Which Domain Name?

Opinions please

[pigsinpink]

I've found three keywords that clearly focuses on the contents of my site.

** This is an example only **
My keywords are "maths", "activities" and "games". The following are possible ways to register the domain and the Overtures monthly search volume:

1. mathsactivities = 5,000
2. mathgames = 3,900
3. math-activities-and-games.com = 890

Which is the best domain name to register?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

One or two.

[wolfadeus]

I vote for two. The shorter, the better.

[pigsinpink]

Why not no.3. Wouldn't you get the combined traffic of all three or am I missing something?

[buckworks]

You certainly can't count on that, because it would depend on how competive the various terms were, and how well you had optimized for them. Keywords in the domain name can be a plus but not if you overdo it.

One factor to consider is that many webmasters have an aversion to domains with so many hyphens and it might be harder to cultivate links.

You're likely better off to choose a shorter, more easily brandable domain name then name your directories carefully to support your target phrases. Remember that internal pages can drive a lot of traffic.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I agree, and it may also be that Google makes hyphenated domains like this bide in the the Sandbox for a longer period, or at least apply some other filter to the domain.

(This is on the premise that if it looks like spam it probably is spam.)

[pigsinpink]

I agree, and it may also be that Google makes hyphenated domains like this bide in the the Sandbox for a longer period, or at least apply some other filter to the domain.

(This is on the premise that if it looks like spam it probably is spam.)

Interesting you should say that BeeDeeDubbleU. All my inner pages have hyphenated keywords. Is this something that Google put into the sandbox for a longer period because it looks spammy? My first site was in the sandbox i think for around 3 months - and I used the same approach in naming pages.

[ergophobe]

Don't look at it just from the SEO perspective. Consider some other things too, like could the name be trademarked? I would guess that a MathGames logo could be, and possibly MathGames as one word, but not "Math Games." In fact, it could even infringe on the old game show Match Games.

You might find this interesting:
[tess2.uspto.gov...]

[londrum]

as long as the keywords appear in the URL then you will get some benefit.
so maybe you could think up a short, catchy generic name for the domain, and leave 'maths', 'activities' and 'games' for your directories. presumabely you will arrange your directory structure like that anyway.
so instead of having:

www.math-activities-and-games.com/maths/
or
www.math-activities-and-games.com/activites/

you would have:

www.catchyname.com/maths/
and
www.catchyname.com/activites/

might be better like that, because it's not a good idea to repeat your keywords in your URLs. they might see it as keyword stuffing.

[pigsinpink]

www.catchyname.com/maths/
and
www.catchyname.com/activites/

If I branded my site this way, should I use only the keywords that I have researched? Or is it o.k to use a combination of keywords and non-keywords in the url?

For example, if I wrote an article about using bingo as a classroom game to teach numbers how should I optimize my page?

Should I use only my keywords:
- catchyname.com/maths/numbers-game.html

Or is it ok to combine keyword and non-keywords like so:
- catchyname.com/maths/games/bingo-numbers-game.html

[buckworks]

Don't overload your URLs with keywords. It's helps a bit to have a few, but don't overdo it. Effective SEO will depend on your on-page optimization and your link development a lot more than stuffing your URLs.

Instead of

catchyname.com/maths/games/bingo-numbers-game.html

I'd do something like this:

catchyname.com/maths/games/bingo/

A user looking at that URL would get a pretty good idea what the page would be about, and for SEO purposes it would support some of your target terms without looking spammy.

It's a sensible enough URL that people interested in the topic would likely feel okay about linking to it or emailing it to a friend.

There are advantages to keeping your URLs short if you can. If the URLs for all your internal links are shorter, the bites saved can add up to faster page loads. NEVER pass up an opportunity to make your pages load a bit faster!

Also, shorter URLs are less likely to break in an email.

[pigsinpink]

Thanks Buckworks,

To be honest, I've been stuffing my URL with keywords. I think I need to read more into this. Any articles on Webmasterworld that you can recommend?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Try this ...

[webmasterworld.com...]

[piatkow]

Do watch for trade marks and not just for exact matches. I found a post on another forum last night from somebody complaining that is host had suspended his account.

He had registered a domain widgetss.com where widgets is a registered trademarks.

[tomcatuk]

The sooner domain name loses importance the better. The fact that someone was smart enough to register a cool one word domain back in the day doesn't by any stretch mean they have the most relevant content on the net for that keyphrase.
Google is far too lenient in allowing someone with a cool domain name high results positioning regardless of content, or rather lack of it.
I'd always go for the shortest, snappiest domain, and avoid the long names with multiple hyphens. If you're in it for the long haul, the domain name itself won't matter anyway.

[edited by: encyclo at 11:20 pm (utc) on July 1, 2007]
[edit reason] no specifics please, see terms of service [/edit]