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Exact Domain Question - Please Help!

by iifarmerii
15 replies
I have a quick question... I am well aware of the power of using EXACT KEYWORD domain names, but the unfortunate truth is many of the niches are getting grabbed up every minute.

So, if I were to buy a domain that looked something like this:

x-exactkeyword-x.com would that have the potential to rank higher than a website that has this address: exactkeyword.com

The above is just an example but I'm really curious...

What are your thought?

Thanks in advance for the responses....
#domain #exact #question
  • Profile picture of the author Josip Barbaric
    Based on the domain name alone - NO!

    But, could that kind of domain outrank the exact match one - YES it could, usually with a lot more effort and backlinks.

    Cheers,

    Josip
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    • Profile picture of the author iifarmerii
      Originally Posted by Josip Barbaric View Post

      Based on the domain name alone - NO!

      But, could that kind of domain outrank the exact match one - YES it could, usually with a lot more effort and backlinks.

      Cheers,

      Josip
      Right... I understand that... but if someone were to search that exact keyword, would my domain type show up in those results? You say "a lot more work" so would it take more backlinks, PR's, etc. than if I had a simple exactkeyword.com?
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      • Profile picture of the author Josip Barbaric
        Originally Posted by iifarmerii View Post

        Right... I understand that... but if someone were to search that exact keyword, would my domain type show up in those results? You say "a lot more work" so would it take more backlinks, PR's, etc. than if I had a simple exactkeyword.com?
        Usually, this has been my experience, the exactmatch will outrank exactmatch-xyz, but there is no reason why your site shouldn't be found in the search results. Even if you had no keywords in your domain name, you could rank for your keyword, even outrank the exactmatch site, but you would need better on-page SEO and more backlinks.

        Cheers,

        Josip
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        • Profile picture of the author iifarmerii
          Originally Posted by Josip Barbaric View Post

          Usually, this has been my experience, the exactmatch will outrank exactmatch-xyz, but there is no reason why your site shouldn't be found in the search results. Even if you had no keywords in your domain name, you could rank for your keyword, even outrank the exactmatch site, but you would need better on-page SEO and more backlinks.

          Cheers,

          Josip
          Thanks a million man! This has been helpful! Would you say that a x-exactkeyword-x.com would be better than a non keyword domain?
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          • Profile picture of the author Josip Barbaric
            Originally Posted by iifarmerii View Post

            Thanks a million man! This has been helpful! Would you say that a x-exactkeyword-x.com would be better than a non keyword domain?
            Personally, I dislike registering domains with hyphens, but they work. As long as the domain name doesn't look spammy or silly, it's good!

            All the best,

            Josip
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            • Profile picture of the author iifarmerii
              Originally Posted by Josip Barbaric View Post

              Personally, I dislike registering domains with hyphens, but they work. As long as the domain name doesn't look spammy or silly, it's good!

              All the best,

              Josip
              Thanks again! Big Help!
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              • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
                I've got a couple of domains like this x-keyword-x and they work OK. You can get some boost form an exact keyword domain name, but usually if its com, net or org. I would suspect its a lot about content and linking more than the domain name.

                So you don't need to go out of your way and have an odd looking name just to rank. Especially if your keyword phrase is long. Just put something on the end of your kw phrase. Like shop, or deals, or discount, something that makes sense.
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  • Profile picture of the author fulankhan
    You may also want to try .org domains - Google has mentioned (I don't have a source) that .org and exact keyword match is something they look at closely.

    So
    - keep your keyword phrase near the beginning of the URL
    {keyword}blog.com
    is better than
    blog{keyword}.com
    (all other things being equal)

    - I think .org is better than .net
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  • Profile picture of the author nicelife
    In my experience the domain name is extremely beneficial for SEO, in combination with real good content the off-page(backlinking) SEO tends to do a lot more for a lot less.

    If I can't get the exact keyword domain name I usually go with a variation that starts out with the exact phrase and ends with just a little twist.

    I only go for .com and .org, based on my experience they work best and I have no reason to change, that's why I'm so narrow minded :-P

    Example keyword: panic attack symptoms

    If all these are taken:
    • panicattacksymptoms.com
    • panic-attack-symptoms.com
    • panicattacksymptoms.org
    • panic-attack-symptoms.org

    I could for example go with: panic-attack-symptoms-gone.com

    This method has also worked very well:

    panic-attack-symptoms1.com

    doesn't look to nice though but it works fine just putting a number behind:


    This method has been working well for me in combination with really good content of course.

    Just sharing my experience.

    /Daniel
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  • Profile picture of the author iifarmerii
    Great information! Thanks for all your help! This was HUGE!
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    • Profile picture of the author wwadvice
      I will also second to avoid words or numbers before your keyword. Put them afterwords, and numbers look real ugly. Try to come up with another word that makes sense instead.
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    • Profile picture of the author GregGarrison
      If the domain is taken, I usually put a 411 or 911 at the end of the name. Most everyone is looking for info or help, hence the numbers. Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicelife
    Totally agree with you wwadvice, numbers work good for SEO but look really ugly.
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  • Profile picture of the author jennypitts
    Farmer, although exactdomain.com IS much better for SEO purposes having a different domain name does not mean you can not outrank the other. It will be much more challenging but NOT impossible. I would recommend trying to type in close domain name approximations without the hyphens. But if you must use the hyphen, let it be only one. Remember that when people are typing in the domain name in the browser they will never use the hyphens.

    If you optimize well, add lots of informative and HIGH quality content, build quality backlinks at high PR relevant sites and do a pretty hefty article marketing campaign you will begin to see your site place well in SERPS. I speak from experience. One of my site's name ranked in the first three places for some of my main keywords, and none of the KWs were in the domain name. Sure, in order to achieve that I had to work very hard on my SEO, but the time has been well worth it. Obviously you must keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process and if you do not continue the efforts your site will drop rapidly.
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  • Profile picture of the author PhilJenkins
    One of the most important things to note with regards to keywords and SEO is that you get the most benefit when the keyword is as close as possible to the beginning. So if you want a variation of the KW and you decide to put some other word or number before the KW, you are basically leaking SEO juice.
    For this reason, I always put the twist on the end, not the beginning.
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