Keywords in a Domain Name – The Catalyst of SEO Process

Having keywords in the domain names plays the same role as a catalyst does in a chemical reaction. Although, in the modern SEO, just the keywords in the domain names is not all about the SEO. It merely means that the keywords in a domain name, make the SEO process happen at much faster rate than under the normal circumstances. One would still need to strictly follow the routine SEO practices in order to get the maximum out of the SEO process. If it was just the domain name that matters then having a successful SEO would simply meant choosing a keyword rich domain name. But, in that case the spammers would have had a great time. It is very tricky to design a site that both search engines and the customers are going to like. Choosing the right domain name for the website name is no exception. searchenginewatch.com , searchengineguide.com, seochat.com, seo-usa.org, seo-london.com, seo.com, are good search engine-friendly domain names which all have the keyword rich domain names with great branding value. These all are also ranked on the first page of Google for their very competitive keywords selection. Having said the keywords in the domain names work as a catalyst in the SEO process, their benefits are indirect. Below is a brief description of some of the major indirect benefits:Benefits of Keyword Rich Domain Names:

  1. SEO friendly Inbound Links

Links play an important role in the SEO and having the anchor text containing your keywords is what everyone wants. Domain names with keywords tend to create SEO friendly inbound links as many people link to your website through your domain name.

Other than domain names, use keywords in titles, filenames, logos and taglines because many people will link to you using these elements as well.

  1. Better Click Through Rate (CTR)

Keywords in a domain name lets you get a better Click Through Rate (CTR) because when people conduct a search, Google tends to highlight the words found in the domain names which match the search query. So these domain names tend to build up the confidence of the searcher that they are on the right track, and thus give your site a better CTR.

  1. Instant and Clear Definition of Business

Another benefit of having a keyword rich domain is that it defines your business clearly. However while choosing the keywords for your domain name, it is advised not to use very long domain names as it only hurts your SEO visibility and the brand name. In my opinion, three words with two hyphens is the maximum in a domain name one should go for. www.seo-consultant-specialist.com is an seo friendly domain name with good branding value but online-seo-consultant-specialist-expert.com looks like a spam.

  1. Search Engine’s Favor

Search engines assume that sites having keywords in a domain name are more relevant, so they generally put them on the top of a search return. So, if you use keywords in your domain names, and follow other SEO techniques you will definitely get an edge over other domains in search results. Who Should not use the Keyword-Rich Domain Names: The domain names of existing companies are better off when the company’s name is used in the domain name than a keyword describing it. Like Nike gets better traffic with a domain name with Nike.com, and not BestSportsShoes.com. This is obvious because people would know and refer to these shoes more with Nike, than the best sports shoes and tend to use the brand name when conducting searches. Same would be the case with other existing top brand websites. Hyphenated Vs. Underscored Domain Names: It is always better to register both the hyphenated and unhyphenated versions of domain names to safeguard the brand. The competitors may grab the other version and get it registered in their name if only one version was registered. It is generally better to use hyphens instead of underscores for separating words in the URLs. This is not only due to the fact that Google recommends it, but also the underscores are harder to read as the URLs are mostly underlined. It would be interesting to read Matt Cutts Blog about Dashes Vs. Hyphens .

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10 Responses to “Keywords in a Domain Name – The Catalyst of SEO Process”

  1. Egor says:

    Hi there was searching Google for Benefits Of Search Engine Optimization and your blog regarding Keywords in a Domain Name – The Catalyst of SEO Process looks really interesting for me. I will definitely bookmark it and come back for more cool postings to read! Cheers!

  2. web hosting says:

    web hosting…

    A domain name that has nothing to do with the content. A title that has nothing to do with the domain name….

  3. Wow! Thank you very much!
    I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?
    Of course, I will add backlink?

    Regards, Reader

  4. Good resource and well written post on seo, which unlike a lot of sites i have seen, this one makes sense. I still cannot work out search engine optimisation as google seems to change it every other day.

  5. Viasleple says:

    Your site displays incorrectly in Mozilla, but content excellent! Thanks for your wise words:)

  6. admin says:

    It is fixed now. Thanks.

  7. seo says:

    The keywords in the domain only assist.

  8. again a good article from you about seo..keep it up Sir.

  9. I enjoyed your post on Keywords in a Domain Name – The Catalyst of SEO Process. very helpful.

  10. i am a newbie in Search Engine Optimization but i think that the submission of articles in article directories is one of the best ways to gain backlinks. ~

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