New Study Reveals Importance of Using Keywords in Domain URLs
Memphis, TN (PRWEB) March 06, 2017 -- New research by HigherVisibility LLC, a Memphis, TN-based SEO firm, provides an answer to the old SEO question of exactly how much (if at all) it helps to have keywords in your domain URL. The study, “How Valuable Is It to Have a Keyword in Your Domain URL?”, found that URL keyword optimization does seem to make a difference of some sort -- but an interesting takeaway is that some industries are much more likely than others to use keyword-referencing domain URLs.
“With this study, we took a look at the top page result across ten major verticals to find out how many use keywords in their domain URLs,” said Scott Langdon, Managing Partner of HigherVisibility. “What we found was that overall, 63% of the top search results included keywords. But that varied widely between industries -- from 47% in the email software space to 76% in websites dealing with debt.”
Some of the other top industries that use URL keyword optimization include the food and beverage, business, weight loss, plumbing and hotel industries.
“Google’s official stance on keyword-optimized domain URLs has been that it helps ‘a little’ with ranking,” said Adam Heitzman. “Ours is the first study that really looks at who is using this technique and where it is the most helpful.”
Heitzman cautions against using Exact Match Domains with the sole purpose of ranking for a term, unless your brand exactly matches a search query.
“Exact Match Domains have the potential to make your website look spammy, and you don’t want to do something in the name of higher search results that delegitimizes your website in the process,” he advises. “Domain URL keyword optimization is a legitimate and useful tool, but just one of many. There aren’t any shortcuts, and all the elements have to work together to add up to better rankings. Website usability and quality content remain some of the biggest factors in SEO success.”
For more details on the study, its research methods, and the top keywords used in the industries studied, see the HigherVisibility website.
About HigherVisibility
Founded in 2008 by a team of veterans of SEO and internet marketing, HigherVisibility offers the best search engine marketing services to clients of all industries and sizes -- from enterprise-level corporations to small local businesses across the U.S. HigherVisibility has grown rapidly since its founding and was recognized in the Inc. 500 in 2015 and the Inc. 5000 in 2016. An industry leader, HigherVisibility has been profiled in some of the most well-known business publications, including The Huffington Post, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider and more, and consistently ranks highly on the Top 10 lists of third party SEO review sites such as TopSEOs and BestSEOCompanies.com.
For more information contact:
HigherVisibility
Adam Heitzman
Managing Partner
901-672-7243 x13
adam(at)highervisibility(dot)com
Adam Heitzman, HigherVisibility, http://www.highervisibility.com, +1 (901) 672-7243, [email protected]
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