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I've been watching for some kind of authorative statement from GG or a senior moderator that would knock these comments on the head, but I can't recall that ever happening.
If this is in fact true, then how do the poor old Aussies fare when they are bound by the rule that .au domain names MUST match, or attempt to match, the business name. You can't register a .au domain to target keywords. For all I know this may apply in other countries as well.
(I know, we can all register a .com and send the business offshore!)
In my interpretation of common sense, this scenario not only contributes to nonsensical domain names (I've seen one 6 words long) but has the potential to exclude the most relevant sites.
If you search for australian whatever, it's a fair bet the answer will come from an aussie site, not one that happens to have a contrived domain name.
GG - comments?
I don't expect you will hear from GG on this one, since it directly relates to scoring.
But I will say that I've attempted to knock those comments on their head many times in the past. I do not believe that keywords appearing in the domain name in and of its self play any significant role. Any real benefit that may come from it is a bi-product of keywords appearing in inbound links.
There are those here who swear by it, but the fact that a hyphenated domain shows up at the top doesn't prove that the domain is the single biggest contributing factor.
if you do any broad analysis of Google SERPS you'll find that a very small percentage of top sites use keyword rich domains.
I have held the number one position for it for the better part of two plus years (also No. 1 through today's update). Having attained this name, it made it easy for other sites to accept linking back to me linking the text, "Blue Widgets from MyActualCompanyName". The idea of using your desired keywords in the linking text began to surface about 6 months after I got the site.
I follow the most conservative conventional wisdom across the board. My site is small, focused, richly linked internally as well as externally.
I think it does help to have the keywords in the domain name as it does enable other sites to Opt In to linking to you with those words if it makes sense. But if it's a flaky-hyphenated-sequence you're selling, then it is a long-term harder sell. And make no mistake, it's the long term where is the wiser eye.
As has been mentioned here particularly within the past 90 days, no matter your dot com name, the words in the linked text are gaining huge advantages versus linking the text of MyActualCompanyName. So don't be go and buying up all them keyword-hyphen.coms without no substance that won't get anybody but another rat-butt to include you in. Focus instead on what your keywords are, coming up with creative ways to present them to others as a text link, and you will see in 6 mos that you can get www.apple-butter.com to be in the top if your links back are like: You think <linked text>apple butter</end> is good, then you will love <link text start>banana bread</end>!s good, then you will love <link text start>banana bread</end>!
You'll be shocked and amazed at how your apple butter site will start getting hits for banana bread.
Your Q: Boost from KW in Domain Name: Yes, Definitely, but not for long if you're an Idiot.
I own both the hyphenated and non-hyphenated version of my site. I use the hyphenated exclusively when promoting online simply because before Yahoo became Google :) they gave more weight to it and it ranked well (still does in the directory search portion).
I do think that pshea had two excellent points:
1. One of the big boosts seems to be having your keyword in the link text. My site name contains keywords, and everyone who links to me automatically does so with a keyword in the link text.
2. You shouldn't buy it simply for the sake of getting the keywords or using a nonsense keyword URL. As I said, my site name contains keywords and my site name is my URL. I also have the non-hyphenated version for use in word-of-mouth advertising. But I do think it's a mistake to buy it simply for the keywords - it has to make sense.
Invariably, someone will post that all sites with keyword hyphenated domains are spammy, but that's simply not true.
A few searches in Google will show you kw domains aren't a guarantee of high rankings, but I think in some cases, they do help.
Good luck with your site!
Jenny
Your example depends on having "apple-butter" in the domain name. Sure I sell apple butter, but my company name is Mario's Delicious Delicacies. My .au domain name has to incorporate that, something like www.mariosdeli.com.au. The point I was trying to convey is that not everyone can tailor their domain name to fit their products. Those that can't must therefore suffer a disadvantage IF there is in fact a boost for words appearing in the domain.
Secondly, if I sell apple butter from my site, why am I interested in attracting people who are actually searching for banana bread. I can't offer it to them so they are not targeted to my product.
Am I missing something here?
jen24815 - we overlapped. Did not see you until I posted.
But one of the most!
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You would think that gaining better rankings by purchasing keyword rich domains and use automated tools to spit out keyword rich html names, would go against googles idea of offering relevant returns to it users and its partners.
minnapple
