I was reading my Linkedin account and came a crossed this post by

Nick Stamoulis – Boston SEO and Boston SEM Expert
How Important Is Your URL In Search?

From: Search Engine Optimization Journal | May 22, 2009

Your URL is more than just a keyword-based ranking tool. It can be a useful ranking edge if you use your keyword in the right way. But it’s so much more than that. It’s also a branding item. And if you use it as both a branding item and a ranking tool t… Read more at Search Engine Optimization Journal »

I have been seeing this in the local search quires, but not as an absolute like most things in Google’s local search arena.  I do feel that this will play a role when added to the seo mix for your clients.

Is Branding the new authority?

I think it will play a major role as Google tries to separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak!

I know that it is hard to understand that your business name alone is not the best way to brand yourself online but what is important is showing up when buyers search for what you offer.

So if you are a dentists in Hoboken and you want to show up for a first page listing when people in your area are looking for a dentists a good domain name for marketing and branding would need to contain not just what you offer (dentist) but also the area that you serve.

An idea would be something like Hobokenpainlessdenistry.com

This type of domain name would help both with branding as well as getting you ranked where the people in your market will find you when they do a search.

Jimmy Dunn Local Search Engine Marketing Expert

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