Do having keywords in the domain name still help?
-
Do having keywords in the domain name still help?...............using a city name and then a couple of other keywords with your services? For example: dallaspoolbuilders.com or dallaspoolandpatiobuilders.com
-
If the domain supports the content I think it is ok and even slightly helpful. You are better served to employ a strong local content strategy combined with good off page local SEO. I think this would serve you in a better way.
-
Your examples suggest you're considering microsites with the intent to game Google keywords which will get you penalized.
If you're in the pool building business there's no problem at all with having the word keyword "pool" in your domain name and in my opinion it could help - especially when your domain authority is in its infancy.
There are dozens of "pool" related terms such as pool table, office pool, pool parties and cesspool (which could be an argument as to why a pool keyword in your title would not matter any more than the term "gizmo.")
What will determine your success will be your qualifiers ahead of and behind your keyword and the content you build for it: cost of building a pool, above ground pool installation, inground pool care, swimming pool maintenance, salt water pool benefits etc.
The examples you give could easily be pages on your site with geo targeted titles.
Is the keyword necessary to have in your domain name? No. Would it help? Yes it can. Will you still have to do the work to rank? Yes you will.
-
They aren't supposed to, according to Cutts. But I think they do slightly. SLIGHTLY.
I also think they will less as time goes on. I'd focus on branding over keywords for your domain. You can get those keywords into the URL where they matter more.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
CRO help how to convert already existing customers on limited budget
Hi guys! We are a start up and just launched our website in December. We are having issues with our website not converting and we have identified a few possibilities of why it may not be converting after an extensive competition analysis. Therefore, due to our limited budget we have had to cut our adwords campaign and now have 1 shot at fixing the conversion rate optimization by changing the registration process and also our offer from "FREE" to discounted rates eg: $1 per min for all new customers instead which will also work in with the way our system is configured as we have a deposit funds method. Our current offer stands at 3 FREE mins on all chat sessions, however this can not be claimed unless the client deposit is min $20 - now I realize why our competitors would use the discounted rates instead of the FREE minutes. Other competitors can achieve this as they don't require the customer to deposit any amount as they just deduct the account after the 3 minutes is up from the credit card. After running 1 months of adwords on a limited budget (i know its not long enough to test) we gathered around 24 sign ups, 3 of which entered credit card details but no deposits, and the rest who signed up only got to our 2 step registration. In this case we are working our way on changing the registration process and changing the offer. Can anyone provide any expertise or recommendations about what they think may work? Our website is www.zenory.com Thanks and I look forward to your responses.
Industry News | | edward-may0 -
Grabbed up some branded domains now what
With the recent release of gtlds I was waiting to pick up a .clothing for a client.For some strange reason something came over me and I ended up buying 10 domains of brandname.clothing domains of well know brands. I'm no cybersquatter but just an aspiring SEO and sell these brand's clothing products online.As I learn more about the legal issues I'm wondering what to do .Do I cancel domains with godaddy? Will I be refunded? Do I contact rightful owner and offer them the domain at cost? Can I create a fan site of the products and sell advertising as I seen on many occasions? So confused what to do?
Industry News | | onetwotree0 -
Can You Suggest 3 Books to Help Me with My 2014 Seth Godin Pick 3 Project?
Yesterday in Seth's blog he gave a wonderful suggestion for making 2014 a remarkable year. He suggested that you pick 3 people who have influence over your life/work and select three books to buy and give to these them to have them read, and then, discuss with you. Here's how he describes it: "Identify three books that challenge your status quo, business books that outline a new attitude/approach or strategy, or perhaps fiction or non-fiction that challenges you. Books you've read that you need them to read. Buy the three books for each of the three people, and ask them each to read all three over the holiday break." - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/12/pick-three.html Don't worry about whether or not I've read the books you are suggesting. If I choose one, I'll read it first before asking someone else to read it. Here are some of my ideas: The End of Business as Usual - Brian Solis [currently reading] Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug The New Rules of Marketing and PR - David Meerman Scott Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind - Ries and Trout Influence - Robert Cialdini Engage - Brian Solis The Dip - Seth Godin Keep It Simple - Siegel & Etzkorn Buy - Ology - Lindstrom The Long Tail - Chris Anderson FYI - The three people I've identified to share books with are my CEO (to whom I directly report), our Marketing Director (who is a peer, but who controls most of the marketing budget), and the Vice President of Retail Sales (He is also one of 5 co-owners of the business and a major stakeholder). The books you suggest can be the same for all three or different for all three. I think the major challenges we are facing in 2014 is agility, branding and redefining or abandoning old business practices that are costly, time wasters, inefficient, or all of the above. Thanks everyone!
