What's the current situation for exact match ecommerce domains
-
I'm looking for some current opinions on exact-match domains when it comes to ecommerce sites.
I currently own an "OK" brandable domain in a specific ecommerce niche.
The opportunity has now come along to own the exact match domain for this category.
For example catfood.com
Is it more advisable to focus on brandables these days? I know Google doesn't give weight to exact match anymore but is there still a correlation not causation factor to consider?
IE: the links back would be more targeted possibly?
-
These are personal opinions... you will find lots of people who disagree...
Google still gives a good bonus to exact match domains in the search results. I own several and believe this is true. They will not automatically rank you for highly competitive money keywords. You must still work there - but not quite as hard.
Lots of people think that EMDs get an unfair advantage in the SERPs. These are people who purchased their domain late, want to buy cheap, or just don't understand that prime domains are just like Main Street real estate in a prosperous town. If you are willing to pay the obscene price you will get all of the benefits. I go after them. I want the EMD for my important sites.
Lots of people talk about the EMD penalty... they are full of beans. What they think is a penalty is the EMDs not getting quite the full bonus that they did in the past. Now, if you publish crap on an EMD, that EMD will not perform well - just like publishing crap on any other domain.
Lots of people think that a partial match domain gives a big bonus in the SERPS... I'd say don't waste your time unless you have a brandable slogan or name.
Conversion rates can be higher on exact match domains. That is my experience.
It is easier to get cooperation from other people if you own an important EMD. The EMD can give you immediate credibility even if undeserved.
Most importantly... owning the EMD gives me mental energy. If I owned baloney.com then I would be the big baloney and build the best site around for that topic. This mindset is more powerful than any SEO.
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 sets brand/domain name at the end of SERP titles
Hi all, I am experiencing that Google puts our domain name at the end of the titles in SERPs. So if ia have a title: "See our super cool website", Google would show "See our super cool website - Betxpert.com" in the SERPs Well. This is okay. Apart from the fact that i myself often put the brand name in the title AND the fact that Google mispells the site name. The brand is BetXpert with a upper case X...so when i get a SERP with "See our super cool website - BetXpert - Betxpert.com" I am annoyed 🙂 Any one out the know how to tell Google the EXACT brand name, such that they do not set a value the site owner does not want to have? -Rasmus
Algorithm Updates | | rasmusbang0 -
Domain Authority Just Wont Budge
I've put off asking this question for a long time because I know what the short answer is, but I've been working the SEO on http://www.photojennette.com for almost a year now pretty constantly and all of the measurements are positives except for authority. Traffic has more than doubled, links sending visits has doubled, external followed links is 500% up, keywords sending is way up, pages within the site have way more links and are more diverse in their own SEO, but no matter what I can't get PA and DA to budge. In fact at one point DA dropped a point or two. (although OSE and Moz Analytics shown that competitors lost a point or two at the same time so I didn't think much of it.) I feel like I had a good grasp on what helps DA but I'm starting to question that. Anyone have any ideas?
Algorithm Updates | | jonnyholt0 -
Our root domain is no longer appearing in search results
Hi all The root domain for our site, roadtrippers.com, has been disappearing from Google's search results. Subfolders and subdomains still appear, but our root domain isn't found at all. I believe I've verified this by searching "-inurl:trips -inurl:byways -inurl:support -inurl:blog -inurl:places -inurl:guides -inurl:destinations site:https://roadtrippers.com/" in Google and our root domain is nowhere to be found. This may or may not be related to another issue we've had, where the root domain is appearing with a seemingly rotating set of parameters. Sometimes it'll be ?mod=, sometimes it'll be ?tag=translation. Originally they appeared to simply displace our ranking root domain, but now they and our root domain are completely disappearing. Our dev team believes they fixed the problem with recent 301 tags to any unapproved parameter being added to the root domain, but this hasn't fixed the original problem. Any insight into this is greatly appreciated! Brandon
Algorithm Updates | | brandonRT0 -
I used to rank 12 or 13 for a specific search term. Now I don't show up at all. What's cuasing this?
Used to rank on the second page for a specific search query, now we don't seem to show up at all for the same query. Has Google penalized us or is something else going on?
Algorithm Updates | | wlefevre0 -
Low Domain Authority - Rank Well For Competitive Keywords
I have been following a competitor's link profile on OSE for over 8 months. Their linkbacks have remained the same (3 follow, 9 nofollow links), all from low-quality directory sites. However, my competitor continues to improve in rankings and is now #1 for competitive keyword searches. How is this possible? Is there a way to hide your link profile or links from OSE? Any tips are appreciated - Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | TheSEODR0 -
New linkbuilding: If networks are useless, and I need high volume through a 1-man team, what's the best option?
I work for an online retailer, and we have thousands of product pages and our vertical for content is brutal -- half of them are owned by our competitors. Are there any new linkbuilding strategies that can be done through a 1-man team? I'm not talking about bots or traditional link networks. Our current strat revolves around the following: 1. Link prospecting through buzzstream tools and singular contacts 2. Finding bloggers/vloggers, sending product and having them send backlinks to our homepage level with their reviews (slow turnaround, low juice). 3. Syndicating our videos through multiple avenues. 4. Being active on social. We need to gain more authority outside of simple content building. Are there any alternatives to link networks to optimize build outs via a 1-man team? Many thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | eugeneku0 -
Google SERPS problem - "block all results from this domain - click here".
Anyone know what can be done about this when it happens to one of your own domains? On the Google SERPS page, underneath the Title, next to the Description, Google has added "Block all results from this domain?". I understand that this is a new "feature", aimed at allowing users to filter out results from low quality, pornograhphic or offensive sites. But the site in question is none of the above - any ideas how to tackle? Couldn't find anything yet by searching.
Algorithm Updates | | Understudy0 -
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