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Is an Exact Match Domain a good idea for my new real estate agent wp site?

by affiliate_marketer
6 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hello fellow warriors,

I would really appreciate your input here. I'm a real estate agent and I'm about to launch my wordpress site in the next 2 weeks or so. I will probably have about 30 pages of unique content when I launch and I'm planning on adding unique content on a regular basis. I'm about to purchase a domain name and I've been concerned about the effect of the latest google update if I go with an exact match domain name. Here's my question:

I heard some people say that google EMD update only affects spammy sites that have no content supporting the exact match domain where as others said that they have proof that this update even affected people who had sites with lots of unique content.

To give you an example of what I'm asking without giving away my URL that I intend to purchase:

Let's say all things being equal (same exact content and everything else on the website) if I used an exact match domain (EMD) name such as www.widgetcityhouseguide.com and I'm targetting the word "
widget city house" and other long tail keywords that might let's say names of condo buildings in Widget City. Would I be better off using a domain name such www.DaveTheWidgetCityHouseGuy.com?

All things being equal (same exact, relevant content on the site) would I achieve a higher rank with www.widgetcithyhouseguide.com or www.ArekTheWidgetcityHouseGuy.com for the main keyword "widget city house" and the long tail keywords of specific condo names in widget city?

And would it make a differencethat since this is a new site there would not be as many pages as you would find on a mature site?

I invested $1000 into the design of this new wordpress site and I really don't want to compromise the SEO potential of this site just because of a domain name.

Thank you all,

affiliate_marketer
#agent #domain #emd #estate #exact #exact match domain #good #idea #latest google update #match #real #seo #site #wordpres
  • Profile picture of the author derfootmarcus
    From my experience, especially if you have good content, the EMD will give you a boost in the ranking for that keyword... but especially with something like selling real estate that requires a huge commitment for the buyer to even consider what you are selling, you will want to establish for yourself as much authority as possible, and it is clear that you are making that effort with your expensive design... and while you may get more traffic, in my opinion, an EMD is less authoritative than a domain that may match your brand name for example... so that is definitely something you may want to consider.

    Good Luck

    edit: oh and a note on the EMD update... At least from my experience, the update just takes away the advantage the EMD holds for some sites, but it does not give you a disadvantage for that keyword.
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    • Profile picture of the author PioneeringProfits
      FYI
      This is the Matt Cutts tweet to keep in mind:
      "Minor weather report: small upcoming Google algo change will reduce low-quality "exact-match" domains in search results."
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  • Profile picture of the author JustKid
    Excuse me if im wrong but isn't real estate marketing more towards the offline local part more then establishing an authority on google?

    Anyways from a straight marketing point of view I suggest you go with your original widgetcityhouse.com rather then XXXwidgetcityhouse.com since it establishes more authority when a person looks at the domain name.

    As the member above me posted in real estate or any market for that matter its best to establish that you are an authority on the subject, putting your name in the domain only serves to put an actual name to the authority which in a customers eyes puts you at their level.. Honestly its all simple marketing and human psych

    But back to the original point EMD won't mess with your page especially if your domain is something like yourcityhouse.com
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    We own EMD real estate websites (ie widgetcityhome.org) that existed before the google panda/penguin updates. They still rank well and haven't lost position. Then again, they have really good unique content that attracts tons of clicks.

    However, in hindsight, we regret the decision because we now have 3 different sites that effectively compete with one another. It's also 3 sites that create more work to update and manage. If I could do it all over, I'd brand the company name/website only and get that website ranking for the winning keywords. I would dedicate all my resources towards making that one website an absolute success with top shelf content, news and directories.
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  • Profile picture of the author SEO4hire
    Between the updates and what I have read, I would think more in terms of branding your site and less about SEO value. The best strategy now seems to be "What would I do if I knew absolutely nothing about SEO?". Like someone mentioned before: you will not get penalized for having an EMD, but it looks like they have lost their value.
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    • Profile picture of the author affiliate_marketer
      Thank you for all your responses. I understand what you mean by using your own name or company name for branding purposes but I think I will stick with EMD. With that being said, just to clarify, if my keyword is widget city homes and it's medium competition (according to the google tool) and it has 15K monthly searches, would I get any additional benefit by using the domain name www.widgetcityhomesguide.com vs. www.davethewidgetcityrealtor.com in terms of ranking for the keyword "widget city homes"?

      Also, if I target additional long tail keywords such as neighbourhood A homes, neighbourhood B homes, Street A homes etc. and create one page for each, would it make any difference in terms of ranking for those long tail keywords, which of the above two domains I would use?

      Thanks,
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