to Matt Cutts (video above) a keyword based domain can matter, but not unless many other factors are in play. So while he admits the Google algorithm may place some weight [e.g. maybe it is 1 of 200+ ranking signals] on a keyword domain when ranking competitive websites & pages he also explains:
- While it may support rank some, there is no guarantee it will even be used as a competitive signal. The goal is always to rank a website and its’ pages based upon the content. Rank uses popularity/ measured use of the content, relevant back-links to it, social references and so much more.
- While a domain is highly brand- able and not necessarily always keyword based, (i.e. Yahoo, Amazon, etc.), it is always the content and measure- able reaction to it that separates a ‘keyword domain’ from a random one in search results.
So if you have a good keyword based domain – use it!, BUT place the effort and focus on building a website that consistently delivers content good enough to get measurable interest from people looking for good answers!
Post re- published form its original date: 08 / 01 / 2011
