Lysander - 6:38 pm on Feb 21, 2006 (gmt 0)

You're absolutely right - I would not expect people to link to the feeder site.

The significance of the feeder site is that if people do a Google search of "keyword1 keyword2" and find the www.keyword1-keyword2.com site, I want to direct them to the main website. I want to make the most of the SEO value that is intrinsic to hyphenated keyword domain names.

I say that because I have noticed that Google seems to give a high priority to domains that have the keyword you searched in them, even when the pages themselves have very little text and are definitely not search engine-optimised. I am under the impression that having hyphenated domains with keywords gives you a significant head start with search engine results, but it does mean that you have to sacrifice the prestige associated with a branded name. I will try and benefit from both if I possibly can.

Perhaps I am optimistic in assuming that Google will give it a decent priority, but I have a strong feeling that the www.keyword1-keyword2.com domain will come in very useful in some way or another. I suspect I might create an original and incredibly useful page of content that is unique to that domain.

All in all, I agree with Webwork that outstanding content breeds a large user base, and that loyal users will never betray you, whereas relying on search engines is all a bit hit-and-miss.