Keyword in web address HELPS

[member22]

it seems from what I noticed that having the keyword for what you want to rank for in your web address helps a lot if in addition to that you got all your links with the same keyword as your webaddress keyword ... meaning your are almost unbeatable on the web !

What I mean unbeatable is that you will need 10 good links to rank first on google on your keyword whereas your competitor that doesn'y have the keyword in the web adress will need around 50 or more to be positionned just after you ?

Has anybody noticed that too ?

[tedster]

In a word, yes. Depending on the search term, it might take more than ten backlinks when there is more than one serous competitor, but certainly keyword-in-url seems to be dialed up rather high right now as a ranking factor.

[member22]

Thanks that is what it seemed to me too but I won't change my website address so I guess I am going to have to work harder ...

[tedster]

Using the keyword in an internal page's filename is a userful step - make sure it's linked from your home page.

[MrSavage]

Just my observation is, that keywords in url for Google amounts to very little. Hardly a ripple on the pond in my opinion. If anything, the keywords in your domain/url will help get relevant Adsense ads. I wish it meant more. I'm sure tedster is a heck of a lot more dialed into this than me, but just from my less experienced perspective, Google doesn't give much of a damn about keywords in url. It certainly explains a lot of the blog results that show up on page one so often. Again, just my opinion. I just don't see the extra weight given and it goes against Googles philosophy. They don't want to give anyone an edge simply because they were smart and bought up all the domains for a given subject.

[CainIV]

It also helps for an often overlooked factor - others who link to you editorially often link using the business (domain) name. And if that happens to be your keyword, then you are getting optimized links by default.

[Tiebreaker]

There's a distinction to be drawn here ...

Just having your target key phrase as part of the domain name is not going to help much - eg BobsFuzzyWidgetsWebsite.com is not going to have a significant ranking boost for the search term "Fuzzy Widgets"

However, if you have FuzzyWidgets.com, that makes a BIG difference to ranking - it's all about having the exact phrase match.

And it IS the domain that does it - I have several exact phrase match domains that rank very highly for some EXTREMELY competitive search terms, without a single link pointed at them anywhere, within a few weeks of launching - so it's certainly not keywords in the anchor text with those domains.

[Pico_Train]

Keywords in domain do help as pointed above for exact phrase matches creating great keyword rich links to your site/sites.

At the same it is also easier to trip an OOP misdemeanor with these. One of my sites definetely has one of these little filters/penalties applied to it and I am still tweaking it to find the threshold.

Good luck!

[Tiebreaker]

>>> At the same it is also easier to trip an OOP misdemeanor with these. One of my sites definetely has one of these little filters/penalties applied to it and I am still tweaking it to find the threshold.

I've never noticed that myself - but I never go mad by repeating keywords on the page etc.

When you have an exact phrase match domain, you don't need to stuff it with keywords to try and fight your way to the top - you just float up there without hardly trying usually :-)

[Pico_Train]

Tiebreaker - sure but I didn't stuff the page full of keywords, I just overdid it with the title, domain and other tags that are used in optimising...

[Reno]

keywords in url for Google amounts to very little

A simple 2 word search test shows me that for page 1 results, 7 out of 10 had one or both of the words in the domain name or page address. In and of itself it does not mean that was a crucial factor for ranking on the first page -- no doubt those webmasters did a lot of other things correctly -- but it probably played some role, so to my eyes it's a practice worth continuing even if the role was minor.

.....................

[Tiebreaker]

>>> Tiebreaker - sure but I didn't stuff the page full of keywords, I just overdid it with the title, domain and other tags that are used in optimising...

I have my title and page heading matching the same key phrase that the domain itself matches - content on the page is just written naturally, with the target keyphrase included usually no more than once.

I can't see how any search engine could hit you with an OOP for that - if you have a website about fuzzy widgets, it would be entirely natural and logical to use the domain fuzzywidgets.com - and to have your page title and heading set as Fuzzy Widgets

The only meta tag I use is the description, which will usually have the target phrase in it because it help to encourage clicks - for those search engines that use the description tag in the snippet displayed in the results.

