I’m not one who believes that SEO changes from day to day. I don’t chase the latest SEO techniques and change my strategy from week to week based on the latest fad. SEO principles are pretty static; they don’t change. However, tactics do change from time to time although it is probably much less often than some gurus would expect you to believe. It is imperative, in order to ensure that your websites stay at the top of the rankings, to keep an eye on search engine algorithm changes and updates and new trends so that you can adjust your strategies and tactics as necessary.

An example of what I mean is keyword-based domain names. Originally, if you wanted your site to rank well in a search engine then you had to have your keyword in your domain name. From about 1995 to 2003 this was true. Right around the time of the Florida Update, that changed.

What Was The Florida Update?

Whatever happened with the Florida Update, one thing is for certain: It changed SEO forever. It was not as easy to rank pages after that as it was before. The algorithmic changes that Google made during the Florida Update were not domain name specific – in fact, I believe there were a number of changes that took place at the same time – but the changes did have an effect, whether intended or not, that diminished the importance of keyword-based domain names. From 2003 until about 2007, if your domain name contained your primary keyword then it was an influence on rankings but it wasn’t to the same degree as before the update.

Since 2003, Google has continued to tweak its algorithms. I believe that is when Google got serious about its hall of mirrors. Since the Florida Update Google has played with its algorithms at least on a weekly basis, making small changes here and there. Where before, Google might have made big changes less often, now they make smaller changes more often.

This is significant. What it means is that no one will ever guess what the most important factors are at any given time. As soon as you think you know they will change. But it also means that we have some reasonable assurance that Google will not mess around with certain core principles even if they nudge a few certain factors plus or minus.

The Current State Of SEO And Domain Names

All of this means that in the current state of SEO, your domain name should have your primary keyword in it. I have seen undeveloped websites rank for keywords when there was no content to rank for and no inbound links to prop it up. That can only be accounted for if one thing is true – the keyword in the domain name triggered a positive where other pages on the Web did not.

Will this ever change? Probably. But whether it does or not you can bet that keyword-based domain names always contain some element of a positive affect on rankings for targeted keywords. It’s always been that way; it likely always will.

Keep your knowledge of SEO current. It’s the only way to stay alive and make money online.

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