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EMD ranking moderately, what to do with the domain ?

by SMNRX
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi guys,

I am new on this forum, I often read it but I never posted so I hope I will have great advices from all the webmarkerters down there.

I have a EMD wesbite which is like buy-newphone.com and this domain has been penalized by the past by both Panda and a bit of Penguin although I never get a message from Google in Webmasters Tools.

I have already done a lot of things to improve website's quality : I removed toxic external links, disavowed some the remaining toxic links, removed useless pages, improved a bit content (although I have still a lot to do to have perfect pages). After some months, it gets back on page 4 for main keyword (it was in page 12 when site was penalized) and traffic increased.

I want to continue to improve quality of the pages, I am really motivated to do so but I am not sure what do do about the domain itself.

Should I keep this domain, or go for a brand memorable one ? My apprehension is that if I go for a new brand domain and make a 301, don't I have the risk to be flagged by Google. Should I better create a new domain but without 301 (in this case, it means starting linkbuilding from scratch).

Thanks to shae your thoughts.
#domain #emd #moderately #ranking
  • Profile picture of the author alex93
    I would check the banklinks against your rival sites, as no doubt it is down to the lack of links pointing to the domain, without seeing the site it is hard to say, but have you checked top ten rival sites for the keyword, and compared backlink strength?
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    • Profile picture of the author SMNRX
      Originally Posted by alex93 View Post

      I would check the banklinks against your rival sites, as no doubt it is down to the lack of links pointing to the domain, without seeing the site it is hard to say, but have you checked top ten rival sites for the keyword, and compared backlink strength?
      Competitors have strong link profile, I have medium and I am in page 3 and some other competitors with poor websites and less links are in front or me.
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  • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
    If you are going to move the site to a new domain, avoid any 301s. 301 redirects pass on penalties.
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    ONE HOUR INDEXING - STOP WASTING MONEY ON LINKS GOOGLE NEVER FINDS
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    • Profile picture of the author SMNRX
      Originally Posted by SEO Power View Post

      If you are going to move the site to a new domain, avoid any 301s. 301 redirects pass on penalties.
      I have read it can work in some cases...
      So what about my EMD ? Now I am obliged to keep it and brand it ? Shouldn't I better use a new domain name quite more easy to remember and brandable ?
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      • Profile picture of the author Nicole Sakoman
        Originally Posted by SMNRX View Post

        I have read it can work in some cases...
        So what about my EMD ? Now I am obliged to keep it and brand it ? Shouldn't I better use a new domain name quite more easy to remember and brandable ?
        It works for a month or so... untill google bots crawl it... then you get penalized

        Nicole (:
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        • Profile picture of the author SMNRX
          Originally Posted by Nicole Sakoman View Post

          It works for a month or so... untill google bots crawl it... then you get penalized

          Nicole (:

          Ok fine, but in fact nobody really answered my question about the EMD.
          What should I do with my domain buy-newphone.com (example), keep it and try to brand it ? Buy a new brand domain and do a 301 ? Start from scratch with a new domain name ?
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          • Profile picture of the author savidge4
            The question really makes no sense to me. do you want one store front or 2? does it matter what the name of the store is? Is the item(s) you are selling, one(s) that have a frequent purchase rate?

            If I was in a niche that was producing results on page 3, and I felt I was being held back a bit because of plausible update hits, I would have a second URL in there pretty fast myself.
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            Success is an ACT not an idea
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            • Profile picture of the author SMNRX
              Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

              does it matter what the name of the store is?
              Yes it is in my opinion. "Store-forhairs" is less impacting that "Hairsavenue" for example. So my thought is concerning the domain essentially. Should I buy a new domain and 301 my old domain to this new one ? Will it have an impact on my positions on SERP knowing that Google is probably applying a filter for EMD.
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  • Profile picture of the author Slade556
    I'd say that Google already has you under their radar, if you were penalized before. So, using 301 redirects is not a good idea. Avoid that.
    Either start from scratch, or continue branding this one.
    You say you managed to get to page 4 for your keywords. In this case, maybe keeping the domain and working on it would be a good idea, just make sure you don't do anything to 'upset' Google again.
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