Domain Name Ranking Factor is Going Down

Google has been taking some serious steps in order to improve the quality of their search engine results page. They have released the Google Panda Update which has been a major shift in the search arena – now they’re going to do something about the domain name keywords.

Surprise, surprise…

It’s just a matter of time before the SEO shortcuts get to live off all the fun they’re having. Google will sooner or later find a way to penalize cheat gamers in their SEO stage. In the aspect of domain names, it’s not really a cheat to get a good domain name. But peppering it with your desired keywords doesn’t look too shabby to any internet user, does it?

Let’s be honest

Domain names have been one of the most considerably powerful ways to rank higher in the search engines. No wonder why they get sold for a crazily high price. Acquiring a really good domain name is equivalent of getting your company name in the web.

Domain names can be equated to your brand in the web. Its importance is just too high. For example, my seo-hacker.com domain name is really important for me because it’s my brand. It’s my signature. It’s also my company name. I will do anything for me to keep it.

Domain gaming for SEO

The point of buying a domain should be primarily for your personal branding and for attracting people. Unfortunately now, it’s becoming a game for SEO specialists to buy a domain which is peppered with their desired keywords because it is a major factor in ranking for Google

I think even with the update, domain names would still hold good weight because the URLs are taken into account as an entity and as a possible point of reference for the website.

Google Spokesman, Matt Cutts mentioned about the concerns for domain names recently:

“Now if you’re still on the fence, let me just give you a bit of color, that we have looked at the rankings and the weights that we give to keyword domains, and some people have complained that we’re giving a little too much weight for keywords in domains,” Cutts said. “And so we have been thinking about adjusting that mix a little bit and sort of turning the knob down within the algorithm, so that given two different domains it wouldn’t necessarily help you as much to have a domain with a bunch of keywords in it.”

Again, the fix is from concern by end-users wherein Google is only made aware by real people who use the web about the weight their algorithm gives to domain names.

The Shift

Is still leaning towards creating great, quality content that people love and value. Google has been consistent in their push regarding this. I think this is not something of a disadvantage in their algorithm. I would even say that it is a good change and good effect to their search algorithm because it caters to people – which is the real, supposed design of search engines.

Tips for Keeps: I guess SEO specialists who are harvesting domain names for clients are gonna be hit by this – we still don’t know how hard though. But if you’re a white hat SEO specialists who focuses on creating good, unique, solid content as the foundation and cornerstone of your campaign, then you shouldn’t worry. I know I’m not. 🙂