Page 3 - Keywords in URLs - How Important?

I did not say links are not important they are. keyword domains just need less of them to get listed when compared to a non keyword domain just search foryoudomain minuss the .com .net or .org and you'll have emuch better listing then for

IE
search for globalwarmingawareness2007 look at site listed #1
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=globalwarmingawareness2007&spell=1

vs

search for globalwarming awareness2007 site is now #25

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&q=globalwarming+awareness2007&btnG=Search

my site is #1 in the first one and #25 in the second most of the links are globalwarming awareness2007

as you can see 1 word keyword domains are very very strong

ok now try the second search on google.co.uk and you'll see how google uk favors uk domains now #4 vs 25 on .com

Google does like keywords domains dashed keyword-domains do not help Google does not like dashed-domain-names

Anybody that says KIDs are not easier to rank are living in a different time than today.

Some say make a name brandable and shoot for the moon. Well the thing is, some have the resources to reach the moon while others are throwing rocks. If you're one throwing rocks and the goal is to make it as far as possible sometimes it's better to set your goals a little closer to home and reality, sure you can try to hit the moon, but if it's straight up your throw might only land ten feet from you and you've gone nowhere, but aim for a target 50 yards out and you'll make some distance...or football may be a better example. The endzone is the goal, but if you throw for the endzone everytime you'll turn the ball over. It's sometimes better to rush for 3 yards than throw for 50....

heres a keyword domain that beats wikipedia
just search for hillary clinton or obama or just clinton

By the way wikipedia is a PR 9 and google is starting to let out some of its juice not showing up #1 as much

lot of users have been getting tired of see it all the time

What are you on about? What you have said in your last two posts is ridiculous. Just think about it for a second RATIONALLY.

Wikipedia is top for alot of searches because it has alot of links and offers the users some of the best content anywhere on the web for many different topics.

Google want the most relevant sites top, so users are satisfied and continue to use their search engine. Wikipedia is often the best and most relevant so they are top, simple.

KIDs help a little in uncompetitive markets, but they not a good gauge to use when judging if they are truly relevant and offer quality content, so naturally Google figures it would be stupid to offer any substantial boost for this minor largely irrelevant factor.

Keywords in urls is as important if not less as the content itself.

I agree to certain extent. Having keywords in the URL is important but it is not necessary for the website to rank high. I have done websites that did not even have any words close to the targeted keywords in the domain name or the URL and the pages ranked high and it worked out perfectly.

On the other hand, it makes my job easier if the keywords appear i the URL or the domain name but this is only if the domain name is aged. If you register a brand new domain name, even if you have the keywords in it, you are not likely to get great results. It sure doesn't hurt but it is not the only factor.

Ashkan Sobhe

Is a blog qualified for this experiment? I mean, if it were to be a blog with keywords in URL, would it matter? If not, I Have seen blog posts rank pretty high (i know there is that pinging thing and RSS there that makes the difference) but Keywords in URL are there..

Every new post made ranks so damn good for its keywords and stays there for one of my site, beats many old estbalished domains and captures all the traffic. The domain on which the blog is, does not have those massive backlinks.. The URLs of the post do not even have a single backlink when posted, but still it ranks there..

I would say Keywords in URL's surely do have some weight..

Keeping aside the blog thing, For a website, I feel, if a URL without keywords is backed up by massive relevant backlinks, that would rank well too..

However, if the backlinks support is not much, then Keywords in URL play their part..Thats my view of how the Algo could probably work in such a scenario..

Disclaimer: These are my thoughts only through observations on random SERPS, No practical evidence available though.

Saw your reference to this thread in a post about KIDs that came back up today. Man we need to pick a thread on this topic and make it sticky This comes up day after day...lol.

Reason for my reply is: The results...Got anything for us yet?

Also, I'd be interested in doing KIDs test along with some others, any interest tstolber, ClickyB, anyone else? As much as I'm leaning away from smaller factors and "tips or tricks" like these; I think a KID helps much much more than a KW in a URL alone. Anyone can have that, however, only a few can have the target KW(s) in the domain name itself before the TLD. And only ONE person can have the single KW itself and the .com TLD for branding purposes.

There's a problem in that... we all know keyword.com is a point [no test is needed] what you can't easily show is how more or less a thread that is "stickied" is in the minds of people trying to recall it over the valued of an unstuck thread that can't be recall as originally presented.

Here's a test... a while back I wrote a great post on the limited value Meta Tags have... with great empirical evidence that the description "appeal" isn't important... find it?

Let's us know how long you looked before you gave up or when you finally come out with it...

Then summarized the attention span of a searcher looking for 8 seconds using a logrithmic scale for lost potential... over the time you took to find that thread.

That's the general amount of lost sales because you are "just another domain name... not a trusted business with a reputable service.

There is a huge difference between paper SEO and practical... and the one thing you've proved with your sig tag line... e.g. --- Gems, Diamond Rings, Engagement Rings, Loose Diamonds and other fine jewelry <--- ONLY A TEST (not my friggin' career...lol)

You absolutely 100% agree... the KIDs has not real value... only perceived value.

Define "real value" - I certainly think it has value, not like links or title tags do, but ranking value (how much is the question...) over another non-KID and of course it does have "unproven" perceived value as well, I cannot argue that I've created that in my mind over the years.

You may be right that many of us agree KW.com gets some extra points, but if I was to conduct a test for KIDs it wouldn't be that simple. It would be more like:

KW-UnrealtedKW-UnrelatedKW.com vs. Brand.com
*for SERPs on KW (and KW ONLY).

I don't agree that KW.com can't also be just as "brandable" as say Yahoo.com or Match.com in many cases either.



Are you referring to the label "(not my friggin' career...lol)"? Or the fact that I paid thousands for that domain used in my sig because I know the fact it's a KID is a huge selling point to many (SEOs and/or business owners) for future resale in which even to my surprise I've ALREADY had random offers which double my cost of obtaining it (and only 2.5 months later and during a recession I might add).

I say "the domain is not my career" because of the fact I use it in my sig. I don't want readers thinking my seo techniques are to get three or four related links and 100+ forum sig links and leave it at that. The only reason I ever placed it there to begin with was to do a forum signature test last year, which in fact may be inaccurate due to various factors, however, the rankings it has ARE REAL (i.e. Number one for "engagement rings" in Google.ca). I won't remove the link until I have the time to build quality related links in place of the many forum sig links it has now because I'm afraid they may actually really have value (I'm aware I very well could be just being paranoid). I never expected the site to rank so high with less than 2 hours of SEO on the site, or the link would already be gone; afterall I despise the unrelated, investigated upon, unwanted exposure it produces...

Whether it can or can't isn't really the point... "it isn't" and we are stuck with that.

Take any industry and identify the leaders... I'd be very surprised if you can come up with 10 KIDs that are identified as leaders... better start with 1 [I can't think of any] course I also have a bias opinion... "BRAND WORKS"... which suggests KIDs are ok for startup but they don't pull any weight down the line - "ever".

Even in your own industry it isn't diamonds or rings or any KID competing as the top seller... it's a bloody river.

In another thread I posted this: