Keyword Domains or Branding? *Branding:Many of the most successful sites do not use keyword domains. These online businesses have chosen to go with a completely original domain, and brand it eg Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, etc. *Keyword Domains:A keyword domain is a domain specifically chosen to take advantage of search engine traffic. Selecting a domain that matches a keyword search, the website should be able to rank higher for targeted keywords and therefore benefit from added traffic and more potential for sales. If you have a large offline advertising budget and the budget necessary to brand your organization, a brandable domain is better choice. If, on the other hand, you're working on a shoe-string budget, choose a keyword domain and let the search engines bring the customers to you.
The keyword loaded domain name is only a minor factor that will help with rankings. If the targeted terms are very competitive you will need to utilize a lot more seo techniques than just the domain name.