Exact Match Domain Names Are Dead

by 103 replies
123
I have been doing some research for about ten days and I now feel comfortable posting my conclusions here. I don't claim to know this for sure, but everything I can see points to exact match domains getting preferential search result treatment being a thing of the past.

I own well over 100 sites, all with EMD's so I have a good pool to compare from. Do take in mind though, that they are of all different ages, backlink numbers etc. so my research has no "scientific control" to make this claim any more than a personal theory at this point.

Also let me make it clear that I am not in any way saying that I think that Google is punishing sites for having EMD's. I am saying they are not getting the magical SEO boosts they used to get.

Every EMD site I have that is under three months of age and has less than 25 or so (quality) backlinks has lost some significant ranking for it's exact search term. They have all stayed perfectly steady for other keywords, so the sites themselves have not been de indexed nor have they been penalized. They simply dropped for their exact searches and only their exact searches.

Also, my sites that are older and have higher PR, more backlinks etc. have all held steady for their exact search terms, these are sites that would rank where they are no matter what their domain is. This, coupled with the newer ones dropping in the search engines, leads me to believe that Google has eradicated the advantage that used to be given to EMD's.

I used to be able to rank a site top 3 with an EMD and exact search numbers from 5k to 10k within a week, now it seems it takes around three months, which is exactly what it takes for any domain with no matches. This leads me to believe that it is no longer as big of a help to get the EMD when building a site and that your content being optimized is now the major ranking factor of a new site.

Before anyone chimes in with Panda and Blog network talk I just want to say that not one single site I used to research this belongs to any blog network and every single one has only organic, niche specific backlinks, they all have 100% unique original content, and they are not in the least bit spammy. Many have not even been monetized at all yet.

Also, I know that for many, it is no surprise to hear this since EMD's have been losing their juice for a while. This is true, they were slowly becoming less important, but they still certainly helped. I am pretty sure this is no longer true, that they aren't helping at all and EMD's are officially dead.
#main internet marketing discussion forum #dead #domain #exact #match #names
  • Banned
    Geeze, I don't think we have space to bury this one with everything else in IM that is dead/dying.

    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Maybe just IM as a whole is dead?
  • It's not enough to just have an EMD with backlinks. They're still highly effective as long as you put in the work upfront with your sites (preferably Wordpress) with on-site SEO.
    • [1] reply
    • I will second that. An EDM alone will not suffice. You have to put the social signals and backlink work in. No more ez PZ rankings from EDMs.
  • Banned
    SEO is not going to change completely, it is changing slowly, due to lots of spammer, who register long domain name with exact match keywords and they start spamming forums, blogs I think for those there may be changes...

    My point is quality is always needed in SEO....
  • Google is changing things up a little, that's for sure. But the only things that are really going away are the shortcuts or loopholes. If you put together a quality site, deliver quality information, work hard to get quality back links and employ good old fashioned MARKETING then you really have nothing to worry about.

    Sure it's a little harder to get to the first page of Google. But so what? This is actually a good thing. All these changes will get rid of the people that shouldn't be here anyway. Leaving only the cream of the crop.

    It's a cleansing period folks. Nothing to worry about.

    Happy marketing.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • So true! Google just wants to deliver quality relevant results to its searchers, to keep them coming back. The goal of SEO is to manipulate the system, and Google will slowly but surely close the loopholes the SEOers find. What value does the domain name really add to the end user? Very little.
    • I agree, i'm all for google weeding out spammy/low quality sites.
  • Picking an EMD for your domain isn't all about pleasing Google. On the premise that EMDs are no good, what would be the criteria for registering a new domain, other than anything with 'brandability' and obscure?
    • [1] reply
    • I don't think there is anything specific. This is simply saying that exact matches aren't getting special treatment anymore. Its not saying that they are terrible choices.

      I'd still pick one with a keyword related to my topic unless I wanted to make a brand. Just not build 100 domains with exact matches, build 1 domain that has the main word(s) in the domain.
  • EMD's will always be better, there are always going to be people who just type in their term and go, also humans look at results and if they see the EMD they give it more weight. I'm just saying the magic bullet SEO aspect is gone.

    Shane, I agree with your sentiments 100%. It is a welcome change.
  • EMD's still have their charm, but one can't solely rely on EMDs to lift you up to the first page anymore. Mix it up well with on-page and off-page SEO and things should look good.
  • EMD are dead? I highly disagree.
    • [2] replies
    • Very informative. Care to state your case?
    • "Exact Match Domain Names Are Dead"

      No they're not. For fake Google juice they may or may not be slipping, but if choosing a EMD for the purpose of getting that 1% boost in the serps is the reason you chose the name then you might be missing out on the big picture.

