Should my Domain Contain My Keywords?
I have two very simple answers to the above question. First off if you are going to start a new business, and you have not registered a domain name, then I would suggest you register a domain name that has your keywords in it. I would recommend separating multiple keywords with hyphens. The reason that it is a good idea is because when people link to you in a natural manner, they may put your domain as the anchor text. If you have the keywords in your domain, then your anchor text will be guaranteed to be your keywords.
I like to use Hotels.com as my example. This site ranks in the first position for the word hotels. May I add that the word Hotels is one of the most competitive, highly searched terms on the Internet. The reason they rank this high is because most people link to them with hotels.com as the anchor text. This guarantees them that their anchor text on links contains the word hotels. By registering a domain with your keywords in it, this guarantees the anchor text in all links to your site has the keywords in it that you desire.
Google gives no preference to sites with the keywords in their domain. What I mean is, just because you have the keywords in your domain, does not make Google or any other search engine think your site is more relevant. That's where content and links serve a purpose. Just because you don't have the keywords in your domain does not mean you can't rank well for keywords. It only means that when people naturally link to you, they may not have the anchor text you want. The link is still valuable.
We can prove this with my site http://www.article-submission-express.com. So far all the links that I have obtained to my website contain the key words article submissions. I rank on page 11 with the phrase article submissions, however article submission which is in my domain is not one of my ranking keywords at this point in time. My focus is to do one keyword at a time, even though most of the gurus recommend several keywords at a time. I follow the human principle, that we can only succeed if we focus on one thing at a time. I feel that concentrating my focus on one keyword at a time will allow me to eventually achieve all rankings that I want for each keyword.
So to conclude my article, if you already registered your domain, that is fantastic. Leave that domain exacly as is. Do not go out and get another domain because your domain doesn't have keywords in it. If you do this you could even get your site penalized if Google sees the same content on the two domains. They have duplicate content filters, which is why my article submission methods are so effective. Just stick to that domain and do things like article submission to a bunch of directories with your keywords in the anchor text. These are all one way links that will only help you, and you set the anchor text.
I like to use Hotels.com as my example. This site ranks in the first position for the word hotels. May I add that the word Hotels is one of the most competitive, highly searched terms on the Internet. The reason they rank this high is because most people link to them with hotels.com as the anchor text. This guarantees them that their anchor text on links contains the word hotels. By registering a domain with your keywords in it, this guarantees the anchor text in all links to your site has the keywords in it that you desire.
Google gives no preference to sites with the keywords in their domain. What I mean is, just because you have the keywords in your domain, does not make Google or any other search engine think your site is more relevant. That's where content and links serve a purpose. Just because you don't have the keywords in your domain does not mean you can't rank well for keywords. It only means that when people naturally link to you, they may not have the anchor text you want. The link is still valuable.
We can prove this with my site http://www.article-submission-express.com. So far all the links that I have obtained to my website contain the key words article submissions. I rank on page 11 with the phrase article submissions, however article submission which is in my domain is not one of my ranking keywords at this point in time. My focus is to do one keyword at a time, even though most of the gurus recommend several keywords at a time. I follow the human principle, that we can only succeed if we focus on one thing at a time. I feel that concentrating my focus on one keyword at a time will allow me to eventually achieve all rankings that I want for each keyword.
So to conclude my article, if you already registered your domain, that is fantastic. Leave that domain exacly as is. Do not go out and get another domain because your domain doesn't have keywords in it. If you do this you could even get your site penalized if Google sees the same content on the two domains. They have duplicate content filters, which is why my article submission methods are so effective. Just stick to that domain and do things like article submission to a bunch of directories with your keywords in the anchor text. These are all one way links that will only help you, and you set the anchor text.
About the Author:
Brent Sweet is an expert on SEO. Brent has recently started various sites to test methods recommended in training by the SEO "gurus." Brent has separated out the several functions to find out what methods work the best. If you would like to being promoting your site like his sites simply visit his site for Article Submission. You can also follow his actions at hisSEO Blog
