Partial Match Domains Still Risky?

by gmr324
13 replies
  • SEO
  • |
Hi,

In light of the recent Panda & EMD algorithm update, I'm curious to get everyone's opinion on what degree of keywords in the domain pushes the limits? If you have a plumbing company in Boston, is having either "plumbing" or "Boston" in the domain even too much? My suspicion is that the domain name must exactly reflect the company name especially since Google is now favoring brand signals. I've also seen the .COM TLDs seem to survive better than their .NET and .ORG siblings with this update in the local offline world.

The real question becomes what to do if the company's actual business name has many of the target keywords right in their business name like BostonPlumbingPros.com ? I'm not sure what level of acceptable risk there is now in including multiple target keywords in the domain? Many horror stories out there of legit white-hat local businesses experiencing collateral ranking damage with this update.

Look forward to your opinions
#domains #match #patrial #risky
  • Profile picture of the author Carl Brown
    No. The emd that I wanted was taken in all its forms. I added "My" as a prefix. My site was untouched. Infact, I have both the .org and .net versions. Both gained in the rankings
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7105974].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author gmr324
      Originally Posted by Carl Brown View Post

      No. The emd that I wanted was taken in all its forms. I added "My" as a prefix. My site was untouched. Infact, I have both the .org and .net versions. Both gained in the rankings
      Thanks for the feedback. I think that's a very significant reference point.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7105990].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author nest28
      Originally Posted by Carl Brown View Post

      No. The emd that I wanted was taken in all its forms. I added "My" as a prefix. My site was untouched. Infact, I have both the .org and .net versions. Both gained in the rankings
      I also used "my" in most of the EMDs I made, they don't rank for there main keywords, but rankings have increased for long tail search queries after this algo change.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7106006].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author gmr324
    So, Carl and Nest28. in both of your situations, can you elaborate on the degree of on-site optimization that existed on your PMDs with respect to titles, header tags, meta tags, alt tags, keyword density, etc? That would be very enlightening to know about since your PMDs seemed to have survived intact.

    Thanks!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7106042].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author nest28
    The rankings for this one improved, check it out yourself Off the Shoulder Tops



    It has never rank for it's main keywords, just a bunch of long tails, it also receives traffic from terms such as this:

    off the shoulder lace tops

    plus size off the shoulder tops

    brown plus size off shoulder tee

    womens off the shoulder sweater dresses

    classy tops with off the shoulder sleeves

    classy tops with off the shoulder sleeves dresses

    black nylon off the shoulder long sleeve top

    black off the shoulder tops for women

    lace off the shoulder top

    large cowl neck drop off shoulder top

    After Yukon told me to use the image tag "alt" traffic increase from images also, by a extremely small amount, maybe 6 visitors a week.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7106204].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Jeannie Crabtree
    The dust is still settling on the recent updates. Some peoples sites seem to get caught in these updates that they are unclear as to why. Give it time and see where it is a couple weeks from now.

    Do keep in mind it was "low quality EMD'S" that were targeted. I have total EMD's and partial EMD's that are still getting traffic.

    One EMD from the original Panda update is coming back as well. That one I tested some backlinks on and it got punished. I did get a few more bookmarks since, over time, and now it is coming back.

    My experience tells me It is not about you having an EMD domain. It is about making it a quality site or an authority site, so you don't get caught up in the low quality EMD filter.

    It is more about publishing quality information, making sites at least 10 pages large, and getting some quality backlinks to them, but not a lot at any one time. Less is more now. Then let them age, while adding to them from time to time.

    Jeannie


    Originally Posted by gmr324 View Post

    Hi,

    In light of the recent Panda & EMD algorithm update, I'm curious to get everyone's opinion on what degree of keywords in the domain pushes the limits? If you have a plumbing company in Boston, is having either "plumbing" or "Boston" in the domain even too much? My suspicion is that the domain name must exactly reflect the company name especially since Google is now favoring brand signals. I've also seen the .COM TLDs seem to survive better than their .NET and .ORG siblings with this update in the local offline world.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7106269].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author OmarNegron
    I agree. I think that there is still some more time to wait, as my site went down to the 200th spot then back up to the 14th spot, without me doing anything at all.

    -Omar
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7106618].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author GobBluthJD
    It's not that EMD per-se are terrible. It's the fact that google thought there were FAR too many terrible EMDs out there! If you have an EMD with good, original, unique, meaningful content, you're not going to get penalized solely for having an EMD!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7106955].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author gmr324
      Originally Posted by GobBluthJD View Post

      It's not that EMD per-se are terrible. It's the fact that google thought there were FAR too many terrible EMDs out there! If you have an EMD with good, original, unique, meaningful content, you're not going to get penalized solely for having an EMD!
      Well, I think in conjunction with this unprecedented simultaneous release of two algorithm revisions (Panda update & EMD), Google may have lowered the threshold of what is tolerable on-site optimization if the EMD is skewed towards one main keyword too much. That's a new standard/filter that didn't exist before.

      So, even with original 100% unique and engaging content along with great user metrics, crossing that threshold will affect your rankings.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7107398].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author petemcal
    I wouldn't take any one case or individual's experience as evidence one way or the other. As with all algorithm changes they affect different sites in different ways.

    You'll see that Matt Cutts said the update was targeting site that have EMDs and are low quality. So just because one site has bombed or stuck/gained doesn't really mean anything.

    Look beyond the domain, look at the whole SEO picture. You can't really judge anything from just a domain with this update.

    But even if partial match still works WHY would you use it??? Everyone thought EMDs would never be touched as they hadn't been for so long. Look what happened there. I'm only going for branded from now on.
    Signature
    Follow Pete on Twitter #SEO #Marketing
    "It's like if Einstein did SEO"
    "Much shorter than Shakespeare"
    "I would follow Pete over Jesus Christ himself"
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7107452].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author bsbear
    Of course not. Every domain is exact match, for whatever the domain is.

    -.-

    Google penalized domains that were only ranking because of their stupid EMD.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7107539].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author PerformanceMan
    The boost that once given to EMDs has been removed.

    Owing an EMD is not a negative ranking signal.

    Buy an EMD based on the criteria you would use to purchase any domain name that WILL NOT give you a boost for a certain keyword.
    Signature
    Free Special Report on Mindset - Level Up with Positive Thinking
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7107560].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author gmr324
      But even if partial match still works WHY would you use it??? Everyone thought EMDs would never be touched as they hadn't been for so long. Look what happened there. I'm only going for branded from now on.
      So, this gets back to the question from my initial post here:

      "The real question becomes what to do if the company's actual business name has many of the target keywords right in their business name like BostonPlumbingPros.com ? I'm not sure what level of acceptable risk there is now in including multiple target keywords in the domain? Many horror stories out there of legit white-hat local businesses experiencing collateral ranking damage with this update."

      Sometimes, there is no choice with offline clients but to use multiple keywords in their domain. Does that make using their own business name/brand a potential risk for penalty in a future Google update?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7107845].message }}

Trending Topics