Hey folks, Wanted to get opinions on best SEO practice for domain names. If the exact name domain isn't available, is second choice better to use a hyphen (eg. firstword-secondword.com) or change the word order (eg. secondwordfirstword.com). What say thee?
both are good choices. you are right hyper and name changing order is also a good option. beside that you can get more benifits if you find a keyword in domain with age.
There was a recent article on domain names by Matt Cutts. It talked about how it is not necessary to have keyword rich domain name. http://www.seobook.com/googles-matt-cutts-talks-down-keyword-domain-names. Read it. It might change your perspective into deciding which domain to go for.
If it's a "grey" SEO website - EMDs can still make a difference. But if you're trying to build a real business - go for a brandable name
I have success using hyphens and adding one word at the end of the keyword for domain names. It mostly depends on the competition but yeah, using hyphens works well.
I did watch the video of Matt Cutts, but I never fully take in what he says. You have to read between the lines, if you do research on KW's, you'll see most of the top 10 have domain names similar to what you're searching for. He does give good advice at times, but it's not always what it seems. Edit: I have never had an issue using hyphens
Here's something related I'm wondering: with Google obviously trying to weed out the good from the crap, for the keyword search "best restaurants in new york" would it be better to have "best-restaurants-in-new york.com" or something like "foodreviews.com/best-restaurants-in-new york"?
In terms of SEO, I think both options will have the same result. But, you should decide which one to pick based on user readablity. e.g. buy-camera.com will be much better than camerabuy.com. Just a thought .
Both options do work well. A lot still depends on the keyword competition and some on the level of domain.