Keywords in Domain and Links as Google Ranking Factors
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This is the third part of an article series that examines and verifies the important factors for ranking in Google. The factors we will examine in this part include keyword use in the domain name and keyword-focused anchor text in internal links.
There are other important factors, of course, that will be examined in future articles. These include “geo-targeting factors” which have already been discussed in a previous article here on SEO Chat.
Other things that are self-explanatory and known to have positive effects on one's Google ranking include adding “unique and substantive content on the page” (remember that “content is still king”). There is no need to verify this factor because it is essential that all web pages provide value to users by having unique and useful content.
Keyword Use in the Domain Name
Keyword use in the domain name has been a hot issue for a while now; there's an ongoing debate as to whether it is an important ranking factor in Google. I can remember that SEO experts used to say that it is NOT actually the keyword use in the domain name which is contributing to rankings. Rather, since there is a high probability that hyperlinks will use the domain name as the anchor text, keyword use in the domain name leads directly to lots of inbound links that use the keyword in the anchor text. Keyword use in the anchor text is the most important ranking factor in Google according to the latest survey conducted by SEOMoz. I verified that this was true in the first part of this article series.
For example, in high quality directories or other websites, many webmasters and even bloggers still prefer to link to the domain using the domain name, like this:
<a href="http://www.seochat.com">http://www.seochat.com</a>
The hyperlink anchor text for the above link would look like this: http://www.seochat.com
This contains the important keyword “SEO.” It will be interesting to examine the probability of ranking pages in Google containing keywords in the domain name. When we have the data, we will learn whether or not the expert opinions are true.
Next: Testing Keywords in Domain as a Ranking Factor >>
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