can an exact match domain name beat the competition?

[toumhi]

I'm doing keyword research for an area that's quite competitive - blog hosting. I've found an available domain name (.COM) that would be an exact domain match for a decent amount of searches. Right now, high authority websites rank for this keyword (Blogger, Wordpress) but their title doesn't contain exactly the search keywords.

My question is, how hard would it be to get to #1 position in google for these keywords? Can a exact match domain name beat wordpress, blogger, etc?

[RussRuffino]

It's not the only factor there is, but it will definitely help. Exact match domain + good on-page optimization + a great link campaign = good spot on Google.

Russ

[UMS]

In most cases, you should be able to beat sites on WordPress.com and Blogger if they aren't highly optimized and you have a reasonable backlinking campaign.

[Ralf Skirr]

There are hundreds of factors that influence your ranking.

Focusing on the domain name is not relevant because you can compensate for non-matching domains in many, many ways.

But if you can get a match, then it's obviously better than a non-matching domain. It adds one more good piece to the SEO puzzle.

Ralf

[coronaborcalis]

Analyze top 10 of your competitor in SERP.

are their root domain appear?

If not, with your EMD (Exact Match Domain Name) you ready to go

[thumos]

This is impossible to know without knowing what the competition is...

EMD's give a boost but are definitely not the biggest factor for ranking, especially moving beyond lower competition keywords.

[Rukshan]

EMD has a big chance. But it depends on competition and other web sites which appear in first page. But on page SEO and quality backlinks can beat it.

[thesorcerersapprentice]

An exact match domain is definitely going to help you but its not like the magic pill that some people seem to think it is.

If you want to rank well you still need to put in the effort with on-page factors and backlinks.

[toumhi]

Thanks all for the answers, it's been helpful. Actually, top 10 for this keyword are sites like blogger and wordpress itself (not *.wordpress.com).

I should also precise some particularities of this key phrase: the key phrase contains an article, so maybe a exact domain match is not helpful in that case (since google mostly disregards articles in search queries).

to take another (fictional) example it could be that "a hotel" has high volume searches and little competition with exact keywords. BUT it would compete against many established websites targeting "booking a hotel". In that case, does having the domain ahotel.com would help it rank easily against hotels.com and booking.com etc just for "a hotel" key phrase?

[Davee]

Interesting, I'm just about to post something very similar to this question with my Market Samurai competition stats!

My feeling is that an exact match is favored by Google, but it just depends on whether the competition is very strong.

[jenyjenifer]

Yes, definitely it'll help but little bit because it's not the only one factor to beat intense competition. All you have a quality backlinks & content.

[azmanar]

Originally Posted by RussRuffino

It's not the only factor there is, but it will definitely help. Exact match domain + good on-page optimization + a great link campaign = good spot on Google.

Russ

Exactly !

Had quite a number of EMDs. Without quality content, SEO and some back-links, the sites were no where. Made changes and they went to the top 5.

[JSProjects]

Using EMD's, in my opinion, are one of the biggest things you can do to rank well. An EMD that is properly optimized and has high quality backlinks with moderate-at-best competition is almost a lock for a top 5 ranking.

However, don't just register the EMD and expect it to rank by itself. It will take work. Just not as much, if you do things correctly.

[sunnychakes]

Exact match domain can help you to some extent. But at the same time you should do SEO for your site in a constructive way. Good on page optimization with selection of right keywords and link building can definitely help you a lot! But all they need to be done in proper ways so that you can get result.

[Bramantya Prakosa]

with the proper link building, definitely yes...

[evergreengirl]

I have an exact match domain that easily took spot #3 and #4 in a very competitive niche with some (but not lots of) effort. When I build links, they move up to #1 and #2. When I get busy with other projects, they slide back down.

All the other sites on the front page are constantly building links, whereas I did great on-site SEO and then I basically leave them for awhile and they stay in place #3 and #4 until I do another link-building campaign.

So I have to say, at least for this very competitive niche, the EMD is the magic ingredient in the SEO formula.

It works even more so for offline rankings.

[omk]

It's not really a yes or no answer. It depends on several variables. An exact math name is great. But that alone will not be able to beat a non match authority site.

[drvosjeca]

only domain can not do much, but it can help you get to top sooner