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Are EMD domains still worth the hassle?

by blackcobra
16 replies
I know things have changed and from what I have read there are mixed feelings when it comes to EMDs. What do you think? Are they still ok to be a part of your strategy or are they a waste of time? Thanks.
#domains #emd #hassle #worth
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by blackcobra View Post

    Are EMD domains still worth the hassle?
    What "hassle" are you referring to?

    I still have and use some EMD's which I registered "back in the day" (when there were some SEO advantages from doing so). I don't have any "hassle" with them???

    Originally Posted by blackcobra View Post

    Are they still ok to be a part of your strategy
    I wouldn't bother registering them now "just because they're EMD's", but nobody's suggesting anyone should stop using the ones they're already using, as far as I'm aware? (That certainly wouldn't make much sense, if they were!).

    There was - briefly, at one point - a kind of "rumor" that they were being penalized, but it was quickly confirmed that that was nonsense.

    All that happened was that EMD's lost the advantages they formerly had "just from being EMD's", so the ones that had been given a real ranking boost that way dropped in the SERP's just from losing their former artificial advantages, leaving a few people feeling that they'd been somehow "penalized" (they hadn't at all, of course - they just had very poor-quality sites which couldn't rank at all without their former domain-name advantages).

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author Pdomain
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    If you are providing useful stuffs with quality content to the society, it is still effective.

    One other benefit is, you can gauge competition too...... if any .com is available with an EMD (decent searches), means there is low competition, grab that fast and create your own site...

    Note: there are still many EMDs are available to register, but check carefully, some of them may contain trade mark words as well...... so there is no need to go into hassle, the problem can anytime arise.
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  • Profile picture of the author JensSteyaert
    From simply observing the results that pop up on google when entering a keyword, i still think they are worthwhile.

    However, they won't bring you nearly a much traffic as valuable seo optimize content will, so it depends on your goals really whether you want a branded domain name or not. (which i would prefer).
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  • Profile picture of the author LWYSIWYG
    I'd say if they are available, go for it. But don't waste too much time trying to find your EMD. There IS still some value to them, but not nearly as much as there used to be.

    Your content marketing strategy is what is going to make the biggest impact, not whether or not your domain has your exact match keyword/phrase in it.

    So, in short, if it's available yea sure grab it, if it's not, don't worry about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      The thing I like about EMDs is that they are descriptive of the underlying site. They leave no doubt about the purpose or service or product found at the site. There is benefit, especially when you're not on-site, to having a description of the site "built-in" to the domain name.

      Here's an example. Let's say you sell digital book cover templates and your service is called eBook Cover Templates. Registering the EM domain "ebookcovertemplates(dot)com" tells the prospect immediately what your business is about. That is a good thing when someone is faced with multiple choices - especially if there is no other site description.

      Now, let's say the EMD is not available, so you decide to register the name shirleysartfuldesigns(dot)com.

      My feeling is . . . if you were to see the two names listed somewhere online (maybe in the SERPs) . . . "ebookcovertemplates" and "shirleysartfuldesigns" and you were hunting for ebook cover templates, you would assume, rightfully so, that the first link was the more targeted and hence more likely to be just what you were looking for. The second link could also be relevant, but it could also be a lot of other non-relevant stuff that you have no interest in.

      Domain names that aren't descriptive can certainly be branded - no doubt about it. But branding takes time and money and doesn't often happen very quickly. IMO, there is an advantage to a domain name that carries a "built in" description.

      And think about this as well. What if you don't grab the EMD and it's available? If you have a product or site that is selling well and you choose not to get the EMD someone else is bound to gobble it up and siphon off traffic that is perfectly matched to what you are selling.

      Just some things to think about,

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author HappyComputer
    While we are here, what is an EMD? How can it help a physical product website?
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  • Profile picture of the author pressreleaseagency
    EMD is still effective. Some EMD sites rank well.
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    • Profile picture of the author agmccall
      If I am looking into a new niche and one is available that is easy to remember and fits with the site I will grab it, but, it is not a priority

      al
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

      The thing I like about EMDs is that they are descriptive of the underlying site. They leave no doubt about the purpose or service or product found at the site. There is benefit, especially when you're not on-site, to having a description of the site "built-in" to the domain name.
      This ^^^ (and of course all the rest of Steve's post above) is what you need to be aware of, and to think about.

      Originally Posted by pressreleaseagency View Post

      EMD is still effective. Some EMD sites rank well.
      Yes, and so do some non-EMD sites. The fact that they rank well has nothing to do with their being EMD's. They rank well because they're good sites with good content and good backlinks, and for all the other reasons that sites can rank well.

      This whole "EMD question" is simply not about SEO.

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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    It makes sense that the Warrior Forum is warriorforum.com.

    If I built a site called Blue Widgets for Grandmas why wouldn't I want bluewidgetsforgrandmas.com?

    That's why they don't get penalized...it's only logical.
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  • Profile picture of the author origin
    the only trick (or trouble) I have found with EMD's are from a link building perspective. You cannot really use the "website name" or "brand" in your link building anchor text because you will most likely be penalised with too many of the same / exact anchors. If you spread your anchor text between many different keywords and generic ones then there is no reason why they do not work anymore. But as in value of in itself there is not much difference than with a normal TLD. Without some link building you are not going rank necessarily automatically just because of the EMD
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  • Profile picture of the author AceOfShirts
    I always go for the EMD domain if it is available.

    EMDs make offline advertising so much easier. It is usually much easier for somebody hearing or reading an offline ad to remember your website if it is an EMD. It's hard to just rely on Google Search to get visitors to your website.
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  • Profile picture of the author miklanderson2
    I used to spend a lot of time looking for EMD domains because of the SEO benefits. They're getting harder and harder to find and I prefer shorter URLs to longer ones. I think people are more likely to remember "Mikesbluewidgets.com" than they are "Bluewidgetsforgrandmathatwillhelppreventsciatica. net."

    I'll still check for the shorter ones and buy them if they're available, but I don't waste a whole lot of time trying to find a domain name with my exact keywords in them if I can't find one right away. I've also stopped buying .org and .net domains just to get exact matches. If they aren't available as .com, I rarely consider buying them.
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  • Profile picture of the author EndOfDayz
    In terms of SEO, I find EMD's carry no relevance nowadays.

    However, for certain sites (like product review blogs etc) they can come in handy and help your CTR's from Google since the visitor has no doubt whatsoever what the site is about.
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  • Profile picture of the author blackcobra
    So many replies! Thank you to all that shared their opinion!

    @Alexa Smith - Your replies are always very useful! Thank you! I was also guessing that EMDs still hold a punch and what you said makes me want to get some and test it out.

    @Pdomain - Yes, I want to build quality sites. I did some less than decent sites in the past but I don't want to go that route anymore.

    @JensSteyaert - I don't want to use EMDs as my main strategy but I do want to use them if they still rank. I won't bet my life savings on them but a few years back I built some of them and they brought me a nice ROI.

    @origin - That's what I am wondering: do they still have enough juice to rank with little or not help at all in smaller niches?
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