Affects of vanity domains?

[Mills]

Hi there! My client's domain name is his name, let's say (www,myname.com) because he is well-known in his industry. He is a physician with a very specific specialty and organic competition is fierce for the most relevant keyword to his specialty.  A domain has just become available that includes the keyword. If we bought the domain, how could we use it to our advantage? I'm confused about redirecting, etc., with this type of situation. Am i making any sense here? Help! Thanks.

[AlanMosley]

you would stop someone else using it, that is one advanatge.

a extact match domain will help you rank for that keyword only, but if the keyword is very compeditive, then you going to need more then just a EM domain, remeber that you need to get links for the main domain, so you dont want to be trying to get links for both.

doing 301 redirect will not give you any rank. unless there are links pointing to it, but if domain has changed owners, there is doubt if those links still hold the sdame value.

[EGOL]

he is well-known in his industry

This could be an advantages that is far more powerful than a domain.

I would use it over a domain  "that includes the keyword"

[Thommas]

I guess it depends how well know he is. You can use Keyword Tool to check how popular he is vs the mentioned keyword. Is he well known just among other physicians or a broader audience of potential customers? How likely is your potential customer to search for his name?

[NakulGoyal]

IMO this is sort of like a Brand vs Non-Brand discussion.

Let's say you are Colgate. And your website is Toothpaste.com

The question would be whether people would search you using Colgate or Toothpaste.

I understand and imagine the dilemma you are in as to how to utilize the domain. I would also consider creating a blog on the physicians name if you think content can be created around it. as EGOL and other's have recommended, the question is what's your long term strategy. What keywords do you target in your existing domain etc.

[EGOL]

the question is what's your long term strategy.

This is a very good point.  If the doctor plans to have an extended practice then a website other than his personal name could be better long term.  Of course his personal site could always be redirected if needed.

[Catalyste]

If your client is well know in it's industry, it might be a good idea to use his vanity domain since that may be what people are looking for, his name working as a Brand.

But I would also buy this other domain you are talking about and create another content more closely related to the term in the domain and related.

This way you would have people looking for this specialist + those looking for the products. Just don't put the same thing on both one.

Normally when I explain that to a client, they do understand pretty fast that using both the Brand + the product brings a broader volume of targeted traffic then one or another.

Off course it his more job in term on Backlinking and Content writing, but sometime you have to take more time to do a better job.