A leading B-School Professor, giving feedback on my website said that your domain name should rather be some keyword that people look for. Coming from marketing I had really worked on the Brand name and just used the same as domain. But is it really that big a deal? Do search engines really rank you up based on your domain and its keyword? Or more importantly, does it still hold true in the dynamic landscape of Internet?

It is said that Search engines are going to pay less heed to keywords in domain names because it has been abused by spammers registering hundreds of domains to rank them for exact match. Content’s quality and its uniqueness plays most important role. But nonetheless, if you could still find keywords that you can book a domain name with, go for it. But if doing so, you feel totally different from your business name, you can skip it. Here’s what you can keep in mind when booking a domain:

• Registering with unique domain name- If you are a household name, somebody like Apple or Microsoft, you probably could just go with it alone. People anyways know you and would reach you through that.
• Should you keep your Business name or Brand name in the domain- It is a good deal, if you do so. People who know you by other means of publicity (personal sales, yellow pages, word of mouth, etc) can easily search you based on your name. Besides, it also keeps the uniformity in communications. Example you are a Xing seafood restaurant in NJ. You can make it XingseafoodNJ.com. You will come in top searches in people looking for seafood at NJ. People who know you by your name and specialty food, they will reach you through your name
• Keeping Keywords in the Domain name-Choosing a name that reflects your business and makes one arrive at your site through keyword search. Search engines give better search results for domain names with the relevant search key words in the domain name:
  • If you are the first mover or creating a niche, go ahead and book it. Example, if you are the first one to introduce Kites in the Bay Area (say your business name being Makar Kites) you could easily choose Bayareakitemakers.com
    • What if there are more kite makers in that area. For that geo-location you would still rank high in search.
    • By then if you have established your business by your brand or wish to expand beyond, you could also register domain by MakarKites.com
  • Exceptions to keywords in domain names– There are so many examples of some domain names or brand names such as OLX, YAHOO, which are exceptions as they have no keyword in their domain but have successfully established themselves through Advertisements and Publicity
• Buying a domain name- Chances are any domain name you think of is already booked. If you are too attached to your chosen name because it is the most appropriate according to you, and it is available at a cost, it is better to buy it.
• Use your creativity – You can still probably get a free domain name if you work around. But you have to take certain things into account:
  • Keep it short–  The long you want your customer to punch in more likely there would be typo and it would be annoying
  • .com should still be the first choice as most people still try searching with “.com”
  • Using 2 for “to” and 4 for “for” or not? Though trendy but it may not help you in search ranking. Could also be confusing. Still you can use your own instinct. There are some successful websites of this nature eg. Care2.com and it fits in well with their messaging and branding “Care to make a difference”
  • Hyphens should rather be avoided keeping the Kis (Keep it simple) rule
  • Going numeric or alphabetical as directories like yahoo keep the website submission in alphabetical order.

Brewing@ Coffee bean Media

Refs:

Which type of domain name should you choose?

How to choose the Right Domain Name

Tips to Search and Register a great Domain name

How Much Weight Do Keywords in the Domain Name Still Have (Poll)?