Domain names?

[JohnV]

Hi

I would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on the following.

In terms of SEO how important is the domain itself, and in particular that the theme or sort of keywords you will be targeting, are included in the domain name itself, rather than a more generic name?

For example, targeting a phrase such as "casino bonuses", how much, all else being equal, does www.casinobonuses.com have over www.domain.com/casino-bonuses/ when it comes to searching "casino bonuses"? Presumably it will have some advantage, but does anyone have any feelings as to how pronounced it is?

There are nice/quirky/memorable generic domains available for gambling portals that cater to lots of things, but they don't contain any of the key words you will be particularly concentrating on throughout the site in the domain name. Are you putting yourself at a great disadvantage going down such route?

If you are looking for a concise domain name chances are that it will probably be taken. If purchasing an existing domain from a third party, how much of a factor is the age of the domain? I see some people highlight the fact that it has, for example, registered since 2000, etc. and attaching value to this.

I would have thought that a website/domain builds up additional trust over time that helps it in ranking, but presumably if there is no existing content or the content differs substantially then do you not in effect reset/start the clock when you put up some real content?

Thanks

John

[Pokerworx]

From what I see they mean alot.. loads, but with content and well made pages with a good format for what your chasing you can do better. But in general I see names come out on top. But imo if your content is good enough and your page is titled well with the content working with it you could have anything-off-topic.com and rank. imo

[JohnV]

So, all being equal you would say the person with the keywords in the domain would have a significant advantage?

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

[patmcluk]

LOL you can see from my domain names that i believe in being very specific! So, yes, i personally think it is important!

[bonusbeast]

Yes from I would most certainly say that the main domain is the better option by far.

[Pokerworx]

So, all being equal you would say the person with the keywords in the domain would have a significant advantage?

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

I think so, ive read that 1/2 keywords are the best 3 is ok going beyond that is takin the * In total I think its keep your name under 22 characters I have a ton of bad ones I am happy to sell cheap but on the flip side if you make lots of great content and get loads of visits from that your name wont really matter.

[JuoniLiaho]

..if I may "borrow" this thread, what do you think about domains below..? any use?? Or too long for a domain? I think it can't be that good because those were still available??



-J-

[JohnV]

What do people think about age, particularly in relation to an undeveloped domain?

[universal4]

I think age can certainly help a domain...but that is a good question when discussing undeveloped names.

If you have 2 names of similar quality in terms of keyword etc and one is new and the 2nd is 4 years old and had never been developed does the 2nd one give you the age benefit shortly after you develop it?

My opinion is that it would...but woiuld like more input on that....

Rick
Universal4

[stefanaltzer]

Hi,

let's look at the present casino rankings, since we all know who's in frot of us, right?

The most important term "online casino" with a Google Keyword Tool Score of 110000 exact searches per month has a in its top 20 list a mear 3 results that don't contain the keyword "online casino" in some manner..

This should clear the importance of the keyword IN the URL...

Thinking whether onlinecasino.com or site.com/onlinecasino.htm is more important, decide for yourself, but I would trather buy my shoes from adidas.com then from shoes.com/adidas.htm (NO ADVERTISMENT ISSUES PLS) ....

I think considering that the brand can be a keyword as well, google is smart enough to understand that if someone could buy onlinecasino.com they must be really cool in what they're doing, right?

Bye now, gotta go training :P