Value of keywords in a domain name?

keywords domain name

[jmatthew3]

Hi, How important is the text in the domain name to the serps?

For example, I'm looking at registering "howtoverbawidget.com" -- i want to make a website about how to do something to a widget. How important is it to have "how to", "verb", and "widget" in my domain name?

I'm not looking at resale value of a domain, I'm not looking (much) at how easy it is to remember. I'm just looking for the best domain for directing search traffic my way.

Are hypens bad for this? Good? Does it matter? Should I make a subdomain for more keyword goodness?

Thanks!

[Quadrille]

It's a tiny point, rarely worth worrying about.

howtoverbawidget.com has zero SEO value, as no-one (except you) will ever search for howtoverbawidget.

But some may search for 'widget', and occasionally your URL may be listed as is - no associated text. So howtobuya-widget.com will have a tenuous SEO value.

On the other hand, a naff URL will lose sales for you.

Remember the often-quoted Quadrille's Law of Hyphenating Domain Names:

"More than one hyphen is the international shorthand for idiot webmaster; More than two hyphens is the Galaxy-wide shorthand for "I'd be a spammer if only I knew how"

[AjiNIMC]

just imagine google.com to be googlesearchengine.com to get a better ranking in yahoo or msn. My name is not AjiNIMCMarketing but people know that I do marketing because I do it. So focus on simplicity and concentrate on the brand.