Death Of Exact Match Domains

[Norman Smith]

And all the programmes that have come out trying to sell you the method. At SMX West 2011, a certain Google person said :
"Google: We are looking at ways to reduce the weight given to EMD (exact match domains)"
On to the next thing i here you cry !

[BloggingPro]

Originally Posted by Norman Smith

And all the programmes that have come out trying to sell you the method. At SMX West 2011, a certain Google person said :
"Google: We are looking at ways to reduce the weight given to EMD (exact match domains)"
On to the next thing i here you cry !

I know Google has been saying that, but speaking for myself with the last Google update all of my EMD's went flying upwards. I've also seen several other posts in the SEO section of others mentioning the same thing.

Even some of my keyword + modifier (i.e. today, now, 101, etc.) received a slight boost.

I'm not really sure what Google gains from lowering the weight of EMD's, as the content on a site has little to do with its domain name. As long as your content is original and relevant I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[Mikedb]

Originally Posted by Norman Smith

And all the programmes that have come out trying to sell you the method. At SMX West 2011, a certain Google person said :
"Google: We are looking at ways to reduce the weight given to EMD (exact match domains)"
On to the next thing i here you cry !

hahahaha,

sure be scared, more left for us.
We will see

Regards,

Mike

[Dano77]

I wrote about this on my blog too... (link has nothing for sale)

Google’s recent revelations about their algorithm

See video of Matt Cutts there? If you watch it he says they're planning on "turning the knob down"...

At first, when I watched that video... I was mad. I mean It's not only that I've invested descent money in direct match domains and that I think humans like domains that sound like they solve a problem... makes sense, RIGHT?

BUT...

[tpw]

I posted the exact video in the proper sub-forum the SEO sub-forum as seen here:
Keyword Specific Domains on Google's Hit List

[SoundsGood]

Originally Posted by BloggingPro

I know Google has been saying that, but speaking for myself with the last Google update all of my EMD's went flying upwards.

Ditto ...

[Chri5123]

Yes it looks to me as though Google are taking all the "marketing" practices and bringing them to light in these videos.

So in the last week article marketing does not work, and not EMD's are taking a hammering.

I think the thing to take from it is this:

"If you create a website to try and "game" the search engines you will get slapped by the mighty G!"

However provide quality content, YES even in the form of articles on an EMD it may be harder to rank now but I will bet you can still do it!

Chris

[BacklinkExcellence]

Originally Posted by gujjuboy

Build a big authority site without exact match domain, with great content ,allocating more money in branding with social media and continuing that efforts till your website backlinks are created in social media through word of mouths. That's what google wants.

And that is what 99% of small-time marketers aren't able to achieve. Branding can be damn expensive on any scale that gets your stuff viral and for many niche or sub-niches it just doesn't make sense to build a brand. If you go after broad audiences then of course it does make sense.

[omk]

I think that's great. This way, the less talented folks will give up.

[iAmNameLess]

EMD's will never die. They may go ahead and reduce them but probably not by much. They want relevant search results... EMD's are relevant.

[developyourlife]

Wow that could be the downfall of a lot of marketing sites.

[iAmNameLess]

Originally Posted by omk

I think that's great. This way, the less talented folks will give up.

Yes, and those with software will win. Those who are talented get results right now despite exact match domains. I am ranking for keywords that aren't in the domain right now, but this whole statement contradicts Google's policy. If they take away weight given to EMD's then they are taking away relevant search results. I agree branding is important, but this is just another ploy to try to detour people "manipulating" the SERPs

[SmartSuccess]

Hi

Google only provides a very small percentage off all the internet traffic!

Don't build a business that is dependent on the whims of the search engines!

Free eBooks are the way with the right re-branding deployed, which has affiliates falling over themselves to promote your free eBook...

Who needs Google!

Warm regards
Arjen

[DogScout]

Originally Posted by SmartSuccess

Hi

Google only provides a very small percentage off all the internet traffic!

Don't build a business that is dependent on the whims of the search engines!

Who needs Google!

Warm regards
Arjen

Not to mention places people search on like article directories (Heaven forbid!), YouTube, Facebook, Yahoo answers, Amazon, even Hub and Squidoo pages, forums of all sorts, the list goes on and on.

AND if you believe anything Google 'says', without testing it in your niche, you are probably, in my opinion, being naive.

[Tina Golden]

What some are failing to grasp is that while Google may place less weight on an EMD, that doesn't mean that it will harder to rank providing you are offering quality content that matches.

Saying that it will hurt marketers is foolish as EMD has never been the top deciding factor in rankings, only a bit of a boost. It's not like your site will drop like a stone because it has an EMD.

[inter123]

This is not something that has started to happen just now, it has been the case since late November last year.

[PabloVTB]

Even if they lose weight, they will have more weight than buying a branded domain. So, who cares really? I wouldn't change the strategy if you are creating sniper sites or similar

[Dano77]

The big mistake is in assuming branding costs lots of money...

And that branding is a Coca-Cola only thing...

And that assuming branding is a "bad thing".

Truth is, Google has come to realize that the user is king. More than that, the user is the only reason the search engine exists. As such, the search engine should function to the same way our society and human brains function.

