One partial EMD and authority site, or multiple EMDs/sites?

[Emergent]

I have a niche that is 4 words long. There are 4 variations I am targeting, and the queries are all related so the last 3 letters are always the same. An example is "glow in the dark" and "run in the dark" etc

What is better:

1. Build an authority site on an EMD of InTheDark.com
Then InTheDark.com/Glow (or Glow.InTheDark.com)
And InTheDark.com/Run (or again Run.InTheDark.com)
etc

OR

2. Four separate EMDs
GlowInTheDark.com
RunInTheDark.com
etc

All EMDs are available... The site is a low amount of work, so it is not much more trouble setting up all four. Competition leads me to think I can get 1st page google for 2-3 of the 4 with just hard work, 4th might be a tough nut to crack. Another option is do both above, and focus on the authority (maybe as a portal or something and linkem up)? Or the EMDs? I guess the issue is it could require twice the backlinking for the same result.

Yes, I am a little new (and lost)... Any help appreciated.

Cheers

[Emergent]

BUMP (sorry)

[GeorgR.]

I would not depend on an EMD since Google said they might value them less in the near future. To be honest, focusing on keywords in domain name is "silly", although understandable.

I would also ALWAYS try to make an authority site...one quality site over 5 low quality sites, any day.

[Emergent]

Thank you. But that makes no sense to me. You are saying google MIGHT value them less in the future. Well that is saying they value them more today, which means I am more likely to hit first page, and more likely to stay there due to the resulting exposure and natural backlinks, etc.

One thing I should mention is I am going up against a very old authority site I cannot beat. So I am just hoping for some top 5 rankings. I thought the EMDs might help this happen. I guess it boils down too this: the authority site is the 'best' option, but I worry I may not be able to crack top 5 for all the work involved. Four separate EMDs might have a better chance and not putting all my eggs in one basket.

[DOWORKSON]

Originally Posted by thinkb

Thank you. But that makes no sense to me. You are saying google MIGHT value them less in the future. Well that is saying they value them more today, which means I am more likely to hit first page, and more likely to stay there due to the resulting exposure and natural backlinks, etc.

One thing I should mention is I am going up against a very old authority site I cannot beat. So I am just hoping for some top 5 rankings. I thought the EMDs might help this happen. I guess it boils down too this: the authority site is the 'best' option, but I worry I may not be able to crack top 5 for all the work involved. Four separate EMDs might have a better chance and not putting all my eggs in one basket.

You don't want top 5. You want #1.

The Value of Google Result Positioning | Chitika Insights

Food for thought..

And yeah, authority is what I've always done.

Instead of xxreview.com as a crappy sniper site, I do:

xxreviews.com/xx-11-review
xxreviews.com/xx-22-review
xxreviews.com/xx-33-review
xxreviews.com/xx-44-review
xxreviews.com/xx-55-review
xxreviews.com/xx-66-review

and so on..

[younganddirty]

I like to build authority sites, depends on the budget,

I try go for exact, but I am hard headed for one, so if I see something I like, then I try to buy close to it.

I like authority, because I think overall, it takes less work over the long haul, with multiple keywords, but the problems, it takes more work in the beginning

Also I agree, Google will value emd less in the future, they like to close loopholes,

Also thinkb, for 99% of my keywords, I can reach front page, with only handful of links

[Emergent]

Thanks, it does look like authority is the way to go then.

After all this I think the answer I needed (which I now have) is focus on the authority. If it doesn't rank after some hard work, see if the EMD loophole works any better.

Cheers guys

[TBInternetMarketing]

Yea EMD's are not the be all and end all, but they definitely do help and will always play a small part in ranking if nothing else. My view on this is why not build the 4 sites, but also add the other pages as well. By putting up the EMD, you have done all the hard work of building the site, buying the domain etc. For a little more effort you could have a few other pages that target various keywords.

So I would say pick your biggest 4 keywords that are going to make you money and make them EMDs, but then look for a whole bunch of other keywords that get good traffic as well, and add them on as extra pages. If you look around, you will see there are a lot of sites ranking that do this.

Just my thoughts.

[webhostingrvw]

i would suggest 1 authority site. title is weighed more than emds or keyword rich domains.

[s62731]

Wouldn't it be easier just to buy a high PR domain?

[younganddirty]

Originally Posted by s62731

Wouldn't it be easier just to buy a high PR domain?

sure if you have the money and the time

Example: I just bought a pr 3 domain from godaddy auction, now I have to wait a week to get it. The main reason why I got it, is because it is a emd, in broad niche, it has some rank, and the age history

But like with everything, google is going to crack down on buying domains with age and pr

[Landis]

get the emd and turn it into an authority. doesn't have to be either or. try to find the broadest emd you can for the niche and grow it to an authority site.

[FrediDoo]

Originally Posted by thinkb

What is better:

1. Build an authority site on an EMD of InTheDark.com
Then InTheDark.com/Glow (or Glow.InTheDark.com)
And InTheDark.com/Run (or again Run.InTheDark.com)
etc

OR

2. Four separate EMDs
GlowInTheDark.com
RunInTheDark.com
etc

Definitely go the authority route. Since Pagerank comes from pages, the more pages you have in your site the more Pagerank your site can have, or so the theory goes. So 1 big site with the correct internal linking structure will do better in the rankings than a bunch of little sites.