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Why exact match domains will always be good for SEO

by markowe
10 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Supposedly Google have somewhat devalued EMDs as a SEO factor, and some of my recent results seem to bear that out - it's not quite the cakewalk it used to be to rank an EMD.

But I was Googling for something the other day and realised WHY EMDs will ALWAYS carry serious weight:

Google as a dumb computer cannot reliably tell the difference between a BRAND name and a regular SEO keywords phrase. I was searching for a site called Web Backlinks (web-backlinks.com, I think - useful site for checking rankings) and realised that "web backlinks" is a pretty generic phrase. But it is ALSO the name of a brand, i.e. the exact site I was looking for by name. So Google HAS to rank that site highly, since there is a good chance I am looking for that exact site, not just 'web backlinks' in general. Make sense?

Of course, there are some ways they could filter that a little, but I bet they HAVE to continue to give that serious weight. And that also could be an argument for backlinking EMDs heavily with the exact keyword phrase as an anchor (instead of rotating anchor text like people recommend), since if the site GardenGateHinges.com were a genuine brand name of a company called GardenGateHinges, then you would expect a large proportion of backlinks to be anchored with that exact keyword phrase, just like a 'real' company would be.

Does that make any sense? Maybe that's not an original thought on my part, but it just came to me. Anyone care to shoot that theory down? I may test this, as I am currently trying to get off page two with an EMD and am almost exclusively building exact-match-anchored backlinks - will report back!
#domains #exact #good #match #seo
  • Profile picture of the author inter123
    Yes, I'll shoot down your theory.

    The fact is exact match domains don't rank as well as they used to. I started to notice this the latter part of last year. While early in 2010 and before, it was so easy peasy to rank almost any low competetion exact match domains but they closed the loophole on that. I think the 'May Day' alogorithms had something to do with it.

    I can see your logic but Google is a smart creature and it just does not wash easily anymore. It could well be that unless your company name is something that does not mean something as in 'Smith and Jones Fur' they are not going to give the same level of preference.

    Having said that, there are some exact match domains that are ranking but certainly the numbers are down.

    Originally Posted by markowe View Post

    Supposedly Google have somewhat devalued EMDs as a SEO factor, and some of my recent results seem to bear that out - it's not quite the cakewalk it used to be to rank an EMD.

    But I was Googling for something the other day and realised WHY EMDs will ALWAYS carry serious weight:

    Google as a dumb computer cannot reliably tell the difference between a BRAND name and a regular SEO keywords phrase. I was searching for a site called Web Backlinks (web-backlinks.com, I think - useful site for checking rankings) and realised that "web backlinks" is a pretty generic phrase. But it is ALSO the name of a brand, i.e. the exact site I was looking for by name. So Google HAS to rank that site highly, since there is a good chance I am looking for that exact site, not just 'web backlinks' in general. Make sense?

    Of course, there are some ways they could filter that a little, but I bet they HAVE to continue to give that serious weight. And that also could be an argument for backlinking EMDs heavily with the exact keyword phrase as an anchor (instead of rotating anchor text like people recommend), since if the site GardenGateHinges.com were a genuine brand name of a company called GardenGateHinges, then you would expect a large proportion of backlinks to be anchored with that exact keyword phrase, just like a 'real' company would be.

    Does that make any sense? Maybe that's not an original thought on my part, but it just came to me. Anyone care to shoot that theory down? I may test this, as I am currently trying to get off page two with an EMD and am almost exclusively building exact-match-anchored backlinks - will report back!
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    • Profile picture of the author markowe
      Originally Posted by inter123 View Post

      Yes, I'll shoot down your theory.

      The fact is exact match domains don't rank as well as they used to. I started to notice this the latter part of last year. While early in 2010 and before, it was so easy peasy to rank almost any low competetion exact match domains but they closed the loophole on that. I think the 'May Day' alogorithms had something to do with it.
      Yep, I agree - I did note that at the beginning of my post. I am also finding they are not as easy to rank. Though they do typically still rank very easily and quickly in comparison with non-EMD niche sites, they just don't get boosted to the front page that quickly.

      I can see your logic but Google is a smart creature and it just does not wash easily anymore. It could well be that unless your company name is something that does not mean something as in 'Smith and Jones Fur' they are not going to give the same level of preference.
      Well, this is my point - can a dumb algorithm ever reliably tell the difference?

      OK, here's an example (invented): there is a company called Garden Gate Hinges Ohio. Their domain is gardengatehingesohio.com. Is it at the top of page one for the EMD term? Course it is.

      But what if they are not savvy about SEO, what if I registered gardengatehingesohio.com before them? Suddenly, that's not the name of the company any more, that's just me sniping a keyword phrase. Yet how in the world is a search engine going to tell the difference?

      Having said that, there are some exact match domains that are ranking but certainly the numbers are down.
      All my page one ranking EMDs are still ranking just fine, as are those of my competition. So Google are evidently not actually 'penalising' these, maybe it's just an age factor or something... The jury is still out for me on what's happening with these, but I still argue that they will continue to be given serious weight.
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      • Profile picture of the author CliveG
        Originally Posted by markowe View Post

        ....

        Well, this is my point - can a dumb algorithm ever reliably tell the difference?

        ....
        The Google algorithms are far from dumb. Today they sure seem able to identify differences that a couple of years ago I would have thought were impossible given the volume of data that they have to deal with.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kurt
      Originally Posted by markowe View Post

      But I was Googling for something the other day and realised WHY EMDs will ALWAYS carry serious weight:

      .

      Originally Posted by inter123 View Post

      Yes, I'll shoot down your theory.

      The fact is exact match domains don't rank as well as they used to. I started to notice this the latter part of last year. While early in 2010 and before, it was so easy peasy to rank almost any low competetion exact match domains but they closed the loophole on that. I think the 'May Day' alogorithms had something to do with it.
      I agree that the SEs will always have to give extra weight to exact match domains, as it's possible a search is for a specific domain.

      However, the two statements in bold above are NOT exclusive. Giving weight to exact match domains doesn't mean they can't be given less (or more) weight. It's possible exact match domains aren't as powerful as they once where, but that there is still a possible SEO advantage to using one.

      IMO, they'll alwys be given added weight as they pretty much have to from a purely logical point of view...

      The questions really are "how much weight?" and "when will this change?".

      A thing to remember about exact match domains is that they are only really useful for very small niche sites with only a few pages since the "exact match" is really only for the homepage and won't "match exactly" any other keywords/phrases.
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  • Profile picture of the author shulink
    Exact keyword match is great for SEO if your keyword is highly search. I have a site with exact search in the domain name and getting good traffic without doing much promotion.
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  • Profile picture of the author jacked
    Great Post OP. A lot of people just don't get it, Exact Match Domains CAN NEVER be devalued to any significant amount. They are relevant and it would through off your searches like crazy if they were devalued.
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  • Profile picture of the author cynthea
    wow, Tiffany Dow was right on when she encouraged her readers to subscribe to the WarriorForum! thank you everyone for sharing your insight. I really appreciate it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Sorrell
      Whether they've been devalued or not which I think is definitely up for debate, the fact remains that they have more value than just a random word not relating to your site's content. Also, if you want to then sell your site, having an EMD is a seriously good selling point.
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