      If someone is searching for a zorbsworm cure for their dog, as an example, what do you think will inspire more trust in the searchers mind...

      zorbswormcure.com or stevesstormdoorrepair.com

      If you're not building your sites for humans take two steps back.

      ~Bill
      • [ 3 ] Thanks
  • EMD still rank well, all my EMD rank without much SEO effort. I believe its because of the niche
    • [1] reply
    • As I said, established EMD sites still rank, how old is the newest site you speak of? How many exact match searches does it get? If I wanted to rank for "oh my god exact match domains are so awesome" then I could get ohmygodexactmatchdomainsaresoawesome.com to number one in a day. I am talking about 5k and up exact matches.
      • [1] reply
  • He quoted me personally, he then gave me advice that mirrored the EXACT thing that I had already stated. What assumption would any human make, am I in the twilight zone?
    • [1] reply

    • You are familiar with the definition of "nuance", right?

      His response was a nuance of what you said originally.

      You were talking strictly in terms of the Google algorithm, and Bill was talking about how a "human" perceives a given website and the trust that a "human" invests into the domain, based on its name.

      I am sorry you missed the distinction.
      • [1] reply
  • This thread had potential, but went downhill pretty fast.
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      I don't know, getting to see the OP's bacon avatar again and again gives me hope. That might just be because of the bacon though, and not the content.

      Seriously though, the only potential a thread with "death" in the title has is the potential to lead to bad jokes and bickering :p.
  • Ok nobody shoot me for saying this but I think that onpage seo is becoming more of a factor. Let me explain. My sites that are getting backlinks from blog networks and quick seo stuff are tanking but the ones that I build with no backlinks from external sites but instead backlinks from interlinking content from my own blog back to the main keyword url are doing very well.

    On site backlinks count too and for niche long tails it works very fast so it all goes back to content. Also, well written articles posts on my blogs get external backlinks naturally because people tend to bookmark and backlink to useful relevant content with an emphasis on useful because you have to give people a reason to link back to you.

    Once I understood this, I no longer sweat over building backlinks and just let it happen naturally over time. If you are in a hurry to be #1 fast well this is not a get to the top fast strategy. It's long term but it works.
    • [2] replies


    • I won't shoot you... I agree.

      It has been suggested before now that Google has been moving towards putting more emphasis on on-page SEO in recent months.

      I think they need to do that to keep up with Bing...

      Google is only considered the better search engine by webmasters and other Kool-Aid drinkers. Yet, they have been losing percentage points of market share to Bing for a couple years now.
    • I definitely won't shoot you either, thanks for an on topic reply. I agree with your sentiment, long term SEO strategies are becoming more and more important.

      Someone might shoot me for this, but the most absolutely natural SEO strategy is no SEO strategy. I'm not saying we should ignore SEO, but anything that tries to manipulate it will eventually be weeded out.
      • [2] replies
  • Maybe OP might have considered starting his thread title with "IMO:..."
  • You're true, but there's no problem with that in terms of SEO. Just pick a domain that has your keyword and a suffix. I've seen these rank really well.

    Don't use prefixes. Your keyword must go first.
    • [1] reply
    • From my original post:

      Not good enough for you?
      • [3] replies
  • I haven't argued with anyone about any points they've made about the topic, because nobody has shown any evidence that my actual point is wrong. I have only argued because someone quoted me, stated that I need to take two steps back, and told me what I had already said.

    I showed him why he was wrong, that's it. Then you guys jumped in.

    Frankly put I have quietly, minding my own business and not talking about it, been making good money online for years. This forum is the first time I've decided to stick my head out a little and give back to the community. I'd like to thank you guys for such a warm welcome.

    I guess my skin is too thin to share my years of knowledge around here.
    • [1] reply

    • If you go immediately on the offensive when someone disagrees with you or repeats something you have said, then your skin is a bit thin.

      Things like that happen in forum threads all the time. It is nothing to get upset or defensive about.

