Undertanding Google's PMD (Partial Matching Domain) policy...
-
Hi,
If your business name contains keywords, is that an issue? Some companies, have keyword based brand names...
So what is Google's policy regarding EMD or PMD? What happens when the company name has a keyword in it?
If anyone could help clarify, I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Ben
-
Just to add a bit to the discussion if you did not see this already:
http://moz.com/blog/early-look-at-googles-june-25-algo-update
-
Whoa Tom! I am glad to have similar thoughts as yours in this regard.
-
Hi Ben,
Just because you have an exact match domain name or keyword in your domain name, Google will not penalize. Google penalizes or intends to penalize such websites if they don't have credible content or don't provide any value add or do not justify a visit to them or do not serve the purpose or intent behind the visit to them. For example, thin affiliate sites that have any or all of the above qualities.
In an attempt to pull down or weed out such thin affiliate websites from top positions in the SERPs, search engines like Google may sometime seem to do injustice to some legit websites but this is very rare and soon such websites may crawl back to their deserving ranking positions. The point here is, Google wants to stop websites that do not have quality content from leveraging the advantages of an exact match domain name. If your website has quality content, does not rely on shady techniques to rank high along with other SEO goodies like fast loading pages, clear navigational hierarchy, useful and informative content, provides good user experience etc., then Google will not have any problem with the exact match domain name.
Google will definitely frown upon websites that have exact match domain names, which are very young and do not provide a value add to its visitors with little to no credible or unique content. The intent behind coming up with exact match domain names should be clean and I think Google wants to discourage or change the perspective of webmasters who want to enjoy the undue advantages that an exact name domain name brings along.
Hope it helps and am sure other Mozers will add their valuable views in this regard.
Best regards,
Devanur Rafi.
-
Hi Ben
Google doesn't have a problem with partial match domains, or even exact match domains, provided that the websites offer real user value.
Now, it can be said that an EMD might fall under Google's microscope quicker than other domains, because of its keyword nature. Not too sure PMDs would, though. However, if the domain offers real information for the user, has rich useful content and looks like a genuine authority site, then there will be no problem with using it.
Shockwaves were put through the SEO industry when Google appeared to target EMDs with an update specifically geared at them. However, the intent was always to penalise those websites that were ranking purely on the strength of the domain alone. In short, Google wanted to penalise poor quality sites.
That's the recurring theme here. So, if you can create a website that offers great, unique value to the user, doesn't attempt to manipulate the algorithm and can be recognised as an authority in its circles, then it won't matter one bit if you use a PMD, or even an EMD.
Hope this helps.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google Search Console Not Indexing Pages
Hi there! I have a problem that I was hoping someone could help me with. On google search console, my website does not seem to be indexed well. In fact, even after rectifying problems that Moz's on-demand crawl has pointed out, it still does not become "valid". There are some of the excluded pages that Google has pointed out. I have rectified some of the issues but it doesn't seem to be helping. However, when I submitted the sitemap, it says that the URLs were discoverable, hence I am not sure why they can be discovered but are not deemed "valid". I would sincerely appreciate any suggestions or insights as to how can I go about to solve this issue. Thanks! Screenshot+%28341%29.png Screenshot+%28342%29.png Screenshot+%28343%29.png
Algorithm Updates | | Chowsey0 -
Anyone suspect that a site's total page count affects SEO?
I've been trying to find out the underlying reason why so many websites are ranked higher than mine despite seemingly having far worse links. I've spent a lot of time researching and have read through all the general advice about what could possibly be hurting my site's SEO, from page speed to h1 tags to broken links, and all the various on-page SEO optimization stuff....so the issue here isn't very obvious. From viewing all of my competitors, they seem to have a much higher number of web pages on their sites than mine does. My site currently has 20 pages or so and most of my competitors are well in the hundreds, so I'm wondering if this could potentially be part of the issue here. I know Google has never officially said that page number matters, but does anyone suspect that perhaps page count matters towards SEO and that competing sites with more total pages than you might have an advantage SEOwise?
Algorithm Updates | | ButtaC1 -
Where has Google found the £1.00 value for the penny black? Is it Google moving beyond the mark-ups too?
Hi guys, I am curious, so am wondering something about the Penny Black SERPs.
