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Adding a Prefix or Suffix to Exact Match Domain

by circlesquare
12 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey Warriors,

Quick question. Obviously we have all seen the power of an exact match domain in helping you get ranked for a domain. However, often they are not available... especially in .com.

If you need to add a prefix (mydogtraining.com) or a suffix (dogtraininghq.com)... do you think one of these is better than the other? I know for title tags they say it's good to have the keyword at the front so I'm wondering if this is the same for a domain name (meaning that you should avoid adding a prefix).

Thanks!
#adding #domain #exact #match #prefix #suffix
  • Profile picture of the author jamesrich1
    Avoid adding the prefix because its keyword first. The power of domain match is only if you have weak front page competition with at least 1000 searches monthly preferably more. That is not your keyword right?
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    • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
      Never ad the prefix only the suffix. You won't get the exact match bump but you will get credit for % in url ect...

      Patrick
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    • Profile picture of the author circlesquare
      Originally Posted by jamesrich1 View Post

      Avoid adding the prefix because its keyword first. The power of domain match is only if you have weak front page competition with at least 1000 searches monthly preferably more. That is not your keyword right?
      Hi James,

      Ya I was just using that as an example. So you're anti-prefix. Cool thanks for your input!
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  • Profile picture of the author pavionjsl
    I would hyphen first.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shane N
    I would go with the hyphen first (i.e. Dog-Training.com) because this is just as good as the non-hyphenated version... And then I would go with the SUFFIX next. I would avoid the prefix for "exact match" type purposes.

    Best,
    Shane
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Shane Natan View Post

      I would go with the hyphen first (i.e. Dog-Training.com) because this is just as good as the non-hyphenated version... And then I would go with the SUFFIX next. I would avoid the prefix for "exact match" type purposes.
      I agree completely.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Fullman
    Can anyone provide proof?

    In my experiments:

    * mydogtraining.com
    * my-dogtraining.com
    * dogtraining-today.com
    * dogtraining.com

    [fake names]

    All ranked similarly (regardless of the placement of the 'non' words)

    Content + Backlinks seemed to be the deciding factor...

    Cheers,
    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author elrascal
      Originally Posted by Steven Fullman View Post

      Can anyone provide proof?

      In my experiments:

      * mydogtraining.com
      * my-dogtraining.com
      * dogtraining-today.com
      * dogtraining.com

      [fake names]

      All ranked similarly (regardless of the placement of the 'non' words)

      Content + Backlinks seemed to be the deciding factor...

      Cheers,
      Steve
      Hi Steven I'm with you on this one. There is no difference at all. Or if there is a difference it is so insignificant that its not worth worry about.

      People should be more focused on building more and more quality content in conjunction with quality back links.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tom Ryan
        I've added both a prefix and suffix to exact match domains, and I've found that the suffix always seemed to rank better than the prefix. It wasn't a perfect test by any means, so it is probably best if you test it for yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike McAleer
    It should not matter a whole lot for SEO purposes unless your only hope is the exact match domain... try building backlinks and following a typical SEO strategy...
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  • Profile picture of the author jrichy88
    Google have previously unfairly given weight to exact match domains and keyword in domain names, Matt Cutts has said it himself back in November 2010, and now the extra power they got is history as of the latest updates. Good riddance too it's about time. There are exceptions of course, but unless they are a .com and have age and size (obviously size made up of quality, original content, not a crappy scraper site), they have been pushed to the back of the pile.

    I would avoid dashes in domain names too, it makes it harder for users to remember and you could be missing out on direct traffic as a result.

    Thought I'd cause a bit of controversy to this thread
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  • Profile picture of the author Darek
    Exact domain name matches do rank higher, I tried one recently and it went got the number one spot on Google almost immediately. I also use a couple of names with suffixes in highly competitive markets it took longer but they are near the top of the first page.
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