      Shhhh... It happens!!
  • Anyone with "years of knowledge" wouldn't generally come onto a forum such as this, dumping on others' niches with unqualified absolutes in a thread title.
    • [1] reply
    • If your niche is a loophole that has already been exploited for years then you may want to reconsider your niche.
  • And that is why I asked if he read the thread, and I asked you if you had read the thread and you both said yes. But you didn't. And I am wrong? Circles.

    bowerboy, I am beginning to see that this place is just about a few old members selling totally useless stuff to a bunch of newer members. I think I was mistaken about the reasons behind this forum.
    • [1] reply

    • I read most of the first few posts, then scanned.

      I only even participated in this thread, due to how you responded when you saw Bill's comments.

      Never mind that you admitted that you misunderstood what Bill was saying originally... I am the one talking in circles and clearly in the wrong. LOL
      • [2] replies
  • [DELETED]
  • I was nice to Bill because he had a logical explanation. You are backpedaling and dancing with words. Notice Bill and I have had a much different tone than you, and you have nothing to do with any of it. This is not about you and never was, you are the definition of a troll. Someone who has nothing to do with anything except to cause trouble.
    • [1] reply

    • You might assume that from one thread, but like your "wide paint brush" subject line, you would be making another mistake by painting me as a troll using your "wide paint brush".
  • I will be specific for the record. In this thread, you sir have been the textbook definition of a troll.
    • [1] reply

    • I just went through everything I said in this thread seeing if I agreed with you. I don't.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • [DELETED]
    • [1] reply

    • If we read what I said, in context to what I had read, then one might see it different than you do....



      My first post in this thread was not that of a troll.

      In context of what Bill later explained and you agreed was what he meant, then my first response exactly supported that outcome.
  • I thought the idea of "being on topic" was generally to bear the thread title in mind when commenting. Maybe we're all thick here and should allow 'the goat' his higher ground.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • [DELETED]
  • Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care ....
  • Its a shame theres so much useless dribble in this thread because it would make for a great discussion.

    To the OP, Im glad you posted this, because my gut feeling tells me that its just a matter of time before EMD's are no more effective than any other domain.

    Infact they could end up potentially having an adverse effect.

    There's so much crap out there...

    mydogsitex.com
    1dogtraining.com
    training-for-dogs9.com

    Its garbage. We know it, and so do the search engines.

    Im going to make a prediction here that EMD's are going to get spanked sooner than we all think.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I think it is already happening, but I don't think they are being spanked, I think they are being reviewed, and if they are found to be garbage, then they are being spanked.

      I always used EMD's as a way to get quick rankings, but build my sites with unique quality content and backlinks anyway, so I am not too worried about it.

      I posted the original post mainly to ease some minds about why their sites might not be ranking well yet. They still will, they are just taking a little longer now.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • That show is still going here.

    Next time its on, take note of how happy, and joyful everyone seems at the opening credits.

    Then, take note at how much anger, resentment and depression is in the show once it starts.

    Its pretty funny actually.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • The Goat:

    Think about it in this perspective,

    You have a site with an exact match domain, you outsource and put some articles in it, assuming that people link back to you naturally and no link building is personally done.. Most people who link back to you will link back with your domain name, and when they link back to an exact match domain the hyperlink text will have the keyword in it, thus boosting your serps and giving you an extra advantage.

    Sanwal.
  • Actually Ghufran1, after some recent Google announcements many people would argue that too many back links with the same anchor text will now hurt your rankings. I don't claim this as a fact but keywords in anchor text seem to be going the way of meta keywords, the days of "stuffing", or "buying" in the case of back links may be over.
    • [1] reply


    • I said "naturally" and I'm 100% sure that could not hurt your rankings.

      "keyword diversity" bla bla bla is all bs, more than 75% people are using black or grey hat techniques, yes i have done that in the past too, by using fiverr and all. Got the punishment for it too but now no more.

      Obviously, we "webmasters" or Internet markets think about our benefits and the same goes for google too, they don't want to loose their huge user base.

      Just go along and for sure we will be awarded.

      The problem "we" have is that we want everything in a hurry, quick earnings, quick rankings etc. However as all the experienced "players" know this is short lived and the long lived ones are still out there making much more money than the impatient ****. (Sorry for using that) And yes i was one too, but my eyes have opened, plus it doesn't leave me to start hating on Google, rather the opposite and i respect them for that..


      Sanwal
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
  • GREAT NEWS

    More EMD's for me

    An EMD is an important piece the jigsaw puzzle and in my eyes if you can get one and have all the other pieces in place (On page SEO backlinks, content etc etc) you will likely shoot to the top of the search engines, HOWEVER if you have a pieces missing then your positioning wont be as strong.

