Hi - this is a question I can't seem to find the answer to anywhere online...

People tell me it is important to have your domain match your keywords, but just HOW important is that.

For example - my domain name is www.mynovelgift.com. It's a website to review and recommend books - it's cool, check it out.

But my keywords will be books and gift ideas primarily, and i only have one of those words in my domain. it's too late now, but i'm just now wondering what impact that will have - very serious, should I look at other options???

HOW DOES IT ALL WORK!!! AHHH!!

It's not even useful never mind important.

How on earth can one word match the thousands of keywords and phrases you could be targeting? And there is no such thing as "most important keyword"

Pick your domain name to match your business name, or if that isn't possible use something you can brand.

What do you do when your business expands and your dog coat business at k9kagools.com expands and starts selling Donkey Jackets, Cat Coats, Hamster Hoodies, Mouse Macs and Gopher Galoshes?
Do you start again with a new site for every one of these or will you kicking yourself for not starting off with something memorable and brandable?

Just to add,

You choice of name is reasonably generic, reasonably memorable and pretty brandable.

"Novel" doesn't always mean books.

Domain name should be memorable and as short as possible and better with .COM
Website has to be optimized for SE. They are 2 diffrent tasks here.

if you have a name that is keyword rich vs one that is not. The same amount of work into both of them. The keyword rich one will rank higher with less work.

In some situations a short brandable makes the most sense, other times keyword rich is important. It all depends on the niche & other factors.

Sometimes a non keyword rich brandable makese more sense.

^ seconded.

If you want people to remember "mynovelgift" then it's all good either way though. Concentrate on the people you're making the site for, not just searches

I do feel that a keyword in a domain will always help. Just try to search a keyword and look at the results, I am sure you will find that top 10 will have similar keyword in their domain name.

For some keywords there can be exception ... but for few you can't avoid major ...

Your domain is sounding great GIFT niche to me instead of BOOK.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

It's not even useful never mind important.

How on earth can one word match the thousands of keywords and phrases you could be targeting? And there is no such thing as "most important keyword"

Pick your domain name to match your business name, or if that isn't possible use something you can brand.

What do you do when your business expands and your dog coat business at k9kagools.com expands and starts selling Donkey Jackets, Cat Coats, Hamster Hoodies, Mouse Macs and Gopher Galoshes?
Do you start again with a new site for every one of these or will you kicking yourself for not starting off with something memorable and brandable?

Nice one chrishirst !!!