I found a keyword phrase that has a high number of monthly hits and a low amount of competition. Unfortunately, the domain name that matches that phrase is already taken. But there is a domain available, that's the same phrase but with the letter "a" before it. So if XXX was the keyword phrase, the domain would be www.aXXX.com. My question is this. Does that "a" make a big difference in the SEO value of the domain for that phrase? The "a" actually flows its the phrase quite well. I just haven't bought the domain yet, so I don't want to announce what it is publicly.
In my opinion, YES It has no value if purchased with the "a" version , If the 2 parts can stand alone with a meaning, it wouldn't be a big diffference, but Google will read the new domain as it's axxx.com , the engines will not read the xxx apart from axxx. In the meantime, I'd like to say that matched domain name is a plus in SEO when available.
Hi there - You need to make sure you are acting on current Google knowledge, here! It used to be the case that if you got a domain named after the keyword you are going for you can rank relatively easily in Google. However, that changed when in 2012 Matt Cutts warned that Google was going to start downgrading low quality "exact match domain" sites. http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2214115/Google-Warns-of-Upcoming-Exact-Match-Domain-Algorithm-Change Confirmed by SE Round Table: http://www.seroundtable.com/google-emd-update-15776.html Following this, it became less and less valuable to have an "EMD" site. So that now it is hardly worth it at all. So you'd be better off trying to find a domain that has a little bit of authority that you can buy cheaply. As long as the domain is something vaguely related to your niche this is going to give you much better bang for your buck than any exact match domain. When buying a domain with authority – or PR – just make sure you don't get ripped off. Some people just get one high PR link to a domain, sell it while it looks good, and then take the link down once it sold so it's PR evaporates. To check against this have a look at all the backlinks a domain has before you buy it. If, for example, it is supposed to be PR 3 than you would expect may be one PR 3 backlinks, a few PR 2, and a few more PR 1. If you just see one PR 3 back link it's probably a rip-off. I hope this helps and stops you going off on any wild goose chases buying domains which are a waste of money. Rob
IMHO I think name of domain is not so important. If your main URL is not so "beauty", you can still align the value with quality content, good structured titles etc. Some time ago I have bought perfect one word, 5 letter domain with amazing amount of Google local searches, but the project failed Only nice name didnt help me out.