SEO 'can benefit from domain names with keywords'

15:00 23rd June 2009

Firms looking to improve their search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign should consider acquiring a domain name that has keywords in it, a recent survey has indicated.

The Twt poll, set up by Search Engine Journal, found that just under half (49 per cent) of respondents regularly notice that Google "loves" keyword-rich domain names.

A further 29 per cent of those who completed the survey thought that keywords serve some purpose to SEO when included in a domain name.

However, these also said that this aspect of SEO is not as important as it has been in the past.

Only a tiny minority of people (two per cent) asserted that Google has no interest in keywords in domain names, while three per cent believed that results that appear to be based on keywords in domain names were a "Google glitch".

SEO expert Ann Smarty claimed that .com sites with keywords in the name could find that they are returned relatively high in search results when the searched for phrase is an exact match.

This comes after web hosting firm Digital Pacific claimed that it would be advisable to opt for a short address.

It asserted that it should not exceed 20 characters and if possible should feature keywords.