301 redirect www.brandname.com to www.brandname-keyword.com

[JaneVO]

It seems I've been reading about 301 for hours now, but I still didn't find an answer to my question, so I'm hoping someone can help me out here.

I'm starting a new webshop which is relaunching a semi known brand within its specific niche, say kids toys. Now my question is - since the brand name is relatively known and it is only 5 letters short, the website will be www.xxxxx.com. However the brand name itself doesn't say anything about the products we sell, so I was thinking to buy www.xxxxx-toys.com and 301 redirect www.xxxxx.com to this new site, but still use the shorter version in all marketing material since it's a lot easier to type and remember.

Apparently Google doesn't give extra juice to sites with keywords in the domain name anymore (?) but it would still say something about site to new customers unaware of the brand name.

Any advice?

[AndreVanKets]

How old is the existing www.xxxx.com website? How many pages are indexed?

If its a new site, with only a few pages indexed, and you are thinking of rather using www.xxx-toys.com then it will be a fairly hassle free process.

When your dealing with many pages, it can be a bit more time consuming and complicated,

Greg

[Webrevolve]

Keyword specific urls no longer have the value they once did, although I suspect that they do give some advantage when trying to rank for a specific keyword.

Personally, I wouldn't look to change an already established 'mini' brand url just to include keywords. There are lots of massive websites that started off small, ranking well and generating brand awareness.  You wouldn't necessarily know what they are selling either judging by their domains, but it hasn't hindered them. Look at Amazon, play.com, or even Google - no keywords in the domain - just great sites with great products and customer service.

I would continue with the brand, improve onpage and content where needed, keep marketing the way you have been and carry on.

You could always build a separate blog on a different c class with the keyword rich domain.

[JaneVO]

There is no existing www.xxxxx.com website (we bought the brand and the site is currently redirecting to our unrelated main website). So I'm deciding on a brand new main domain name.

[Webrevolve]

Ah right. I'd still go with putting a site straight onto the domain you have bought.

How old was is the domain / how long has it been registered before you bought it and what are the DA/PA of the domain?

[RobertFisher]

JaneVO

If you take a look at all you could do within SEO in terms of having your branded site rank, where would using a 301 redirect to a site with brand + one keyword rank in terms of return on effort and resources?

All to often in SEO, I see us trying to use a single device to change an outcome; wouldn't we be better served to understand the broader picture, evaluate all the options, then focus our resources on those mechanisms that give us the highest return? Do you believe that a single keyword with the brand will return more to you than:

initiating product Schema if you do not already have it,

insuring that you have set your meta descriptions to captivate the searcher and bring them to your site,

insuring that in an eCommerce site you have pages that are not duplicates of all others selling the same product,

learn enough about analytics to know how to measure your results in a way that allows you to make outcome changing modifications

create a great blog that captures great links,

develop infographics around your brand that speak to the buying audience and provide links to the site and products,

Believe me when I tell you that I can keep adding to this list for another hour. You are the only one who can take a step back, survey your niche, and develop a plan of action that cuts away the low return items and maximizes the return on effort and resources.

Think about it,

Robert

[JaneVO]

The domain was originally registered in 1996.

I do realize most of the seo work will be on-site optimization, creating great quality content and doing quality link building.

We already bought some related domains including "www.xxxxx-toys.com" and therefore have the option to redirect either to the other - there is hardly any work involved doing so at the present moment. Therefore what weighs more - a domain name with a lot of years behind it or a domain name with the no. 1 keyword included in the domain name. Most people will search for the generic "toys" and not the specific brand. And it is one of those products like a "pencil", most people just want to buy a pencil, very few search for square pencil, although we are definitely targeting those niche keyword combinations as well. With Google no longer favoring keyword-in-url its just a matter of making people aware of the type of product we are selling - and keyword in url is still highlighted with bold. Which way to go?

Robert - you mentioned the importance of creating unique pages for e-commerce product pages. I have to say that in one of our other webshops this is presently one of the more time consuming creative tasks that we do - writing thousands of unique product descriptions, and I was actually wondering if it is really worth the effort?Its not we're writing the news, most products are sold on other webshops. Is a unique product description vs generic text from manufacturer worth the countless hours that could be spent on other seo tasks?

Anyone did some longterm split tests out there?

[Webrevolve]

"Therefore what weighs more - a domain name with a lot of years behind it or a domain name with the no. 1 keyword included in the domain name."

I'd go for the domain name with lots of years behind it every time. Put your site under this.

_ "writing thousands of unique product descriptions, and I was actually wondering if it is really worth the effort?"_

How many other companies are selling the same product, using the stock description? IMO it's worth spending time creating unique product descriptions along with your other SEO activities - the more ways you differentiate yourself, your site and your products the better. There are no short cuts, all areas need attention however long it takes.