How Keyword-Rich Domain Names Affect Search Click-Through Results Positively

Every day, billions of search queries take place online. These searches often include a variety of words and phrases made up of keywords that play a role in determining the search results provided by search engines.

So, does having a keyword-rich domain name that shows up in search results provide any benefits over domain names appearing in search results that do not include keywords?

Researchers analysed millions of search queries and discovered that internet search users are almost twice as likely to click on a domain name where the second level includes at least one of the keywords in their search query, compared to a domain name that does not include any of the keywords in their search query.

This finding illustrates the importance of thinking like your target audience and asking, “What might someone type into a browser or search bar to find my product or service?”

Incorporating those same keywords into your domain names may make the difference in ensuring people find and click through to your website.

Data analysis

To help determine if there is a benefit to registering domain names that include keywords over those that do not, analysts focused on the second-level domain names (SLDs), the characters and keywords that come before the dot in a domain name.

Additional filtering was conducted to remove data that was incomplete, unusable or would negatively impact the accuracy of the analysis. The filtering process included data that:

• included personally identifiable information (PII)
  
  
• did not appear in the top 20 search results
  
  
• appeared to be a navigational query
  
  
• included search queries with no clicks

Findings

The domain names with keywords that overlapped with the search terms had a click-through rate almost two times higher than domain names without overlap.

In other words, internet search users are almost twice as likely to click on a domain name that includes at least one of the keywords in their search query, compared to a domain name that does not include any of the keywords in their search query.

Conclusion

The value of keyword-rich domain names has been debated when it comes to topics like desirability, memorability and search engine ranking. It appears that keyword-rich domain names can play an integral role when it comes to user click-through rate on search engine results.

Given that “traffic to a website” is frequently cited as a top priority for website owners, they should seriously consider registering keyword-rich domain names that align with their website or business focus to take advantage of a search user’s higher propensity to click on domain names that include one or more of their search keywords.

While there are many variables that go into search rankings, like content quality, cross-linking, advertising budgets, faster website speeds, etc, having a portfolio of descriptive, keyword-rich domain names may make the difference in being found online.

Thus, registering keyword-rich domain names may be a smart strategy, giving businesses a leg up when it comes to getting prospective customers to click on their links.

SOURCE: Verisign