    Get all the pieces of the jigsaw and your well on your way

    EMD'S DEAD ? No Way

    EMD'S DEAD with 2 pages of scraped crap content - ABSOLUTELY

    kickin it on Amazon

    Gaz Cooper
    Amz Training Academy
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • I have to (respectfully) disagree. I just don't think it is that important anymore. If you do everything else you mention (On page SEO, backlinks, content etc. etc.) but you don't have an EMD you will rank well. If you don't have the all those other things and do have an EMD then you won't rank well like you used to be able to. So how can we deduce that it is still important?

      Do you have any data to back up why you think they are still important?

      Just to be clear, I am talking in regards to SEO, not the human aspect.
    • I guess I should start closing my bank accounts...

      ...but then where will they deposit the money? :confused:
      • [1] reply
  • Ian that was a little good natured dig since you seemed to be joking in your first post. I did read the entire page the first time and it is very obvious you know your stuff. I am sorry if I didn't make it clear that it was a ribbing, I am learning that I am not good at this forum stuff.

    All that said, I would be interested to know if you have looked into your newer sites rankings (three months and under or so according to my research) to see if you notice any slipping in the exact match terms?
    • [1] reply
    • Regarding the "not good at this forum stuff"... smileys are your best friend. ... but not to be overused :p:rolleyes:.

      Without the use of something to convey your emotions (such as when joking), just plain writing can seem pretty 'dry' and people will be 'dry' back to you . I don't know anything about forum etiquette myself, I just come on here once in a while to post and contribute, but just saying.

      Regarding your question... like I said I haven't noticed any ranking drops, newer sites or older, which I would attribute to the possibility of EMD juice being taken away. However, my situation is a bit different than someone who may be just starting out and be eager to make money as soon as humanly possible. With my newer sites these days, they are mostly a bunch of experiments. They all get different types of backlinks, or the same types in different order, different plugins, layouts, different styles of content, etc. Also, when I build new sites now, I just have some good content written and published (or write myself if in the mood) and then just let them sit for a while until I get time to really jump in to the site (normally that can be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months). This way, the site gets time to age a little and I get a good idea of the position Google is giving the EMD without any backlinks (which still more often than not is within the top 10-20 even for fairly competitive keywords, without any backlinks). Then and only then I go and shoot some backlinks at it, add affiliate links and all that good stuff. Basically, I have room to play so that's what I do... play .

      I know I went off on a tangent there, but my point was that I probably don't have any data to contribute in this regard as the 'data' I collect is probably completely random & different than what the general IM market is wanting to know.
      • [1] reply
  • I purchased one about 3 weeks ago with 8000 exact searches, under 100,000 in comp and with ONLY a 4 page blog and 'all in one seo plugin' it ranks #3. I spent about 8 total hours.

    Once I finish my success manual I'm focus on this site more. I put a optin box, and got my first subscriber yesterday.

    I don't think they are dead, but that is my opinion
  • If EMD's are so dead why do I have over 30 of them ranking between #1 and #3?
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I have over 100 ranking that high, the point wasn't about existing sites, it was about new sites working towards rankings. I'd guess you didn't read the entire post, but that gets me in trouble.
      • [1] reply
  • Thank you HappyLuke for the example, that would definitely point to EMD preferential treatment. I am wondering is the 100,000 competition the "" competition? Also do you simply Google your term to get your ranking, or do you clear cookies etc. first?
  • yes, the 100k is quoted search example "8000 exact searches on keyword term" and my domain is 8000exactsearchesonkeywordterm.com...

    I simply google my term from various computers, and have my contacts in different parts of the world do the same.

    There is also a seo page rank firefox plugin, but hardly use it as I'm too busy to worry about rankings.

    good content will rank you naturally over time anyways
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • I don't mean to discredit your research, but my exact match domain names are doing just fine, even those that have just launched. I haven't seen anything in terms of a slap to be concerned about. Actually all of my sites seem to be ranking much stronger than they did before, exact match or not.
  • Exactly. I'll get EMD's when I can, they certainly don't hurt, but I won't abandon a niche or good keywords if I can't get an EMD.
  • It might be a good thing for people searching. I know myself I run a search for TMJ a few times and it got to the point where if I saw the domain was an EMD, I'd have to bypass it. The information on them was nearly all marketing material and useless to me for solutions.

    So as a marketer, it's certainly harder, but as a searcher, it's probably for the best if EMD's aren't given preferential treatment.

