Should I optimize my domain name to include keywords?
Only if you think it will make it easier for people to remember it. It will make almost no difference at all for search engines.
For whatever reason you may want to change the name you need to consider what type of site it is.
For example a personal site you only share with friends and family you can quickly get the word out. However if it is a business site you need to think about the links you have coming in and is this site memorable with the old name.
At the very least if a site where you need to not loose visitors or inbound links I highly suggest keeping old name active so visitors can still find you and update bookmarks. You also need to consider print ads, if in any reference publications people sometimes keep those for years. Same for business cards, how many old ones do you have?
I had to do this once because a site did not have a top level domain, is was a sub domain of a host back when it was easy to host small sites at home (dial up days).
In that instance the old name was retained for 5 years before closing the old account down.
not LOSE visitors
loose is the opposite of tight. Don’t rely on spell checkers.
Glad you caught that, thanks. It was bed time and I was typing on a tablet and somehow missed that one because the keyboard covers part of the edit box on Sitepoint right where you are trying to edit blocking your view, and being near end of day did not help.
I never rely on spell check not because it can not do the job but because of course it can’t correct a spelling error when the misspelled word makes a new correctly spelled word.
While it may be true that search engines take into account keywords in domains, it’s important to consider how much traffic it’ll give in the long run. It’s more important to choose competitive, short, easy to remember domain names.
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