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greenoak
01-08-2009, 06:49 PM
how important is it to have your key word in your web address? if you use your key word a lot in your site is that equal to it being in the webs name? or does google give the key word used in the name more weight than its use inside the site......?
thanks
ann

Harold Mansfield
01-08-2009, 07:09 PM
If you can get it, you should definitely do so. The state of available ".com" domains with keywords in them is pretty scarce, but a combination of company branding along with a keyword or product is still doable, as is sub domains that are a combination of the two:

ie: antiquelamps.greenoak.com

vangogh
01-08-2009, 07:47 PM
Ann a few days ago Joel started a thread about domains (http://www.small-business-forum.net/website-management/816-domain-ideas.html) and a lot of the response will probably help answer your question.

I agree with Harold above. If you can get a keyword in there I would. But I'd sooner choose the more brandable domain than I would the keyword rich domain. Keywords in your domain or your URLs probably help, but they likely don't help all that much by themselves.

What can help is that when people link to you they may very well use your domain name or your business name as the anchor text of the link. (Anchor text is the clickable words)

Using your site as an example people will probably link to you using the text

Green Oak Antiques

Antiques is certainly a keyword for your business so you should eventually have plenty of links pointing to your site with the word 'antiques' in the anchor text. Having the keyword in the anchor text of the link is going to carry more weight in helping your pages rank better than having the word in your domain.

greenoak
01-09-2009, 09:32 AM
thanks....im getting a new site...and trying to figure out a name.
.vg, you see the delimma so well, between a keyword and a catchy name that should also contain one of my other sites.......but im hoping for all 3 in one name...
.i think i can get the keyword and either magpie or green oak into the name like eborg suggests..
.ive waited a long time to find a niche and may have found one i can really get into.... i think i can get the keyword in the name..
what holds me back is selling 2 or 3000$ in the store to one person once in a while or quite often selling thatmuch in one day, ,and getting it overwith in an hour,sold,packed paid and gone..thats the way i like it!!!!.......when i compare that to web selling and all that takes and facing that im aiming for a 100$ single sales at the most , it feels bad.....but i dont have so many big buyers now and i really want another stream of income ..and i have staff..and some of the right stuff i hope....so im going for it...... at worst i should be able to get rid of a few $$thousand of inventory laying around that didnt cost much..
.i will go read the domain thread....
ann

vangogh
01-09-2009, 12:26 PM
Usually if you start with your keyword (say antiques for example) and then tack on a less common word to the end or the front the domain is more likely to be available. I would sooner go with the less common word at the end if you can, but I'd always lean on the side of having the domain be memorable as opposed to worrying too much about the keywords.

It's great to get the keywords in if you can, but having a domain people remember well enough to type in is better.

billbenson
01-09-2009, 02:25 PM
There have been stories floating around where if you do a search for a domain name and its available, you come back in a week and a domain squatter has registered your domain. If you do think of a domain you like, I would register it at the time it is available. One approach if you want to look in advance is to do a whois search instead of a godaddy search.

This may not be an issue, but its worth being aware of.

vangogh
01-09-2009, 02:33 PM
Those aren't stories. A couple of domain registrars, mostly notably Network Solutions was registering any domain searched for on it's site. They'd claim they were registering it for your protection so no one else would take it from you, but then you had to buy it from them at an inflated price.

They've changed things a little and only do that from one or maybe a few pages instead of all, but it's a sleazy practice. I'd advise using a registrar other than Network Solutions.

I use GoDaddy to register domains and have always been happy with them. You just have to read what you're clicking as you go through the process of buying since the link that looks like the obvious one is usually trying to sell you something extra. Always check your shopping cart before proceeding to checkout. Most registrars do the same trying to get you to buy more than you want. It's not just a GoDaddy thing.

billbenson
01-09-2009, 04:50 PM
I've even heard of people searching godaddy and finding the domain name taken the next day. For that reason I recommend you buy the domain when you see one you like.

Certainly Network Solutions and One & One have about the worst name in the industry for this and other sort of hosting scams. And they are two of the largest.

vangogh
01-09-2009, 05:35 PM
Sometimes losing a domain name is a matter of waiting too long. I've hesitated on a few I wanted only to see someone else grab them.

Registrars get away with what they do because you can register a domain for a limited time and then return it to get your money back. I think ICANN is changing some of the rules because of what Network Solutions did. So a registrar can register thousands or millions of domains, sell the ones that people come back for at a higher price and return the ones that go unsold.