Question

Stripe · 12-15-2011, 02:29 PM

I have a question about the value of an Exact Match Domain or EMD.

How important is it to have something like that compared to say a domain that is seasoned by about 4 years with more links, etc?

I have a competitor who seems to outrank us in Google for almost every keyword used to find our type of business. This is so perplexing to me because we have about 4 times the backlinks (and growing) and a lot more content on our site. Plus, our domain is 4 years old...

They have a domain less then a year old and not a ton of links. The only advantage they have that I can see is a higher PR - they have a PR2 and we have a PR0 - and an EMD that either includes all or some of the keywords and phrases used to find our type of business.

Can someone tell me what is actually happening behind the Google curtain in this situation?

(Guesses are acceptable!)

sackboy127 · 12-15-2011, 02:33 PM

In my experience proper SEO work can 100% compensate for a lack of EMD.

You should try using a few different kinds of backlinks than you've been using. My suggestion would be in-content links from a high PR blog network, Google's really started to appreciate these links recently.

yukon · 12-15-2011, 02:36 PM

If you only care about a single keyword (Why bother with a site?) then I suppose an EMD might be useful for you.

Mike Hutton · 12-15-2011, 03:25 PM

good for micro niche sites were you are targeting the kw of the EMD, but if your building a large authority site i wouldn't worry about an EMD, a keyword can be targeted on a separate page, with good onsite SEO an EMD will not matter much.....

outwest · 12-15-2011, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yukon

If you only care about a single keyword (Why bother with a site?) then I suppose an EMD might be useful for you.

LOL good one, dont use logic on the EMD crowd
it confuses them

MikeTheBuilder · 12-15-2011, 06:45 PM

I wouldn't put to much emphasis on EMD. Just pick a cool name that people will remember and optimize your pages for that keyword.

Pal7 · 12-15-2011, 06:47 PM

EMDs can be extremely powerful if optimized properly. Just search "credit cards" on Google and see what outranks billion dollar companies!

12-15-2011, 02:29 PM	#1
Stripe Warrior Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 17 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Question - How important/powerful is an EMD? I have a question about the value of an Exact Match Domain or EMD. How important is it to have something like that compared to say a domain that is seasoned by about 4 years with more links, etc? I have a competitor who seems to outrank us in Google for almost every keyword used to find our type of business. This is so perplexing to me because we have about 4 times the backlinks (and growing) and a lot more content on our site. Plus, our domain is 4 years old... They have a domain less then a year old and not a ton of links. The only advantage they have that I can see is a higher PR - they have a PR2 and we have a PR0 - and an EMD that either includes all or some of the keywords and phrases used to find our type of business. Can someone tell me what is actually happening behind the Google curtain in this situation? (Guesses are acceptable!)

12-15-2011, 02:33 PM	#2
sackboy127 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 117 Thanks: 8 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Re: Question - How important/powerful is an EMD? In my experience proper SEO work can 100% compensate for a lack of EMD. You should try using a few different kinds of backlinks than you've been using. My suggestion would be in-content links from a high PR blog network, Google's really started to appreciate these links recently.

12-15-2011, 02:36 PM	#3
yukon SEO Strategist War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 6,534 Thanks: 355 Thanked 1,993 Times in 1,274 Posts	Re: Question - How important/powerful is an EMD? If you only care about a single keyword (Why bother with a site?) then I suppose an EMD might be useful for you.

12-15-2011, 03:25 PM	#4
Mike Hutton SEO Wizard War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: UK Posts: 81 Thanks: 4 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Re: Question - How important/powerful is an EMD? good for micro niche sites were you are targeting the kw of the EMD, but if your building a large authority site i wouldn't worry about an EMD, a keyword can be targeted on a separate page, with good onsite SEO an EMD will not matter much.....

12-15-2011, 06:45 PM	#6
MikeTheBuilder Active Warrior Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 54 Thanks: 17 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts Contact Info	Re: Question - How important/powerful is an EMD? I wouldn't put to much emphasis on EMD. Just pick a cool name that people will remember and optimize your pages for that keyword.

12-15-2011, 06:47 PM	#7
Pal7 Warrior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 27 Thanks: 3 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Question - How important/powerful is an EMD? EMDs can be extremely powerful if optimized properly. Just search "credit cards" on Google and see what outranks billion dollar companies!