Algorithm Updates | | madcow78
Apparently Google shows a value of £1.00 Penny Black SERP From where does it come from? It's not the value Penny Black Value SERP The Wikipedia page hasn't any mark-up about it, actually it has the Price value mark-up of 1 penny Penny Black Wiki Markup Among the rare stamps, also the Inverted Jenny shows a value Inverted Jenny SERP But it's clearly taken from USPS and it's the cost of a new version of this rare stamp USPS Inverted Jenny Indeed, the mark-up matches that value USPS Inverted Jenny Mark-up I've been looking on-line for a new version of the Penny Black, but couldn't find anything.
The only small piece of information that I've found to correlate one pound with the Penny Black is on the Wikipedia page, but the point is: is Google able to strip those information from that piece? It's not a mark-up, it's not a number and mostly it's not a simple sentence like "The penny black cost was of £1.00" It reads "One full sheet cost 240 pennies or one pound sterling". Penny Black Wikipedia particular Is it Google moving beyond the mark-ups too? Thanks, Pierpaolo 9Cm3MOs.jpg f7XYNtF.jpg 5PpwapB.jpg hYUJswI.jpg 7kbIC4Q.jpg jnu1Gbe.jpg Wzltg0t.jpg2 -
Same Meta description is being shown on Google?
Not sure why this is happening but when you this command into Google site:"mywebsite": + "key phrase" It brings up pages from my website which have the key phrase but I have noticed that Google is using the wrong meta description for all of them even though these pages all have their own unique meta description Does anyone know why this would be happening? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | webguru20140 -
Transfering newly created targeted landing pages on an existing domain to a new domain
Hi - Hope someone can help me with this please I have a question regarding if its possible or advisable to create and host targeted landing pages and a blog on an existing domain, and then move these pages only to a brand new domain? The existing site has good authority and is established. Due to tight timescales in delivery I suggested creating specific landing pages and installing a blog to build authority and trust over time to target completely new keywords. Also the new pages will be helped by the existing domain authority. I've just found out client may want a whole new site, complete with new branding etc and completely new domain in time. Has anyone experienced migrating specific pages and a blog across to a completely new domain and leaving the existing site as it was. I have a whole host of concerns over this, but the main one is that I will be building relationships and content to landing pages and the blog, aswell as linking out etc and then these URL's will have a re-direct on them, going to a completely new domain.
Algorithm Updates | | McCannSEO
Also, the existing domain could lose any authority gained as although I wont only be targeting these pages, these will be the main ones being optimised and this will look unnatural. Do I? A./ Create blog and new landing pages on existing domain eg - www.testing.com/blog
www.testing.com/new-landing-pages, and then migrate these across to a brand new domain. or B./ Create the new landing pages and blog and leave them on the existing domain - period? Concerns here;
Client wants to re-vamp and have a new style and these pages will not necessarily be supported by the existing site, there is no guarantee that we are even allowed to create new pages, let alone internal linking. or C./ Bite the bullet and simply suggest a brand new domain to start with and explain the timescales and its either complete new domain or work on existing one. If anybody else has any other ideas I would really appreciate them. The client is re-branding and the company who host the existing domain, might not want to support the new pages and blog. I was hoping to provide a short term and long term solution as a brand new domain will take time to build up, especially as they are also brand new keywords we are targeting. However, I dont want the existing domain to be hit with any penalties or flag anything un-natural to Google. Many thanks in advance for any advice.. Tracey0 -
Value of a sub-domain compared to a domain
Hello, I have a client that has a blog with a domain of www.domain-a.com and a website www.domain-b.com. I told him that instead of trying to promote and rank with two different sites for the same thing that he should have his blog on www.domain-b.com so that any links, notices, visits, social mentions, etc. all point to one domain name and he was in agreement. But he uses a CMS (content management system) for his website and his hosting/design companey said it would be easier to set up his blog as a sub-domain of his site. www.blog.domain-b.com. My question is will the blog on a sub domain (www.blog.domain-b.com) help out link juice, ranking, etc. for the domain name www.domain-b.com just as must as a blog at www.domain-b.com/blog would help out the domain name www.domain-b.com? I know that Google used to treat links form sub domains as external but recently changed the treatment of these links to internal. P.S. The current blog at www.domain-a.com holds very little value currently.
Algorithm Updates | | Michael_Rock0 -
Why google index ip address instead of the domain name?
I have a website ,now google index ip address of it instead of the domain name,I have used 301 redirected to the domain name,but how to change the index IP to its domain name? And why google index the IP address?
Algorithm Updates | | frankfans1170 -
If Google turns down the weight of keywords in domains then what will they be turning up?
Per Matt Cutts video "We will be turning that keyword in domain down." http://youtu.be/rAWFv43qubI So what will they be turning up?
Algorithm Updates | | Thos0030