Should we change our site domain name to include our keyword?

[ACann]

Our niche has one keyword phrase that is much, much more active than any other comparable phrase. Let's call that phrase "math problems". Within this phrase, the "math" is absolutely the most important keyword, as it is also used in every spin-off search phrase, like "math answers", "math practice", etc.

We've had our domain since 1996, and is currently the company name - "Rocketproblems.com". Over the last year (2010-2011) our SERPs have steadily dropped to the point where we're not getting a sustainable level of business from organic search, whereas in 2009 we were doing fantastic.

However, we've also had "Rocketmathproblems.com" since about 2000, just gathering dust. What I've noticed from the top search results is that nearly every domain has either "math" or "math problems" in its URL.

Do you think it's worth it to switch to the keyword-rich URL? It is a bit more verbose, and the "Rocketmathproblems.com" v.s. "Rocketproblems.com" example perfectly captures the different feeling. My inclination is that SEO is only becoming more competitive, and if we aren't getting worthwhile business from organic search at the moment then we should bite the bullet and make the switch for the future, along with ramping up our content generation. However, I also noticed that in late 2009 a previous webmaster switched to "Rogermath.com" but switched back within a month when our SERP for the key phrase was a page lower - I gleaned this from a Moz Juicy Keywords Report :). Thoughts?

[ACann]

I tend to agree that you can't take everything Google says at face value, at the end of the day they're still a company and have their own interests to defend.

You indeed could develop several other KW-specific domains (assuming you had the domain names), but I think the big reason not to is that it would take a lot of time and money to get peripheral sites to the point where they compete with 12 year old domains with thousands of quality links. IMO this time is better spent on your own site on something other than SEO - like marketing, which has its own SEO benefits.

[OzDave]

We laboured with this exact problem ourselves... in the end we haven't switched.... our existing domain is 12 years old with lots of long-term SEO work done on it,, the website has 4,000 pages and it just seemed like too much risk..

However if I'd considered this 5 years ago, I think I would have teken the plunge.

I also believe Matt Cutt's statement regarding KW-rich domains (funnily enough I voted for him to answer that question) is probably a little disingenuous - I think he's trying to put SEO-ers off the scent.  Certainly SERPs don't seem to support what he's saying.  At the end of the day, in the search for relevance, Google can no ignore the actual domain - crappy site it may be but 99% of the time it is relevant.

The other option is to develop your KW-rich name (or a bunch of them - why not?) and SEO them seperately and either generate enquiries through them or point them to your main site..

[ACann]

I think you're right that the cost would outweigh the benefit, and I'm going to focus instead on marketing & some juicy link bait.

[saibose]

Domain name change is a very tough decision and changing domain name to accommodate keywords wouldnt work to bump up rankings.

I would do a deep analysis of the website and do some better interlinking coupled with great inbound marketing. Maybe a viral video or something as well...

Changing domain solve your problem. Remember what happened to meta keywords?

[ACann]

Thank you for the responses! First, it seems some people missed my point that "math problems" and "rocketmathproblems.com" is an example to illustrate our situation. If you would like to take a look at the actual domain and the keyword phrase we're targeting let me know and I'll send it to you in a PM.

saibose - this seems to be a very good reason not to change it. However, the variety of pages in the top 10 results, from PR 2 with less than 100 domains linking in, to PR 9 with thousands of domains linking in, makes me think that the domain name still carries significant weight.

Dunamis - those sites are pretty extreme examples. Instead, look at a real Google search using my example: "math problems". These ratios are almost exact replicas of my actual keyword phrase results.

9/10 have the most important keyword, "math" in the URL.

3/10 have the full phrase, "math problems" in the URL.

Keeping with my example of "Rocketproblems.com", right now my website does not have the important keyword "math" in it.

I suppose the biggest reason for me not to make the switch is because of losing link value in the 301 redirect. Again, if anybody would like to actually look at the home page's SEO or the website and keywords just say so and I'll send you the domain name.

EDIT: About the SEO strength of the page:

SEOMoz On-Page Report Card: A

Page Authority: 52

Domain Authority: 42

I do agree that more links will help, but I need to decide if changing the URL will also make a sizeable difference (+5 spots would be worthwhile).

[MarieHaynes]

I would bet good money that you wouldn't see much improvement with the new domain.  The video that saibose posted says it all - Google is putting much less emphasis on keyword rich domains these days.

Think of some really successful websites that you know...a good number of them don't have a keyword in their domain:

-Facebook

-Google

-Twitter

Adding a keyword to your domain may add some minor boost, but it's not going to take you up too high.

Do you have good quality links to your site?  If so, then if you change your name you'll lose some of the power of those links.  (If you redirect your old domain to your new one you'll retain some link juice though).  If you haven't got good links to your site then this is your answer.  Get people linking to you and you will rise up to the top.

Is your site really rocketproblems.com?  I couldn't find it or rocketmathproblems.com online.

[gmellak]

keyword domains are no long-term strategy, but can get great results short-term ... but also check your on-page seo in case there's the real problem ...

[saibose]

I found matt cutts video which says that keyword rich domains are being devalued.

I would recommend doing more brand awareness exercises rather than switching domain names for a more keyword rich domain.

watch?v=rAWFv43qubI&feature=relmfu

[shaunmitchell123]

it's not a cure all, but it can work. I half build a site and came back 2 months later and it was on the front page of google. So i would recommend it.

[AlanBleiweiss]

I'd like to offer recommendations where the existing site could possibly just have an SEO problem that won't go away just by getting the new domain value, however when I went to rocketproblems.com just now, I got a "server not found" message.

So without seeing your site, I'll offer insight on what to consider doing if you do the switch.

Exact match or partial match domains do offer value.  They are, however, on Google's radar for possibly getting less value than they do now, though Matt Cutts' exact language in a video earlier this year was they're considering a minor / slight reduction in value.

I wouldn't go by the competitors visible actions.  Just one month is not long enough to determine value of such a transfer.  It could easily take a couple months or longer to rebound and build the proper new trust factors that the new domain name will require, including links to the new domain.

Links to the existing site should be examined to find out which ones you can request being changed to the new domain name as well, since 301 redirects (vital to ensure these are implemented across the board and tested for verification) do take a hit on passing value.

I would also recommend a full press release through PRWeb.com or PRNewswire.com upon change to the new domain, as well as a social media campaign to promote the new domain.

So if you are prepared to wait out the potential drop over an extended period of time, do a full-court press.

[ACann]

I'd really like to emphasize the incredible value of the exact keyword phrase "math problems". Even if we were on page 1 for this keyword, but didn't show up for nearly any other phrase aside from our domain name, it would be fantastic.

Currently we're ranked #22, it looks like the highest we've been is #10. This phrase is definitely a niche, but not proprietary. Another close example is "PHP programming", which is even close in search volume according to Google Trends. In my example would it be worth switching from "www.RocketProgramming" to "www.Rocket-php-programming"? (included dashes because it was too verbose.. our scenario wouldn't be that bad.).