How much weight does domain name have on SEO?

I have been told in google this is pretty heavy, is that true? If I get a domain with the main keywords I am trying to optimize the site for, how much does this help in google, yahoo, msn? Also, do dashes hurt if it does have a good weight? Please advise, thanks.

 

Keywords in your domain name defiantly help in your seo efforts, but of course that is only one of many factors.

I suggest you get a domain name with keywords with out dashes. Dashes do not hinder seo efforts, but can confuse people if they try to type it in directly. If the .com is taken try .net!

 

it's a good secret but if your domain mame contains the keyword in your domain, you will have a better serp

 

If I had to put a percentage, then I'd say ROUGHLY 10%. It helps and it's certainly a factor, but not THAT much of a factor. Incoming links, titles, keywords, and other optimization techniques should be able to overcome some non-keyword domain issues.

 

Google doesn't place much weight on the domain name. It prefers to go after the page content instead. MSN and Yahoo! however do place more emphasis (as in consideration, or weight) in domain name keywords. How much more, I don't exactly know. However, if you do include keywords in your domain name, make sure you use the hyphen (or dash) separator rather than clumping them up together.

For example expertsexchange.com could be taken two ways ("experts exchange" being one, and well, I'll leave you to figure out the other one).

 

WRONG,.

Oh I just love the N00B advice you are giving here

Anyhow, OP...

Google DOES take into affect the domain name , its called "Must Rank"

It does make a huge difference as well,

Sure, you can get great results without it, BUT domains do count,

 

And please tell me, oh master and guru of everything SEO (yes, I'm being sarcastic), where DO you get your information from?

I never said they don't count; I also never said that Google doesn't pay any attention to it. All I said is that Google doesn't place as much emphasis on it as MSN and Yahoo do.

If you're going to make a counter-claim, back it up with facts. Or at least solid evidence.

 

Keywords in domains do count a lot. It's impossible to determine exactly how much, but it sure does!

Spammers know that very well.

Just try and avoid spammy domains such as the keyword stuffed very long ones, just in case...

 

If you're saying it's impossible to determine how much they matter, then how can you say with a degree of certainty that it matters a lot?

Remember, a domain name isn't the end-all be-all of ranking well in the search engines. It's just a part of the recipe, so to speak.

 

Dan, reasonably impossible, but you sound as if you knew well what I meant...

If you're looking at SEO, you're looking at a world full of doubts with no certainties, or almost.

That's SEO, take it or leave it.

 

No dashes don't hurt but your domain name may be difficult to remember or may make your visitors make mistakes when entering your domain name.
Yes, the name of the domain does matter. The site title also matters. So choose carefully.

 

Dashes could be useful for offline branding though, and sometimes the only way to get a domain with a decent extension. This has to be kept in mind.

 

Very good topic..I have a question? Is it better to have a domain like shoponline.com or shop-online.com if you put the dash is it better for SERPS..

 

Oh I agree that there are no certanties (especially how SEO is treated as an industry), but if you follow a few basic guidelines, like using clean, minimal, semantic and valid markup to make accessible and usable Web sites, separating your structure (HTML), presentation (CSS) and behavior (JavaScript) from each other using extenral files (specifically for the stylesheet and scripts), writing appropriate content which is rich in the keywords you are targeting that's going to make people regret not linking your Web site to theirs, promoting your Web site (I don't mean spamming other sites), adding new and valuable content on a regular basis that's related to your site's topic (one site, one topic is my rule of thumb, subtopics are acceptable, like how X/HTML, CSS and JavaScript are subtopics of Web design for example), and monitoring your logs to see which keywords are bringing in the most traffic on a regular basis, you'll generally prosper.

A good part of SEO (as I see it) is actually wrapped up in the site development phase (a good design that's been coded properly), the rest being split up between marketing/promoting your site and maintaining it for the long haul (since while you can expect quick results, you can also expect to lose them just as quickly, which is why I prefer sustainable growth over the term).

But then again, what do I know? I'm in the process of deploying a niche search engine site afterall.

 

keywords in domain names mostly help in MSN but in Google and Yahoo...not so much. If your creating a spam site go for the keyword domain. If you want a site with a name that people will remember and revisit - dont stress too much on the keywords in the domain.

 

Agreed, Bilz. Though from what I've read onlilne, Yahoo was still paying attention to the keywords in domain names (not that it matters to me, I prefer branding a site than stuffing keywords in a domain name). The thing to remember though is that the Internet is a moving target - not just Web site design and development, but also marketing, usability, accessibility, and even search engine optimization and marketing. If Yahoo is now paying less attention to the keywords in domain names these days I for one won't blame them as everyone knows that content is king - and it's good to be the king.

As a friend of mine says all the time to aspiring Web designers, the day you think you've learned all that there is to learn is the day the world leaves you behind.

Sorry about that, I didn't see your post at first. In your case, either one would be fine. Just don't go overboard either way though. Short domain names are preferable (but hard to find) since they're easier for people to remember.

 

Some benefits of keyword in URL
1) www.seosite.com/does-keyword-in-url-matter will definitely have a better serp than www.seosite.com/p123.php

2) Many people tend to link with ur URL as the anchor text. This is an indirect benefit, as we all know the benefit of anchor text. This benefit is why the above point is Beneficial in URL.

SO.... Choose your URL well

 

Which, despite being correct, has absolutely nothing to do with this discussion (which is about the domain names themselves).

 

Using keywords in your domain name will have a positive effect on your rankings. you can use dashes in domain name !

 

And how much of a positive impact do you think they'll have?