We don't remember howtofixmycar.com nearly as easy as brands.. heck so many brands have invaded our lives and our childhoods...

Did you ever get asked if you wanted a Kleenex? (They're really just tissues)
Or if you wanted KD for dinner? (as opposed to macaroni & cheese?)

We can remember and tell others about brand names and we think in branding and "pet names" for things way more often than we think about the "theleakyfaucetdude.com".

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by Mikedb

hahahaha,

sure be scared, more left for us.
We will see

Regards,

Mike

I'm thinking the exact same thing about people who can't see the changes coming.

More for us who do because change already came just this month and with all the bad press google got about bad sites showing at the top there is no way they are not going to make even more changes.

[Mikedb]

Originally Posted by Mike Anthony

I'm thinking the exact same thing about people who can't see the changes coming.

More for us who do because change already came just this month and with all the bad press google got about bad sites showing at the top there is no way they are not going to make even more changes.

Yeah and we like changes don't we Mark

The more the better, because in the end our sites and customers sites won't get hurt either way!

Keep them coming, SEO isn't sience

regards,

Mike

[yukon]

Does an EMD really matter when you can rank an internal page instead of trying to rank the Index page (no)?

hxxp://www.non-emd.com/keyword/

As long as they count a keyword anyplace in the url, nothing will change...

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by Mikedb

Yeah and we like changes don't we Mark

The more the better, because in the end our sites and customers sites won't get hurt either way!

Well mine won't because they don't pay me to wait and see if their livelihood tanks first.

Keep them coming, SEO isn't sience

Niether is change. Its an obvious fact of life.

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by yukon

Does an EMD really matter when you can rank an internal page instead of trying to rank the Index page (no)?

hxxp://www.non-emd.com/keyword/

As long as they count a keyword anyplace in the url, nothing will change...

different fruit. anyone can add a title or sub folder to any domain. It would definitely affect sniper site strategy.

[Adam H]

They said they were evening out the weight of between keyword domains and non keyword more brandable domains, they didnt say they were going to kill them off and start penalising domains for it. Over exaggerated panic across the webmaster forums of the world once again

[dlinden]

All of my emd's are doing well. I will keep a close eye on them.

[JSProjects]

Quality EMD's will never die. However, I'm guessing we'll see a lot less EMD's on page 1 that have no content, no backlinks, and terrible on-page SEO.

[Oranges]

Originally Posted by yukon

Does an EMD really matter when you can rank an internal page instead of trying to rank the Index page (no)?

hxxp://www.non-emd.com/keyword/

As long as they count a keyword anyplace in the url, nothing will change...

Well said yukon! It doesnt really matter if it is an EMD or an inner page, you can still rank if you know the game. Take Mahalo.com's pages for example!

[Jaison Joseph Thekkekara]

Is it that EXTRA power that is going to be taken off?
It does really matter having good keywords in the domain. They surely will have more power than the ones with no keyword at all. Little SEO compared to non-EMDs will help them rank EMDs for sure.

[Norman Smith]

Only two things you need to remember "Relevant" and "Quality" whatever the domain or where it is hosted, people will seek it out. It's the people who you are doing all this work for ?

[Wakunahum]

They will still have more weight than a domain without any of the keywords in it.

"Turning the knob down" just means that they won't be as highly valued, but you will still get benefit from buying the exact domain.

[lexilexi]

Yeah, well it wasn't going to last for ever. I'm surprised it took them this long. Google is looking to deliver the best results it can to searchers, and so the fact that the EMD has been so abused, means that the EMD result is not necessarily worth more to the searcher than any other result. In many cases less... as so many people have adopted the "find a keyword, buy domain, slap up a page of whatever and some ads, rinse and repeat" tactic.

Remember Wayne Gretsky? "I skate not to where the puck is, but to where it is going to be."

[SoundsGood]

If the site content matches the search term, then an exact match domain name WILL help. Period.

[jacked]

Originally Posted by iAmNameLess

EMD's will never die. They may go ahead and reduce them but probably not by much. They want relevant search results... EMD's are relevant.

This, if they ever do reduce them, it will be so little that it will barely make an impact. You can't reduce EMD's by too much or results will be thrown off.

[Dumkist]

Beer is Good...God Is Great..and People are Crazy

[SEOexpertSEO]

I have quite a few exact match domains in my portfolio. It's amazing how they rank without me doing any seo to them at all. The thing is, with Good SEO, and good Web Dev, you can get just about any good .com domain to rank well for enough keywords to do the trick. I believe that having keywords, or partial keywords in your root domain will always give you some kind of boost.

[pilaruk]

From what i can see at the moment having a keyword rich domain will help in your position in the search results.
Who knows what the feature will bring :-)

[anislagan]

From what I experienced, I don't think Google will pay so much attention to very little searches a day to lower down EMD. This is simply based on the ranking I got before and after the algo change and so far nothing has changed.

[sane1]

Long term, Google is positioning for homogenous branded players to cover page 1. It's where their bulk revenue comes from. Whats left we can scrap over if we play nicely according to the rules.