Influence on CTR for high traffic keyword in url and redirect

[cbielich]

I currently dominate on my site for a very high traffic keyword. My url contains this keyword in it along with the word "Free" in the beginning. Lets say my keyword is "This Keyword" then my url would be freethiskeyword.com. I rank 3rd for this keyword and generates me about 8k on a low month. I was just able to obtain my main keyword as my sole URL through an auction for a measly 2,000.00. (Very Excited about this).

So now I have the URL thiskeyword.com

What I want to know is what kind of influence can I expect with my new URL have in CTR.

Since it is a high traffic keyword is there a automatic "Trust" factor that is involved and will users tend to click on thiskeyword.com as apposed to freethiskeyword.com?

My Second Question

I am torn as to what I should do with this new URL. Should I redirect my old URL to my new URL and keep both pointing to the same site? or should I try and dominate my niche and build a new site entirely. Since I currently make about 8k a month for third, if I were to build a separate site and be able to obtain 1st place for my new keyword that would generate me 2 amounts in income based on stats.

CTR based on http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2049695/Top-Google-Result-Gets-36.4-of-Clicks-Study

freethiskeyword.com = 8k/m for 3rd based on 10% of clicks (currently)

thiskeyword.com = 24k/m for 1st based on 36% of clicks (in theory)

If I keep each site separate and be able to have one site at 3rd and the other at 1st then I would be making about 32k a month.

If I redirect my old url to my new url then I would only have 1st place (if I make it to first of course) and that would only make me 24k a month.

It seems to me I should keep these sites separate to generate more income. I am torn what I should do. Also with the EMD penalty I am afraid to 301 my site to my new URL since it is my exact keyword as apposed to my current one. I am defiantly branded as "Free This Keyword" so moving it to thiskeyword.com could hurt me more than help (at least I think so)

What you think?

[cbielich]

"The other way is to make a few extra bucks and invest in them in tissues.  You will need them when you wake up to the "Site not found in the top 100" X 2."

Well Said and yeah that would suck

I am thinking that moving from freethiskeyword.com -> thiskeyword.com cant hurt me from a Google sense, unless the EMD does.

[LynnPatchett]

As David says a lot depends on the niche/keyword/competition scene, but if I may play the devils advocate:

I am not sure how valid that ctr data is with all the ongoing layout changes google has been trying out. Good ctr data seems nearly impossible to find but this report http://www.slingshotseo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Google-vs-Bing-CTR-Study-2012.pdf makes for an interesting read, and the numbers are substantially lower.

Beyond that, what you are suggesting sounds a bit like playing with fire! You are making 8 grand a month now on 3rd? Surely it would less time consuming to further strengthen that site than to build another one from scratch? How long did it take for you to get to 3rd?

And 301'ing a near exact match domain to an exact match domain in today's landscape.... well that just sounds a bit risky!

I think David hits it on the head with: "The other way is to make a few extra bucks and invest in them in tissues".

Just my two cents.

[yeagerd]

Several factors are at hand.  I understand the obscurity but it also makes your question impossible to answer because a keyword like Nike or Coke is going to have a huge effect while a keyword like Chicago is going to have next to none.

The separate sites does in deed have some merit but I would look into that.  I know that Google is on the hunt for the same businesses that are trying to keep two sites in the organics acting like they are different but in fact are not.

No matter what I did, I would move fast because it will not be long until keywords being in the URL will have little to no effect at all, unless a branded keyword of course.

The other thing to consider is that sending clicks from 1 and 3 to an experience that is noticeably the same offering is only going to skyrocket your bounce rate, maybe on both sites and then send them to the bottom of the tank.

If you are to get your new site up to the top spot, you are going to have to build a completely unique and individually relevant experience for it to do you any good and I would make sure to not have them sharing any resources.

My personal advice, if you want to make the switch then do it Google's way.  I know many do not like that path but personally, I have enough challenges from day to day without positioning myself where a $200 billion company is dedicated to blocking my success.

For my business we provide services to a broad client base and people were getting confused on a single site.  At the end of the day, we build websites for people first and everything else is second on.  For UX it was necessary and we did what we had to do.  We fight to still make it very clear to the bots that we are one company and we have some overlapping content which now we can cross domain canonical.  The right way is to 301 your old site to your new once it is up in the rankings and pass your juice.  The other way is to make a few extra bucks and invest in them in tissues.  You will need them when you wake up to the "Site not found in the top 100" X 2.

To their blog for more?