    Just my 2 cents on it.
  • I have a few exact match domains without any backlinks and they are near the front page of Google serps for their keywords. They've stayed their for at least a few years. So, I think EMD's are still the way to go.
  • Hmm, so after all that OT discussion, seems like it's still a good idea to go with EMD? Currently in the process of picking out one from suggestions by Pickydomains.com and thinking of whether or not I should go with EMD.
    • [1] reply
    • If the one you want is available by all means do get an EMD for the other reasons we talked about.

      In hindsight I admit I should have titled the thread "Newly registered EMD's are dead when pertaining to preferential treatment in Google" or something to that effect, because they do still have other positive aspects.
  • Appreciate the research OP has done, but concluding that EMDs are pretty much dead is not a good conclusion. EMDs with a lot of spam links, spun articles are going to drop. But quality EMDs that branded themselves will stay on top, hence I would like to add that it has to do with the quality of the EMD website. Great post OP.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • I think Google are looking towards the quality and diversity of a site's backlink structure and the quality of the content to determine the rankings. Even if you have an EMD and another site is targeting the same keywords that doesn't have an EMD, you will still not get ranked better than them if their link stratagy is better than yours.

    It comes down to the competition and your SEO skills, not just the name of your domain.

    The age of a site seems to be a big factor in the SERPS.

    Just my opinion.
  • This might be going off course but I'll post it anyway.

    It seems fitting to me cos I just came under manual review and lost all my sites organic traffic.

    That's another story though...


    Say you want to go into the acne niche.

    Find a part of it you can rank well.

    Fire up your keyword tool or go to Googles and you find something like...

    How Can I Get Rid Of Acne?

    1600 searches on exact match. Might seem a good one to get given the CPC as well.

    How much can you say about that though. You could say how you treated your acne, but that's not the terminology of the phrase, it's something you'd probably find on Yahoo answers with a link to an acne treatment website.

    The phrase, (in my opinion) is something that I would do an article on for traffic back to a website about treating acne.

    I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable if I got a manual review and had to explain why I chose that keyword.

    Erm....Because 1600 people are searching for it and it would stand a better chance at ranking.

    I don't think that would quite cut it.

    Besides that. If you want to target the acne market, and again, I'm only using this as an example. Wouldn't you be better to use your name or a pen name, to have something like...

    RobsAcneAdvice.com or "AnceAdviceCenter.com"

    That would leave a whole lot more room to expand into plenty more areas within the market, rather than just hitting the one phrase "how can i get rid of acne".

    Don't get me wrong...I get the argument about EMDs but to me, after my heavy slap down, I'm starting to see the bigger picture. Sniper sites can only go so far and they are or can be fairly thin sites.

    Although thin ones can still be really good informational sites. I just think going broad and using the inner pages for other keywords is (maybe) a better way to go.

    Especially if you feel good about your content, and I know I'd certainly find it a lot easier to explain my way out of a review of it, if I did put it together in a way that wasn't intended to snag a keyword and rank it on the front page of Google.

    This is coming from someone that's just lost all my rankings though, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt. Or the opposite. It's your business, but when I think about how I worked before, in hindsight, I'd much rather have went broad and spent the whole time working on 1 or 2 sites and managing them well, rather than jumping around from niche to niche, being like a jack of all trades.

    Hope I'm not out of place posting this here.
    Robbie
  • Google changes so much, that by the time I catch up, I have to start over again! lol
    • [1] reply
    • I have used EMDs for a few years now and I have to agree with the OP in the fact that before you could have your site go live and with little or no effort have it sitting at position 2-3 on page 1 of Google - my last few EMDs its taken SOME work to get them there.

      So IMHO they are not as easy to rank as they used to be but if you have good on page optimization and a quality back linking plan you will get there.

      Thanks for starting this thread OP as it has definitely been on my mind lately
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • But that means that we can use tons of other profitable niches, emds aren't a requirement anymore! Just low competition and high search numbers, and we're golden, right?
    • [1] reply
    • We addressed this situation, you have aged sites that would hold their rankings no matter their domains at this point, this pertains to newer sites.

      Not at all, those are extremely valid points.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    Exact Match Domain Names Are Dead

    I have been doing some research for about ten days and I now feel comfortable posting my conclusions here. I don't claim to know this for sure, but everything I can see points to exact match domains getting preferential search result treatment being a thing of the past. I own well over 100 sites, all with EMD's so I have a good pool to compare from. Do take in mind though, that they are of all different ages, backlink numbers etc. so my research has no "scientific control" to make this claim any more than a personal theory at this point.