Why Domain Names Don't Matter Like They Used To

Domain Names Do Not Matter Like They Used To

When last did you search for anything on google, and selected only the results with your search term appearing in the URL or website's name?

In fact, were you even expecting to match the URL, or website's name?

And when the search results were displayed, did you notice that in many cases the bold titles do not match the actual URL?

I'll bet like most of us you spent more time scanning the descriptions for relevance to your query. That's what google does! That's what really matters to you, and Google understands that! So they place priority on content relevance, starting with the website's description.

All You Want is Anything Relevant

All you wanted to see, was if the content within the site was relevant to your search. Again I'd guess you'd spend some time looking at the "About" page, or trying to find an index of topics page, or anything that might indicate you found what you were looking for. The URL or Name is of little to no value at that time. In fact you really don't care.

URL and Name Comes in Last

The only time you would refer to the name, or URL is AFTER you find what you were looking for, just so that you would know how to get back to the website.

With that said I could end this right now. The point is made, and I am sure you see exactly what I'm getting at.

Prove Me Wrong...

I invite you to prove me wrong by going to google right now and search for anything of interest to you. Then tell me what goes through your mind as you look for the best answer to match your search entry.

If there's still any doubt, or need for clarification I'll be happy to expand on this...but for now I believe you get the point.

Do You Need an Example?

Okay, here are examples of URLs which bare no indication of the product or service: http://GoDaddy.com, http://Google.com, these two giants, when they got started, their names gave on indication of the service they provided. One provides domain name registration and website hosting, and the other provides web search engine and indexing services.

Conclusion

Your website and URL can point to your product or service, but it's not necessary. Search engines like yahoo, google, ask.com, are focused on "content relevance" to your visitor's keyword search terms, not URL or name.