This post is Written by Sarah lamb

There is a paradox which we now have to deal with. On the one hand Google is axing websites for spammy content with excessive keywords and on the other it’s rewarding sites which have keyword in their domain name. This post is about this paradox and how to deal with it.

Domain Name Dominance

This aspect can best be explained with an example. Let’s do a simple search for the keyword ‘SEO’. This is how the search results look like.

Let’s forget Wikipedia and what do you see? Search results for keyword ‘SEO’ are dominated by domain names which contain the keyword. This leads me to the conclusion that if you want to be ranked for this keyword, your domain name better contain this keyword. You just can’t reach the first page whatever else you may do.

Let’s take another keyword – photography

The results are even worse. The only solution I can see is that you use long tailed keywords. I haven’t tested this yet but you can do so. I have a feeling that this strategy will only work partially. The main keyword will still remain as important.

What can you do to compensate for this anomaly?

It’s tough compensating for this peculiar preference given by Google. If I look back, this dominance of domain names with embedded keywords was not that so crucial. It seems that this change happened a few months ago – coinciding with the Penguin fiasco. I suspect that there is some flaw in the Penguin update which has led to this situation.

Now what can you do about it? Let’s examine the first image more closely. One website serachengineland has managed to push itself in, though its domain name does not contain the keyword. But they have more than compensated by putting the term ‘SEO’ in several places – in page title and page itself. Moreover ‘searchengine’ itself is an alternate name for SEO.

Your strategy therefore must be to include a page with the keyword. But wait a second – if you do all this, Google penguin is likely to penalize you for spammy page. This is the paradox I have been talking about. But in my view, there is no way you can avoid confrontation with Google. At some level you will cop it anyway.

What can be the repercussions?

Google can throw you into the backyard of search results. This would be equal to death for your website. You are between hard rock and deep blue sea. Going aggressively for keyword based domain names is possibly the only way out. Content, about which Google is going gaga, is only a part of the solution.

Conclusion

Domain name with embedded keywords dominates search results. This has become all the more obvious in the past few weeks. In comparison, keyword optimization has faded in importance. It’s time you had a look at your domain name again.