[Pico_Train]

Yes your point is valid but what from what I have seen, a certain combination trips an OOP penalty, others have also concurred with this so optimise but maybe just remove one obvious one from your page and rather put in a normal <strong> tag...that should be enough of a hint for you.

[Tiebreaker]

Well, to my knowledge, none of my sites are tripping an OOP - they all rank very well - so I can't see a great benefit to be gained from changing things.

If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

In fact, the optimization on my sites is already so low that if I lower it any more it would have a negative impact for my users - it makes total sense to have the key phrase as the title and use it as the heading.

If I were feeling a bit paranoid I could change the heading from a <H1> tage and just bold it, as I've heard some people say that <H1> tags are out of favour - but it has never caused me any problems

[fishfinger]

keywords in url for Google amounts to very little. Hardly a ripple on the pond in my opinion

I must be watching a different set of SERPs then because from where I'm sitting it matters a LOT.

Quality links will out in the end against keyword domains, but if you're not up against serious competition they will give you an edge in every SERP I've seen recently. Google has them dialled up high in the algo and I really can't see why. They're no more an indicator of quality than on page optimisation is.

[MrSavage]

I stand by what I'm saying. Google doesn't give a damn what your domain name is. How can I say this? Simple. Their philosophy. They know you could buy all the domain names for a subject. You could, in theory own that subject on the internet. They are all about content er, I mean links and quality. Sure you may see keywords in the domains near the top of search results, but that's because the webmasters are smart. They chose smart domain names and they know about SEO. If somebody chose a smart domain name, then they are smart enough to win at SEO. Just my opinion, believe what you want. No way Google would ever pick a book based on its cover. It's not what they stand for at all.

[fishfinger]

you may see keywords in the domains near the top of search results, but that's because the webmasters are smart

I *do* see keyword domains with garbage links ranking above sites with more and better links - regularly. And I'm not talking in super-competitive areas where every possible SEO angle has been maxed out and you expect every little bit of leverage to have been used. I'm talking 'service town', 'trade county' type searches.

I am in the UK and it has been remarked that it is easier to spam the SERPS here, so perhaps it's something I see more of. I regularly crunch through the link profiles of the top 10 sites in various trade and professional markets in varying UK locations and the results are surprising.

[bekyed]

I stand by what I'm saying. Google doesn't give a damn what your domain name is. How can I say this? Simple. Their philosophy. They know you could buy all the domain names for a subject. You could, in theory own that subject on the internet. They are all about content er, I mean links and quality. Sure you may see keywords in the domains near the top of search results, but that's because the webmasters are smart. They chose smart domain names and they know about SEO. If somebody chose a smart domain name, then they are smart enough to win at SEO. Just my opinion, believe what you want. No way Google would ever pick a book based on its cover. It's not what they stand for at all.

Hi.

from several tests we have done, the keyword in the domain is now more important than ever. We have a few throw away domains using generic key words in the domain and these are ranking quite highly next to some very big players.

Thanks.
Bek

[dertyfern]

I agree with bekyed, keyword in domain provides a significant boost, at least for a primary keyword. Have site with and without primary keyword in domain and for many reasons those with it far out perform the others.

Keyword in URL has helped for years.

[signor_john]

If you've got a site that's devoted to fuzzy widgets and nothing else, then maybe it helps to be called "fuzzywidgets.com," but for many of us, long-tail searches on subtopics are far more important sources of traffic than searches on our broader topic(s).

[2clean]

And this discussion finally migrates to WebmasterWorld. These blogosphere themes!

[pageoneresults]

Keywords in ALL the right areas help, the URI is just one of many. Keywords in the TLD are more powerful than keywords in the URI path. Keywords in host names are more powerful than keywords in the URI path. All of this is relative. There is much more to it than just adding keywords just for the sake of it.

