2 keywords in domains: bluewidgets (dot) com

[XMLMania]

Hi,

I've recently purchased and developed a website BLUEWIDGETS.com. The search term used on this relatively completive phrase is: blue widgets

I understand how valuable a widgets.com is if searching for "widgets", however how well does Google and co rank sites with a 2 word phrase as the domain?

Is it a better idea to use blue-widgets.com rather than bluewidgets.com?

Thanks in advance!

[troels nybo nielsen]

Keywords in domain names may help your ranking but only very little. The most important aspect of domains is that they are userfriendly. They should be targetted at human readers, not at spiders and algos.

[XMLMania]

The website is 101% user friendly. XHTML 1.1, CSS layout, max page size of around 15kb (usually under 6kb).

Its a shame I had the misconception of thinking that acquiring the domain would make it easy(er) to SEO the website to position #1 for the 2 keywords. Your telling me it will only help very little? Wow, I really wish I didn't splash out on this domain now...

[troels nybo nielsen]

Well, I must admit that I may have exaggerated to make my point. It may be more precise to say that domain names have a limited influence on your positions in SERPs. Domain names are about branding more than about anything else.

[cyberair]

Maybe not in google, but I have had success with keyword1keyword2.com in Yahoo!. I rank fifth. The site has low PR, few pages, and only SEO is in the Meta Tags, Title, and domain. However, searches done in March, provided by Overture are only 400+ for "keyword1 keyword2"

[Robert Charlton]

I don't think that the separation in the url is in itself what helps you... it's all about what's in your anchor text... so a lot depends on how you get your links.

On sites with domains like this, I generally have a graphic logo that reads as Blue Widgets.com... with the space... and I never used domain name without the space in the visible text in the site body copy.

When I request a link, I sign the email with Blue Widgets.com at the bottom... etc etc. I'll also suggest the link text with the words separated.

Yes, you'll get some sites that will only give you unspaced domainname links in the anchor text, but my feeling is that, these days, that might be good for variety. You don't want all your inbounds the same.