Domain and SEO: How Your Website Name Affects Search Engine Optimization

How to correctly include keywords in a website title and whether it is necessary

Choosing a website name is one of the first questions a webmaster asks. This short name should be user-friendly and reflect the essence of the brand/content. But how a domain name affects a website's SEO performance in search engines is something optimizers have been pondering for years.

Our friends fromCollaborator.prosummarized the information available on the topic.

How does a website name affect SEO?

When talking about the influence of a domain name on a website’s search engine promotion, they primarily mean two things:

• inclusion of keywords in the title. For example, when searching for "buy a red dress," the search results above will showreddress.ua, thanwhitedress.ua
• Selecting a domain extension. Given the same information, the search engine will show a user from Kyiv "reddress."ua, than reddress.pl. 

In addition, a concise, understandable website name can be an additional incentive to click through from search results and increase the attractiveness of the advertising platform.

For example, searching for "SEO" in the domain name on the Collaborator directory yields 25 URLs. This significantly simplifies the search for relevant sites.

Keywords in a domain name

Keywords in a domain name can help a site rank in search results, but too many of them look spammy.

How Google Ranks Domains Based on Keyword

Gone are the days when webmasters would stuff keywords everywhere they could, including domains. Search engines are constantly learning to evaluate websites holistically, not just based on semantics.

The same applies to the spelling of the resource name. Google not only doesn't provide additional bonuses, but can also penalize a site that directly includes a keyword in the domain name if the rest of the quality is poor (EMD filter - Exact Match Domain). Young resources with 2-3+ keywords in the name are at risk.

Do domain keywords provide SEO benefits?

Google employees in 2022They say, that keywords in a domain name don't provide SEO benefits. Domains like web-design.com, web.design, and web-design.net will show up in search results based on the site's content and proper on-page optimization, not its name. The infamous John Mueller said that when choosing a domain name, you should focus more on the prospects and potential growth of your business, rather than keywords.

What's most interesting is that similar discussions have been around since the 2010s. Meanwhile, SEO blogs and forums continue to discuss the pros and cons of incorporating keywords into website names. Interest in the topic remains strong and periodically surfaces in "question the expert" formats.

Of course, the kupit_kvartiru_v_kieve.ua option is unlikely to be used by anyone anymore.

In our directory, we don't find any sites at all for commercial queries like "kupit" or "notebook" (even resources focused on earning money from guest posts don't use this method).

But recommendations on the order of keywords can be heard, for example, in relation to subdomains (more important ones at the beginning, yes, as in the case of meta tags).

General conclusionThe conclusion that can be drawn from all the statements/case studies/recommendations is that there is no direct correlation between a keyword's inclusion in a website name and its ranking in search results. However, with the right approach, it provides additional competitive advantages and user recognition. It also increases CTR, as it further highlights the website in search results.

How to choose the right domain name: recommendations

Below we will describe several recommendations that will help you choose a domain name that is attractive to both search robots and users of your resource:

1. Brevity and capacityLiterally a couple of words (or demonstrative and understandable abbreviations) should convey to the user what you're all about.
2. Relevance to contentThis way, users will more quickly decide to click and proceed, because they'll understand the benefit.
3. KeywordsAgain, be as relevant as possible, so search engines can show you to the right audience. But don't go overboard. Think long-term. Who's to say vanna.com won't want to sell outdoor pools in a couple of years? Will your name be relevant then?
4. Brand and GeoIf your website is a business, product, or individual's calling card, it's a good idea to include the brand name in the domain name. The same applies if you serve a specific market. Both users and search engines will appreciate such specificity.
5. Domain zoneUsing territorial (.ua, .us) or thematic (.travel, .shop) top-level domains will also have a positive impact on rankings and reflect the essence of the site.
6. Better to avoid: numbers, dashes, unnecessary punctuation, misspellings in words and business names. All of this makes it difficult to remember. Domain names that sound similar to well-known brands are also taboo. Why bother with all this extra fuss?

The importance of choosing a domain name cannot be overstated. It's the first thing a user encounters when interacting with you online. Changing it later is also difficult. So, take this task seriously from the start. Don't overuse keywords in your domain name, but don't ignore them either.