I remember a discussion similar to this many years ago. Not long after, the web was inundated with file names containing 5, 10 and even 15 hyphens separating keywords. Someone decided to make a Plugin that takes the title of a document and use that as the keyword laden hyphenated file path. That broke the web and ushered in a new era of URI shorteners. ;)

I prefer shallow path structure with single word taxonomy. Yes, I may use a hyphen here and there but I'm looking at this from an intuitive perspective. All of the sites we build today are intuitive with their URI structure. Meaning I can hack the URI and find my way around different sections of the site. Because the URIs are short and have meaning, adding a word, subtracting a word, may resolve to the appropriate content, it depends on the application. The Wiki has a somewhat intuitive naming structure that is shallow.

Keyword in web address HELPS

There usually tends to be some confusion when these topics come up. Are we referring to the domain itself, the TLD (Top Level Domain) or, are we referring to the file paths that appear after the TLD? These are two distinctly different areas. Keywords in TLDs are at the top of the food chain. Host names are next, then file names, and then file names under those files names. The process is threaded from the top of the food chain to the bottom. If that entire taxonomy has been focused on from an intuitive naming convention perspective, I feel you can achieve relevancy nirvana.

A little OT, remember that click path determines relevancy. Are the keywords you're targeting within that click path? Are you sure? Are they tightly focused? Or, are you using the title plugin and generating those unruly multi-hyphenated file paths that lose focus most of the time? What a nightmare those types of URIs are.

See what I mean about confusion? You got me. Actually, I just ranted. Keyword TLDs will always be at the top of the food chain if all the other right factors are at play. It is a given.

[defanjos]

Regarding the OOP penalty/filter, what will get you filtered is, backlinks anchor text exactly matching first words of title and the heading (hx).

For example, if you have summergreenwidgets.com, and you have a great percentage of your links with the anchor "summer green widgets", and your h1 is "summer green widgets", and the first words on the title are "summer green widgets", you are a gonner.

This is especially bad if the first batch of links to the site match the above. So, if you get summergreenwidgets.com, do not link to it at first with "summer green widgets", use, for example, "this site", "summergreenwidgets.com", "buy here", "summer", "widgets", etc.

[ogletree]

It is important to understand that the keyword in domain name helps indirectly not directly. You still have to have something worth linking to.

[internetheaven]

eg BobsFuzzyWidgetsWebsite.com is not going to have a significant ranking boost for the search term "Fuzzy Widgets"

However, if you have FuzzyWidgets.com, that makes a BIG difference to ranking - it's all about having the exact phrase match.

But that often leads to:

At the same it is also easier to trip an OOP misdemeanor with these.

Testify brother! ;)

That's what I hate about Google's approach to attacking SEO ... the perfect site is often penalised because "nothing can be that perfect", right Googy?

[jeyKay]

I've had 2 sites rank within a few days on Google's top 2 pages for my main keyword. My domains are keyword.net. 0 backlinks (with the exception of 1 mention of site #2 on one of my sites).

Additionally, competitiveness plays a role.

[Reno]

the perfect site is often penalised because "nothing can be that perfect"

I don't know about you, but that G attitude -- which you perfectly express -- drives me nuts. It's like telling a smart kid not to read so much because it's making the other children feel bad. In other words, don't be as good as you can be, or you may face a penalty. Stupid in the extreme.

.................

[tedster]

Re: "perfect" - see our discussion from several years ago. Natural vs. Un-natural - in SEO and the Google Algorithm [webmasterworld.com].

Google's attitude is that they don't want to rank a site high ONLY because it aligns "perfectly" with some part of their algorithmic scoring.

[CainIV]

Really interesting, I have noticed this as well. Just picked up an exact keyword match domain recently for a popular search phrase that I enjoy.

What is everyone's thoughts in terms of the extension, in terms of being a factor with exact-phrase domains?

Do you believe all are as effective? (.com, .net, .org) or do you believe these is an order of operations the SE's take in evaluation here.

[Tonearm]

What's the latest opinion on underscores separating keywords in a page filename in the URL? I imagine dashes are still preferred, but do underscores work?