How to Use Keywords in Domain Names

Apr 19 2024
by Ilona K.

Table of contents

What are the keywords in domain names?
How to choose keywords for your domain?
Domain options on .it.com extension

Afternic, a domain marketplace owned by GoDaddy, released the latest top keywords sold on its aftermarket. Despite Google repeatedly saying that keywords in domain names do not impact website’s search performance, keyword-focused domains remain popular. Let’s explore why and how to use keywords in domain names for the benefit of your business.

What are the keywords in domain names?

A quick refresher. There are two types of domain names:

Branded: are the same as the business name of the company, brand or product. For example, netflix.com is a branded domain.
Generic (or keyword-led): based on a keyword phrase describing a product or service. For example, onlinevideo.com would be a keyword-led domain.

Despite a common belief, keywords in domain name do not impact your SEO (or ranking position in Google search). However, they can give a visibility boost and impact user behavior — especially if a customer is searching for a product or service in general, not from a specific brand. Research shows that users are twice as likely to click on a domain name if it includes a keyword from their search query.

According to the latest report, terms related to the IT industry returned to the top 20 of keyword-led domains sold at Afternic. Keywords like ‘it’, ‘online’, ‘solutions’, and ‘services’ are continuously popular amongst potential domain owners.

Leading the way at the end for 2023, ‘my’ keeps the top spot in January and February. A breakthrough of 2023, ‘AI’ keeps a runner-up position, while ‘it’ has climbed up from 4th to 3rd place. ‘Construction’ broke into the latest list.

As Domain Name Wire says, words that often appear on this list are good opportunities to consider when choosing a keyword-led domain name or extension.

Source: X

How to choose keywords for your domain?

If you are opting in for a keyword-led domain or extension, those keywords must help create desired topical associations with your brand, have a positive intent and be memorable enough to be clicked on.

For niche associations, the keyword doesn’t have to be exact, as long as it conveys the essence. For instance, for a travel site, keywords might be ‘tourism’ and ‘vacation,’ and for a website developer, the keyword ‘it’ can be included in the domain name or a domain extension can be found with it.

5 ways to look for keywords

Use keyword research tools. Google AdWords Keyword Planner, WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool and Ubersuggest can help choose exactly the one that will be convenient to your business and will bring the most positive results.
Analyze your competitors. Research the keywords your competitors are using. This will help you identify the most relevant keywords for your site.
Analyze search queries. Use search engines to search for queries related to your topic and select keywords that appear frequently in those queries.
Use social networks. Analyzing social media posts can help you identify keywords that your followers and potential customers are using.
Explore Afternic keyword reports. Ranking may change from month to month, but some keywords repeatedly make an appearance on those reports. Tracking their popularity can help inform a decision whether to buy one or not.

Domain options on .it.com extension

As expected, 16/20 top keywords from Afternic’s latest report are already taken as domain names on .it.com. However, some of them are still available (availability and prices current at time of publication):

new.it.com (available, premium domain, search volume: 673,000);
capital.it.com (available, premium domain, search volume: 301,000);
real.it.com (available. premium domain, search volume: 201,000);
all.it.com (available, $49 per year, search volume: 368,000).

But fear not – there are plenty of popular keywords from different categories with domain names available on .it.com (availability and prices current at time of publication):