Industry News | | danatanseo1 -
Webmaster Tools Keyword Rankings Explanation
While analyzing the Google Webmaster, I found several keywords that are ranked in the top 10 search results with words such as: they, was, mai, and chiang. (For example:they)After reviewing the top pages shown under the keyword "they", I did not find the keyword or its variant "them" repeated in the content of the page. I am not sure why "they" is ranking so high and of course, the word "they' is not effective for finding significant content. Also word such as Chiang Mai are never used separately but the two words are ranking far apart from each other. Mai is ranked at 5 and chiang is ranked at 11. I would think that the rankings would be very close together since the two words are usually used in conjunction with one another. Can anyone explain the reason this may be happening please?
Industry News | | jimmyzig0 -
Is this still Google?
My niche, my concern.
Industry News | | webfeatus
http://www.google.com/search?q=jimbaran+villa
My site just dropped out of the rankings completely. But if you look at the Google search above you will notice 2 things:
1. First page: 75% of space above the fold is dedicated to Google making money
2. Subsequent pages: It is like you don't actually search "Google" If you flip through a few pages what you actually search is:
agoda.com
flipkey.com
tripadvisor.com
homeaway.com Do I have a point or am I simply having a cynical day?1 -
Hyphenated domains – good or bad?
I have a client who will be changing their domain name from www.brand.co.uk to www.brandglobal.com. There are concerns however that this might affect the searches for brand terms and variants. Hence, there is a suggestion for going for www.brand-global.com. I’m aware that search engines are smart enough to discern the brand name in most cases, but I’m wary if it would impact highly on the brand search terms and would it be a better option to go for www.brand-global.com instead of www.brandglobal.com? Any advice (or reference to discussions around this) would be much appreciated. Thanks
Industry News | | ravisodha0 -
Questions to help get to know a potential client and see what the possibilities are for there campaign?
OK so I am putting together a list of questions to refer potential clients to. The purpose of these questions is to: 1, Help them understand the difference between "just give us your keywords and we will make you rank" seo and the full range of options that are advocated here on seo moz. .... 2, Get them to see that there are different levels of involvement that are available for different aspects of a campaign and give them ideas and options on how much input they want to have as well as make them see that we can help them with even the stuff they are gonna do themselves or do it for them with there input and permission. Thats where things get a bit confusing I was thinking of having a list of fifty linkbuilding/linkbaiting techniques and check box options beside each one so that they can read a little bit about the particular technique ie forum participation for example and then see how they felt like that related to there industry , wether they would want there staff to do it with some training from us wther they would want us to help them find the right forums and show them how to link back and to which page, or wether they would just want us to handle everything or simply not feel that that was right for there business .. then they would move on to the next thing ie video creation or user generated content and in the end we would have a big list of things to discuss with them and they would have a better understandiing of how much there is to good seo and what might work for them and also how we could help them and how a relationship/ partnership might look I would love some feed back on this is it possible will it help us to build trust with potential clients (which is diffucult for a new biz in this industry) how would you lay it out would it be a usefull resource for other seo companies etc thanks so much seo mozzers this forum is awsome and i know you will steer me in the right direction oh ps this would be something we would keep on our site
Industry News | | duncan2740 -
Keyword Strategy
I am working with a company that has had a few "SEO Experts" work on it's site over the last year. The strategy these "experts" used to generate keywords is to optimize on many general keywords and, when mixed all together, make the keywords they are optimizing against. For example, they did photo printing. They would optimize for the keywords: photo prints printing print photographs photography 4x6 cheap .... Maybe I am missing something, but I have never seen a keyword list managed this way... is this "normal"? Is this something "new" I am missing? Any advice or strategy tips on this one? Thanks in advance!
Industry News | | smulto0