Tea Website Domain Suggestion

[rahilctctea]

Hi,

We are launching a website selling special teas from assam and darjeeling (India).

People search for "Assam Tea" are 1600 per month and "Darjeeling Tea" 1300 per month but
Domain name like assamtea.com or darjeelingtea.com are already taken.

I would like to register assamdarjeelingtea.com, assam-darjeeling-tea.com however searches for "assam darjeeling tea" as one single phrase is less than 10 in a month.

My question is whether a domain name which is a combination of two keywords that have fair share of searches individually but not when combined as a phrase be still be good from SEO prospective. I am ok with the domain name being hyphenated or a bit long.

Thanks
Rahil.

 

[rahilctctea]

What...No replies on one of the most popular domain forum....surprising....

 

[alien51]

Forget about keyword domains.

It is best for you to just choose a brand name you want, something unique to you as your identity. Google does not only match your domains, but the content inside your website.

I own a couple of websites that sell merchandise, and some of my domains do not even have any keywords in them but they rank on top of Google search for certain popular keywords. I have proven to myself that if you have solid content, you can beat keyword domains.

 

[damic25]

I agree with alien (who strangely looks like a gecco, lol)

Content is KING. Domains still do matter, of course - but more than anything else, the QUALITY of the content you have on the site is what will strengthen the SEO more than just a domain alone.

 

[Chris Wright]

Content is king, yet...
what can you write about darjeeling that 5,000 other webmasters haven't?
I have had pages ranked hi (page 1) for transportation service where your web copy is basic info, and really cannot be groundbreaking, unique, or insightful.
I did this by having EXACT match keyword domains, with simple but useful information. No other SEO.
Of course, for tea, you would need some good inbound links to move you to page 1.

So, no. A mashup domain wont take you where you wanna be.
Get any EMDs you can. Build a seperate page for each EMD.
Each page will rank on its own merits for its own keywords.
Brand those pages. Building a brand can take years, even for companies with big ad budgets.
Domains can keep from going bankrupt while you wait.

 

[alien51]

I have had pages ranked hi (page 1) for transportation service where your web copy is basic info, and really cannot be groundbreaking, unique, or insightful.
I did this by having EXACT match keyword domains, with simple but useful information. No other SEO.

I have mixed results with this.

I own lots of EMDs myself. In the past, they have ranked on top even with just a one-page lander. Nowadays, they get penalized by Google. But not all of my EMDs are affected. So the mixed results say that EMD is not totally removed from the algo.

I checked on Bing and Yahoo, my one-page EMDs still rank on top. You can readily tell the difference between them and Google.

But the thing is, if you are to choose between an ill-fitting EMD versus a brandable, you probably would rather choose a good brand. You can compensate by promoting your website and weigh heavily on traffic from advertising. If you must use an EMD, maybe you could use them to redirect traffic to your brand.

 

[NameOmnia]

I have mixed results with this.

I own lots of EMDs myself. In the past, they have ranked on top even with just a one-page lander. Nowadays, they get penalized by Google. But not all of my EMDs are affected. So the mixed results say that EMD is not totally removed from the algo.

I checked on Bing and Yahoo, my one-page EMDs still rank on top. You can readily tell the difference between them and Google.

But the thing is, if you are to choose between an ill-fitting EMD versus a brandable, you probably would rather choose a good brand. You can compensate by promoting your website and weigh heavily on traffic from advertising. If you must use an EMD, maybe you could use them to redirect traffic to your brand.

I would definitely go for a brandable name. EMD time is over and Google is making it harder and harder to rank. Those who haven't been affected by the last changes are, imo , established websites. If you are launching a new one I wouldn't take the risk.

 

[Chris Wright]

I hear what you all are saying.
But Google doesn't know a brandable domain from mygreatteaz.biz.
The brandable is for the sake of human visitors, which fits with Googles vision.
Make your site highly useful for humans, that's the new SEO.
However EMDs don't hurt that effort, and can help.
All Google wants is a well rounded site, not one that relys on tricks.
EMDs are still good if the rest of your site is good.

---------- Post added at 04:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:18 PM ----------

And, not everyone can pour $1,000s into ads, that's where domains make good business sense.

 

[alien51]

However EMDs don't hurt that effort, and can help.

That's true.

However, most if not all great EMDs are already taken, or for sale in a price that is probably way too expensive for startups to throw money in.

But going back to the OP, he was trying to "force" himself into fitting keywords in his domain which may not make any sense for branding purposes. I wouldn't mind if he instead pays 50 grand and buy the best EMD in the aftermarket if that's what he wants.

 

[Domainace]

To the OP: teaweb.com is at Godaddy expiring auctions. 17 years old and a nice name. You'll have to pay a bit more than regfee though.

I think it's better in this case to get a branding name, as assamdarjeelingtea is rather long, and will limit you from offering other kinds of teas in the future.

 

[alien51]

Just for curiosity sake, somebody actually regged wheretobuytea dot com.