Some people in the industry are speculating that keyword rich domain names will be the next target to be hit by Google’s latest algorithm update.
When you go to register a new domain name, the first question that inevitable rises is: "DoI go with a keyword rich domain name? (www.buy-cilais-online.net for example), or something that is more brandable such as: www.zynga.com?" There are certainly arguments back and forth as to which is better for rankings and the debate swings back and forth.
It is certainly possible to have good success with a keyword rich domain name. One advantage that keyword domains do have is that if you are referring to the name of the business, you might link to it using the same words as the keywords. It depends on what your goals are. but the most memorable domain names are the brandable ones.
I tend to lean toward the more brandable terms. The case being is that if you have 15 results in your search results that all have the term “android-apps” in the url, it gets difficult to rise above the rest. If you are shooting for big success, sometime the more brandable terms are the way to go.
Matt Cutts stated:
"…we have looked at the rankings and the weights that we give to keyword domains, & some people have complained that we are giving a little too much weight for keywords in domains. So we have been thinking about at adjusting that mix a bit and sort of turning the knob down within the algorithm, so that given 2 different domains it wouldn’t necessarily help you as much to have a domain name with a bunch of keywords in it."
Many of the most successful sites are not keyword rich at all (digg.com, redditt.com). I think this is another prime example of Google following through on their mantra of creating website for the users and not creating them specifically for rankings.
Quality services and content will always be more attractive to the user. People will be more inclined to remember you with a unique and highly brandable domain name. Unique names have inherently more marketing power. Users tend to find keyword rich domain names look spammy and this can turn people away before they ever click on your link in the SERPs.
The recent Farmer and Panda Algorithm updates, have triggered a fundamental paradigm shift in the way SEOs and website owners create and optimize their websites. 2011, is the year of the organic web and we all need to "grow" with it.