Will having a keywords in my domain name help me rank better in Google?

No is the short answer. It will not help one iota.

It did years ago, but the days of keywords in domains helping your website to rank better are long gone.

We're talking about at least six years ago, so back in around 2013 is when that all started to close up.

Prior to that, if you wanted to be known for 'printer perth' and you had the domain name printerperth.com.au you would be guaranteed a page one position one spot in Google, but that is no more.

Google have recognised way back that there is much more to a website than the domain name.

Using 'printer perth' as the example, what if that website hadn't been updated in 10 years, so didn't really help someone with answers if they went to the website?

That means Google is not helping you.

And isn't that what Google is all about? If Google doesn't provide you with the answers you need, you might checkout some of the other search engines, 'Bing' or 'Yahoo' or the like.

Google is about giving you more relative information, more pertinent information, up to date information, so websites that are current, dynamic will get preference to be on Page 1 in Google search.

There are so many people in business competing for ‘printer perth' that there's no way in the world they can give preference to the website just based on having the domain 'printer perth', unless of course it is a current well optimised stellar SEO website.

So how does Google ‘rank’ websites?

I use the metaphor: To 'win' the game with Google you need to have 100 points, but not everything is worth an equal 1 point (Winning = be on Page 1 and then Position 1).

Google use these points as ranking 'units'.

Some 'units' might be worth 5 points, others may be worth a quarter of a point, some 1 point, some 2 points.

Domain age certainly has a high unit value, domain age in most cases shows domain authority. Plus a domain that has been around for a while generally has had SEO done on it and will hopefully have backlinks to it (links from other websites) which also help in domain authority, and its ‘ranking’.

Here's the list of likely Google ‘ranking’ points: Some of this is simple and almost 'one off actions' which we call 'Static SEO' and others are a work in progress and we refer to as 'Dynamic SEO'.

Here's a good outline of that > https://www.smarterwebsites.com.au/services/seo-workflow/

Some is common sense, some is a bit 'techy', but it all make a difference to how Google ranks and views your website.

Effective 'meta data', good keyword research, meta data creation (Title & Description), good on-page title structure with correct H1 to H5 Titles and other on-page optimisation strategy's,  good keyword density, page by page meta data mapping, page by page optimisation, correct category structure, correct tag bank setup, website speed, schema markup, structured data, rich snippets, featured snippets, SSL correctly setup, correct protocol on NAP (name, address, phone number), no broken links, solid sitemap structure, good 404 page redirect, mobile optimisation, social markup optimisation, backlinks, citations, back-link quality management, social signals management, online reviews, regular blog posts…

This infographic we did sums all of that up rather well we think >

https://www.smarterwebsites.com.au/services/seo-workflow/

Now here's the biggest question we get, how long before we see results?

We're playing in Google's backyard here, and it depends on your industry, and competitiveness, it's that simple, but our experience shows we'll have runs on the board within a few months.

Here's the thing: Play the game with Google, and Google will play the game with you.

There has NEVER been a better time for small to medium business, with the focus Google is placing on LOCAL SEARCH results.

I hope that helps clarify the myth around keywords and domains and SEO.

If you’re looking for a domain name, pick one that makes sense, is memorable, oh, and don’t use digits unless you’re prepared to spell it out all the time.

Oh, and if you get emails with special offers on domains that have just become available, don’t bother, unless you’re prepared to spend a lot on optimising the website, and why would you when you’d be better off doing that on your existing website.

If you’d like our domain name report go here > https://www.smarterwebsites.com.au/reports/domain-name-report/

If you want your website on Page 1 in Google, phone 08 9439 2820 or use the form below.