The Keyword Domain Myths
The myth of keyword-rich domains not being
conducive to SEO purposes has been perpetuated for way too long,
and quite frankly
I'm tired of seeing it written about in forums by SEO
pretenders.
A simple understanding of how search engines use anchor
text in ranking is enough to dispel these myths.
Keyword vs. Branding
Keyword or branded domain? It's a question that makes no sense.
Brand is
credibility. To say that keyword domains/ descriptive domains cannot be credible is ludicrous.
Pets.com is a keyword domain. WebmasterWorld.com is a descriptive domain. Internet.com is a keyword domain. Branding has nothing to do with the domain. Amazon could set up shop on some silly domain like Hey-Dudes-We-Sell-Stuff.com and they would still retain their credibility and brand worth.
The Keyword Domain Penalty Myth
This is more wishful thinking than rational thought. It is a theory attributed mostly to Jill Whalen, unofficial spokesman of incompetent SEO's everywhere.
This theory states that Google will "wisen up" to the evil SEO types using keyword domains to grab top rankings on competitive keywords. The proposed wisening up involves Google implementing an algorithm which will prevent a keyword domain from benefiting from anchor text attributed to the keyword domain.
For an example, take the domain
Webmaster-Forum.net. Because the domain contains the keywords
Webmaster and
Forum, those two words would automatically be marked as non-creditable, and the any anchor text bonus seen in the search engine ranking would be removed. If one were to link to the site using the anchor text
SEO Forum, the anchor text
SEO would count; but the anchor text
Forum would be
nullified.
As I mentioned, this is a theory expounded by dim-witted SEO’s. There is
absolutely no credibility to this theory. In fact, if Google were to implement this entirely impractical theory, Google.com would not rank #1 in a search for "Google"; Yahoo.com would not rank #1 in a search for "Yahoo"; Netscape.com would not rank #1 in a search for "Netscape" insofar as those sites contain those words in their domains. Google would still rank #1 in a search for "search engine", but not for the keyword contained within its domain.
The Phone Test
Another issue often brought up by amateurs who don't
understand the benefits of keyword domains is the phone test. One
learning-impaired SEO asked me:
Do you want to answer the phone by saying, "Hello,
this is John from stupidkeyword1-stupidkeyword2-stupidkeyword3.com."?
Common sense will tell you that my web hosting staff
answers the phone with, "Quality Web Hosting. How may we help you?"
The Impaired CTR Myth
Another theory put forth by the ever imaginative Jill Whalen states that consumers are less likely to click through to a keyword domain based site. According to this theory, in the consumer's mind a keyword domain is a bad thing and a non-keyword domain is a good thing.
Wishful thinking at best.
Everyday thousands of searches are done for keyword domains, even when no functioning site exists on that domain. Monster.com holds and maintains Jobs.com specifically for this reason; even though Jobs.com is a simple doorway to Monster.com, thousands of searches are done for Jobs.com every month, and thousands more are typing the domain directing in their browser's address bar.
Some of the most profitable sites on the Internet are keyword domains; the inherent value of a keyword domain will endure no matter who owns it.
Not even a hyphen deters the average consumer from clicking through. Concrete-Home.com, Webmaster-Forum.net, Suzuki-Bikes.com are just a few hyphenated domains which achieve impressive traffic.
Keyword & Descriptive Domains for SEO
