Which does Google prefer? Which would you pick? I have possibility of including two keywords in my new domain. One is only 8 letters followed by - then one 3 letter word? Or should I just stick to one 8 letter word as domain?
From SEO aspects, the impacts might be very slight to be concerned about because Domain names might have little to do with the ranks, just the letters making them. Nowadays, the real values of domains are determined based on their contents plus overall link popularity scores they have. If you can, get a name which contains your main keywords and try sticking to the shorter ones as they are easier to manage in the long term.
I've heard it's good to have your main keyword in your domain name. My domain themelanomaskincancer.com has 21 letters.
keyword niche domains rank better then domains with no meaning if you plan on ranking faster in the short run buy a keyword based domain in the long run both are the same.
If you are oriented toward brand building then a short memorable name is better. Otherwise you may consider a long domain name with keyword riches. However I would not recommend too long with many dashes as it may dilute your website trust from visitors and Google perspective.
Sxperm makes a good point - remember that your Web address will not be used by only the SEs. So make sure it's easy to remember and type for your type-in visitors, as well as the SEs.
Keywords are king , I have a site on page one thats www (dot) xxxxxxxx-xxxxx-xxx-xxxx.info in a mega competitive niche so dont be afraid of long names ( or dot info sites for that matter )... As others have said unless you are looking to build a brand have a site set up for google search as thats were your traffic will come from. If you are building a site about green waterproof retro widgets then you wanna look at the url www(dot)green-waterproof-retro-widgets.something rather than some obscure ( but memorable ) short zappy name. I might be wrong ( and often am ) but I think its the same as telephone numbers , no one bothers to remember them any more as you just punch the name of the person you want to call into your mobile and press the green button. Tansley
Shortest possible. Are we appealing to the search engine or the reader? If your readers can;t remember your domain URL, they won't come back. No matter how good your rankings are, they will only come once via the search but may not come back due to your URL being too long. All this crap most of you all are saying are pointless and that's why you all fail at making successful sites, because you forget about the readers because your heads are so far up SEO's a**
it depends on your keyword, you should only focus on one though. shorter domain names work best for web users but sometimes longer ones are better for seo
it's good to not only have the keyword in your domain but also several times within the overall url if at all possible...
other than domain name there are so many things to prefer , like geo graphical location you want to target then use country specific domain. if you want to build multi lingual site then have top level domain and make sure to host your server in the country in which you want to market your business or website.
If your business is related with any keyword specific promotion, then containing your main keyword at domain name could be best choice.
It's good to have short domain names and to the point. This way your customers can also remember your name very easily.
I would think that if you have a short domain that would included your keyword, you should consider the people who will search your domain name in a search engine, most people searching don't like the long domain names, not to mention they are alot harder to remember.