What is your take on Exact-Match Domains?

[joshinaustin]

There seems to be a lot of controversy about exact match domains.. a lot of SEO's think they hold more weight in Google.. and a lot don't. But with Google's recent changes with putting more weight on brand.. don't you think that exact match domains are a major part of Google putting weight on brand? I am interested to know everyone's thoughts. Thanks!

[Vulk]

Better to be safe than sorry. My philosophy on EMD are that if their available and the niche is hot, snatch it up.

[Cool Hand Luke]

They absolutely matter, and it makes a BIG difference. Maybe less so than before, but they still carry a significant advantage.

But I like to support the "exact match doesn't matter at all" movement, simply because it'll make it much more easy for me to get exact match domains and outrank my competitors.

[Andyhenry]

I don't bother with them. I always get the number 1 spot and I never use them...

[Kurt]

Just remember that the exact match is for one keyword phrase/one page only. If you plan on adding more than one page to the site, then all the other pages won't be exact match, unless they also focus on just a single keyword.

[Trent Brownrigg]

If the EMD is available then you might as well get it. If not, you can still get to #1 without it. From what I have seen they do help but you certainly don't need them.

[fitz10]

It definitely depends on the term but for relatively low competition terms it's obvious the EMDs do rank better. I've seen EMDs with no backlinks and practically no content (ie- maybe just one article on a blog) rank on the first page.

Months ago Matt Cutts did claim that Google would be "adjusting the dial" so to speak on EMDs but I haven't seen any evidence of that happening yet.

[thecableguy]

It's not the magic it used to be several years ago or the SERPs would be littered with the EMD and hyphenated versions. Like mentioned the longer tail EMDs really kind of limit you as you try to grow the site out as it's really hard to stay within the "theme". Given a choice I'd like to have the keyword in the domain name provided it's not to longtail. JMO

[JohnMcCabe]

While I think EMD can give you a boost with relevance for that single keyword, I don't think it's the deciding factor. Look at sites like eHow. Unless someone searches on the keyword 'how', there is no EMD there, yet they show up for all kinds of wierd phrases.

I've seen some speculation that in niches that lend themselves to spammy, thin pages, EMDs can actually be counterproductive, especially if you get a human review.

[BarryOnline]

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

I don't bother with them. I always get the number 1 spot and I never use them...

I agree with this, the EMD was like the Google loophole to higher rankings, not any more though.

People need to stop obsessing over EMD, they are not what the used to be. Google have teams of engineers actively working on stopping people manipulating their search results. EMDs were one such tool people used to spam the hell out of the search results & Google has now dramatically lowered the power that EMD's used to have.

A short, brandable domain a keyword or two in it is all you need. Focus your efforts on good on page SEO & QUALITY back linking. You will out rank EMD’s all day long.

[Hostpany]

It doesn't really make any difference.

[MattVit]

I've had varied results with them. Even with low-to-no competition, it's a 50/50 chance they'll be first place.

[Seofarmer]

I have great results using EMD on landing pages and one-page sites. (targeting limited amount of keywords)

As mentioned by other users above, i dont think it helps much if you are trying to build a site targeting numerous of keywords. It kindda leave no room for expansion.

[owenlee]

i have a fairly good result with EMD...but most of them are in the low competition...

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by Vulk

Better to be safe than sorry. My philosophy on EMD are that if their available and the niche is hot, snatch it up.

I'm sure GoDaddy, NameCheap and all the rest of the registrars would love to see everybody take this approach...

[junne]

I have worked for various clients having there names in domains and are ranking quite well.It takes bit more time than domains having keyword in them definitely Google give more preference to domains.

[Kurt Chrisler]

In my experience they do help quite a bit especially if you are targeting a low competition keyword. If you play on building a bigger site then just having your main keyword in your domain is enough.

[36burrows]

It does make a difference.

Sorry to anyone who says otherwise.

Can you rank a site to #1 without one? Of course.

Is it easier with an EMD? In my experience, absolutely.

[GeorgR.]

My take on this is that Google should get rid of it and ONLY focus on content.

[Rough Outline]

They are certainly an advantage but they aren't going to make you rank for a term on their own.

[JSProjects]

Wow, I'm surprised how many people are downplaying EMD's. Are they as powerful as they used to be? No. But they're still very effective. Yes, you can outrank an EMD pretty easily with GOOD content and backlinks. But having an EMD + good content and backlinks will give you a bigger boost.

Google is slapping the EMD's with awful content and no / low quality backlinks. Which is probably why a lot of people don't think they're effective. Gone are the days of registering an EMD, throwing up junk content, and ranking #1. They take a little work, but they absolutely give you a boost. But instead of immediately hitting page 1, it's page 4, 5, etc. With a little bit of work they will still rank higher than a non-EMD with the exact same content & backlinks.

[MatthewGreen]

I would go for emd if available. It makes your website 100% relevant to the main keyword you are trying to rank. In my opinion it is easier to rank with emd rather than a brand named website.

[yukon]

What is your take on Exact-Match Domains?

It's a crutch that most people use & believe that they will own that keyword in the SERPs, without doing much real seo.

Good luck,

[Kael41]

EMD's have been, and will always be, part of my adsense portfolio sites. Can't stress it enough that they still work. With probably 85% of my site collection (100's ) having emd's, the proof is in the pudding that they contribute as a factor to a site's success.

Until my testing proves otherwise, i'll keep on, keeping on

[joshinaustin]

Thanks everyone for your feedback! I am moving forward with my campaign of about 10 exact match sites.. I will let everyone know what happens!

Just FYI -- My current site, which contains the phrase "Legal Funding" - Is ranking for that term MUCH better, than the other 15 we are optimizing for... regardless of the fact that it is a much more competitive term in comparison to the majority of the others.

Thanks again guys!

Regards,

Josh

[Justin Lewis]

Originally Posted by joshinaustin

There seems to be a lot of controversy about exact match domains.. a lot of SEO's think they hold more weight in Google.. and a lot don't. But with Google's recent changes with putting more weight on brand.. don't you think that exact match domains are a major part of Google putting weight on brand? I am interested to know everyone's thoughts. Thanks!

I'll be short as usually my answers are pretty long.

I have a website that ranks #2 for a keywod that is semi competitive.

Other than the domain name and the title attribute, that's it.

Here's what the site currently says:

Index of /

.ftpquota

Oh and The website is ranking #1 right now, right behind a Google Ad in the search engines.

So, in the end, yes the exact-match domains do work. But I definitely don't see them as a "must". I have websites that have brandable names that rank very easily for keywords that don't even relate to the domain name (they are very competitive).



Hope my info could help someone out there