What Of The Domain Name, Anyway?

Should you get a domain name with your keyword in it for your new blog? Search Marketing Standard’s Rebecca Appleton gives some good, and bad, advice about this issue. First, let’s dispel a rumor: All the good domain names aren’t taken.

There I said it. But is it true?

Ms. Appleton says that most of the good domain names with keywords are gone. It depends on what you mean by good domain names.

About once a year Google changes its ranking algorithm to put more weight on keyword-rich domain names. Later in the year the search giant reverses it. So keywords in the domain names do, at least for part of the time, affect your rankings. Even beyond anchor text. But, as she so aptly points out, anchor text can be a bigger benefit to you if you have that keyword in the domain name.

A part of the perception regarding domain names centers around people coveting shorter domain names. Yes, if you’re looking for a one-word domain name with your keyword in it then you’ll likely never see it. If you do, you’ll pay thousands of dollars for it. Likely, hundreds of thousands.

Nevertheless, you can still get a domain name with your keyword in it. You just might have to get creative. There is nothing wrong with coming up with creative variations of keywords that can also be branded. Not every domain name has to be Keyword_______.com where the blank you fill in is a related, but different, word that describes the same thing. Instead, why not fill in the blank with an unrelated keyword that you can use as a branding element. All kinds of examples abound:

1. AutomotiveChickenHawks.com
2. MattressPerv.com
3. FlowerChild.com
4. GreaseMonkey.com
5. TheClockStruck1.com
6. RealEstateHatTricks.com

OK, some of these may be far out, but think branding and marketing. You’ve got your keyword. You know what you want to target. Now come up with your version of the Marlboro Man. If I were Philip Morris, I’d secure TheMarlboroManSmokes.com and I’d brand it to the hilt.