How important is a domain name in SEO?

Could a domain name like "An thJam es" rise to #1? ... or will domain names with Boston Real Estate in it, always be superior?
Thanks!!!

Keywords in the domain name and URL is just one element of SEO. Its effect on rankings is debatable. IMO it it won't make or break your campaign, there are far more important factors when it comes to rankings - especially for competitive keywords.

I suppose if you had a URL like www.eatingdisordersforpeoplewithhorribleearinfecti ons.com, I suppose you would rank well for the term "Eating disorders for people with horrible ear infections", only because the competition is extremely low.

Focus on more important factors such as content, links and quality.

DinoMartino,

a good domain certainly does help. But in competitive market categories some much else comes into play.

If you're really concerned make sure your internal pages have URLs that include elements of Boston Real Estate.

The main benefit I have found from using keywords in the domain name is that when people link to you they have a tendency to put the website name in the anchor text and consequently you have your keywords in the anchor text. However you have have to consider the benefits of a unique and memorable brand name and you can always ask people to change the anchor text.

I suppose that's true, but you should ask them to change the anchor text for you anyway. So I can't see a great advantage in that respect.

take note that in ranking in SERP does not depend "only" on the domain name of the site. the way I read your post its like your just focusing on the domain name...you can choose whatever domain you want, but be strategic at the same time...having your keyword in your domain does "help" but it all depends on the SEO performance you're going to apply to it.

it does help to have the keyword in the domain name

Read, Read, read on his query "How important is a domain name in SEO?".
now have a look at you responce. Is it justified

importance: 3/10


having properly formatted URL's: 6/10

hello ,
I would choose a domain that matches the main targeted Kws if possible , unless I wish to promote the brand for an important website .

I noticed that one of my competitors ) rank well in G Serp for the kw that matches exactly the domain name although it has less IB links than mine ( their quality is not better ) , the on page optimisation is not that good ... and the website much younger .
Is the reason of the good ranking to be looked for in the exact match ?

Irene from Italy

in our experience if all else is equal in a race between two competitive sites then the site with the keyworded domain will be difficult to beat for #1.

it definitely is an advantage, as shown in your search and probably most property + location searches you try, being as property is quite a competitive area, good SEO awareness will be needed to make an impression. we are currently working with a property company who are named partner + partner and in the property + location searches, the top 5 sites are all some variant of www.property+location.various

obviously these are not the only searches people make in this marketplace that you should target, but our stats show it's approx 30-40% of the searches, so if you can get the keyworded domain, I definitely would.

also as mentioned good keyworded directory and page structure is another big factor, the whole site should be designed from the ground upwards with SEO in mind, because it is such a competitive marketplace, you will be up against other sites built like this, and always struggle if you don't think about it at the start

Domain is just one factor. It is a big plus when you have your keywords on your domain. But onpage and offpage optimization is still the deciding factor on how well you will rank..

#1 in doman name selection is to hopefully make it easy to remember and/or memorable. Keywords in domain names are not really very important. For example, what keywords are in: Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. They went for easy to remember and brandable.

I always see split opinions on this topic *sigh*

KIDs (Keyword in Domains) is a big advantage!

Of course off and on page optimization is very important, however, if you take two NEW domains one being a KID one not, with identical content and backlinks and get them indexed at the same time, 100% of the time the domain with the KW's in it will ALWAYS rank higher.

Your example of "Boston Real Estate" just proves my point even further, eh em - SEO_AM.

Not everyone needs a "Branded" site. I see many top posters bringing this up all of the time, and feel this is pretty obvious. If you don;t have residual orders/sales and get 90% or more of your traffic from SE's, branding is obsolete. Not to mention, people use bookmarks for a reason.

The point about having KIDs and the fact that the anchor text from natural links always includes the keywords is also a big plus.

Having the KW in the domain also gives you the option to create a url like www.keyword.com/keyword.html as well, just another plus.

If you can get a domain with either:

A) only the keyword you are after

or

B) the keyword you are after + another relevant word related to the topic, or words like shop, online, information, etc.

GET IT and GET IT FAST. IF you don't, someone will if its a good niche, and you just lost a great head start.

One last note about KIDs is in my experience is they get an almost immediate boost (approx 30 days, + or -) in SE's like Yahoo and MSN.

MadisonSEO:

KIDs are great and I have some of them. But your argument is not much greater than telling someone a metaname=keyword tag is important.