how much does text in domain count for keyword targeting?

If you actualy have text in your domain that is specific to the keyword you are targeting (e.g. you are targeting "computer games" and your domain is "www.computergames.com), how much will it help you with that keyword ranking?

Ive always wondered this..

 

It helps a LOT with relevancy because it's assumed that if your domain is computergames.com you aren't hosting a mortgage calculator and that your site is actually about computer games.

 

In my view it counts for a little - but only a little. Keyword density in the body text, headings, page title etc are likely to be much more powerful.

But if you have a choice when setting up a domain, then of course, including a keyword or two in the domain (where this is sensible) is worth doing.

If you have a "no keyword domain" and you're competing with a site that has keywords in the domain, don't worry. Good on-page optimisation and sensible link-building with good anchor text will do the job.

Howard

 

It is not THE thing but helps.

 

Of course keyword density isn't even taken into consideration, so I'm not even going to bother reading the rest of your post.

 

Yes... having your main keyword in the domain name really helps... next, it posting quality content... If you follow those two steps, you'll rank very well for that keyword.
But, if the keyword is too long, I don't go for it.

 

Having the keyword your targeting in the domain helps a lot.
It's the best start you can get when hunting good serps on a keyword.
Then you start with the real work, content, links, on page SEO

 

If the domain title is the exactly the same as the search query, it helps massively.

 

I think it is probably one of the top 3 on-site SEO tweaks you can do on your site.
Of course every SEO factor can be compensated with lot of work on other factors, but still it should be used if possible because it doesn't require a lot of efforts for new sites and it helps a lot.

 

I believe it is the best on-page tweak. And 2nd most important factor after backlinks.

Just imagine, 5 quality backlinks - 6 months online - and such a targeted domain will surely be on first page.

 

IMO, it has only a minor direct effect.

indirectly, it can be very beneficial as people linking to the site often use name of the site as anchor text.

also true...

 

its not must to do, but it surely helps in getting good ranking in SE

 

i think it's helps very 2 little. As if u think logically, there r thousands of sites that has computer games as a keyword and any one of them can provide much more user friendly and valuable information on it. you have a domain name similar to a keyword doesn't mean that u will provide the best. One thing more, it's humans who use these domain names but i think crawl bot uses ur domain add. or ip of ur domain name. So getting advantages from this is barely very little thing.

 

If you are competing directly with another websites similar in your niche, then you will have the upper hand advantages. Most of the time (but not necessarily) websites with important keyword get top ranking because search engines perceive it as being more relevant to the search term compared to others.

 

Let me tell you, your website can still do great on serps with out it, but it will take a lot more work. You can see it by your self, having your primary keyword being part of your domain name helps tremendously, makes SEO work much easier

 

very important ......
i done a simple test in April with dot asia domain, it turn out positive and perfect result ....
google index my site in less then three hour (after smf and tinyportal install with MX5 @ Asia Meta), after 1 week, "MX5 in asia, Mx5 at asia, MX5 for Asia, MX5 Asia" i rank in first page with all those related keyword with no back link, content or anything .....
Then i drop the site (few month back) but MX5 Asia still in top rank (first page) today.... but i'm not sure google love dot asia or any other reason

 

It works wonders, and not just a little. Just Google just about anything and look at the URL's that come up. Of course, you still need to SEO the rest of your website but they will all come together perfectly.
I did a keyword rich blog for someone last week (with hosting - not the freebies) and bought a keyword domain for their town and they are already on the first page in google for many keyword phrases. This is without no backlinks yet.

 

thanks for the replies, this information is very useful.

 

In my experience it helps. I choose to go there for my site, now granted I got stuck with some stupid long domain name, but w/o backlinks or much effort I went straight to the first page in a few weeks for the term in most search engines.

 

For me, it doesn't help much! Unless the search term you target is the exact keywords in your URL.