Is It Good Practice To Switch To A Keyword Rich URL?
We have an established website that uses our business name domain. We’ve had the website for over 12 years.
I keep noticing competitors websites ranking above us that use a keyword rich URL instead of their Brand name and wanted to know if we should do the same?
Deeho Replies:
This is a great question and I can see why at first glance you might be tempted to change your URL, but there are a few considerations. Firstly, despite what you may see, Google favours Brand building over keyword chasing and if you change your domain now, you will just look like you are chasing the keywords you use in your domain.
This will actually make you less likely to rank well for them rather than more so.
The sites you see will have used their keyword rich domains for quite some time. In all probability they will have an established history with the URL, so in spite of their website being branded with their Business Brand name, their keyword rich URL works for them.
If you were starting out today as a new business, then a keyword rich .co.uk or .com domain may well be the best route for you for ranking purposes, but it is a big gamble to switch an established domain, especially if you them redirect your existing Brand domain onto the new keyword rich one.
Your ideal course of action should be to stick with the Brand domain you are using and to build your trust and authority online to increase your rankings. With suitable links to your website you will outrank a keyword rich domain once your trust and authority metrics exceed theirs.