20 min read
Exact Match Domains (EMDs) were once all the rage, but those times are over now. Exact Match Domain names had a singular purpose; to drive more traffic to the website with a domain name that matched exact search queries of users. With the modern era’s SEO techniques, the need for these domains went down significantly. However, these may still be of use. Let’s take a look.
What is An Exact Match Domain?
An exact match domain is a particular kind of domain name that has the exact keyword that a business is trying to target to rank higher in search results. For instance, if you had a business that offers plumbing services to homeowners in Laguna Beach, you would go for a domain, such as plumbinglagunabeach.com. This domain name has all the keywords in it that a user might use to search for the relevant services on Google. This is an exact match domain name. Here is an example:
Years ago, before SEO became what it is, an exact match domain was the perfect way to gain traction and rank among the top results on Google. However, SEO eliminated that need, and now business owners can implement keywords and geolocations in the content of the website to enhance their search engine ranking.
People used to purchase these websites and keep them as investments. The idea was to sell these to the highest bidder and thus began a war for domain names.
However, Google took care of it in 2012 when it introduced a penalty against long-winded exact match domain names in 2012. This caused a downfall in the use of exact domain names, and people are now more interested in using organic and paid SEO practices to boost their online visibility.
How Does Google Rank Websites Now?
Modern era businesses require powerful ranks in search engine results in order to leave their competition behind. Therefore, back in the day, a lot of businesses used to rely on exact match domain names and domain matching for this purpose.
However, with the excessive use of SEO practices for search engine results and ranking, the majority of businesses now rely on the use of modern SEO practices for their websites.
If you want to move forward in today’s world, you need to understand Google’s ranking algorithm in 2021. This can help you understand whether or not you need to use domain matching for your business and how much SEO will help you move up the ladder of search engine results.
Here are some of the things and elements that Google uses to rank websites in order. If you understand these aspects, you will easily get among the top results and enhance your online visibility in front of intended audiences.
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Keyword Match in Website Content
The first thing that Google checks is the keyword match in your content. Therefore, if your content is stuffed with a lot of keywords, you will get penalized. This is why Google ranks only those websites which use a medium and a moderate amount of keyword stuffing. Here is a prime example of keyword stuffing, where “white” is the keyword (DON’T do this!)
The Security of Website
The second thing that you need to take care of is the security of your website. Google will never list an unsecured website in the top results, which does not use any modern encryption method for communication.
Therefore, you need to make sure that your website has an HTTPS instead of an HTTP. This will help Google realize that your website is secure, is meant for business, and it will not pose any threats to the users. Here is a visual to help you see the difference:
(Image credit: cloudflare)
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Mobile-Friendly Website
If your website is not mobile-friendly, you are already at the bottom of the barrel. Modern era businesses require a mobile-friendly website, and this is yet another thing that Google monitors before ranking the websites. Check out the difference between the two screens. The screen on the left isn’t optimized and is difficult to read with tabs almost too small to click or read. The screen on the right has larger text and tabs that allow for easier clicking:
If you have a mobile-friendly website, this is viewed as a plus point, and you automatically rank higher than those websites that do not offer compatibility for different devices and screen sizes. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the adaptability of your website content and ensure that it is mobile-friendly.
Page Load Speed
No one wants to wait for hours for a web page to load. This automatically turns away your intended customers and audiences, and Google also views this as a negative point. Therefore, if your websites take a lot of time to load up, it will rank lower than the majority of your competitors.
Google constantly monitors and checks the load speed of different websites and ranks them accordingly. It would be best if you also made sure that your pages are loading within a few milliseconds, and you can use various online tools to make sure that your website is not lagging or offering slow load speeds.
FACT: The first 5 seconds of page-load time have the highest impact on conversion rates. Website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second of load time. (Hubspot)
Social Links and Options
Another important thing is to offer various buttons and social signals so that users can easily share the content with their friends or followers. Therefore, if you are offering the option to share your content with the majority of modern era social media platforms, your website will be ranked higher than those who do not offer an option for social media platforms. For example, add clickable links like the ones below to EACH page on your website:
Quality and Authority Backlinks
This is one of the most important things when it comes to search engine results, and quality backlinks can easily enhance the overall ranking of your website.
Quality backlinks are known to improve your search engine results as Google views your website as an authoritative one. Therefore, you need to use authoritative and quality backlinks without overcrowding or overstuffing your content with a bunch of irrelevant links. There can also be a penalty for linking schemes, so avoid questionable links. Here is Google’s policy on link schemes:
For this purpose, you can also use free tools or online platforms to put together a list of quality backlinks and make sure that you are only using high-ranking links in your content.
Optimized Images
Google also ranks your images, and you have to make sure that all your images are optimized if you want to rank higher in Google search results.
This means using the appropriate alternative keyword in case images do not get displayed and using highly optimized pictures for a quicker and faster load speed. You must have seen a few blogs and websites where the text gets shown pretty quickly, but the images take a lot of time in order to be properly displayed. These are the kind of websites that are ranked lower in Google search results, and you need to make sure that all your images are of an appropriate dimension and are optimized for a quicker display.
Can You Use Exact Match Domain Names In 2021?
If you are thinking of exact match domains 2021, there are a few things you should know. The exact match domain update in 2012 stated that EMDs would be penalized. However, you can easily use exact match domain names for your business, but you have to pair it with the appropriate level of SEO in order to make it successful.
The exact match domain update from 2012 only applies to under-optimized websites. This is why exact match domains 2021 can be a good idea with the help of modern SEO techniques. In fact, it can give you an edge over the rest of your competitors.
The first thing you need to remember for using an exact match domain name in 2021 is to properly analyze your homepage or the welcome page and make sure it is an optimized landing page for your audiences.
Since your welcome page is the one that will be highly visited by your users, you need to make sure that it is not over-optimized or overcrowded with SEO keywords. Otherwise, you will be prone to Google penalties for using bad SEO techniques and an exact match domain name. Therefore, proper optimization is the key to success if you want to use exact match domain names in 2021. Take the Slack website for example, simple layout and theme consistent with their product; a messaging app for busy professionals:
You also need to make sure that you use appropriate links on your landing page. Moreover, you cannot use exact match anchor texts for too many links. You have to use an appropriate amount of keywords and links in your content, and you also have to make sure that you are only using partial match anchor text or informative anchor text for your links. If you decide to go for too much exact match anchor text, this will be viewed as a bad practice, and you will be awarded a Google penalty.
We hope that you found this article useful.
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What Are The Pros Of Exact Match Domain Names?
Before finalizing the decision about using EMDs for your business, you need to familiarize yourself with the possible pros and cons of exact match domains. Let’s take a look at the pros of using EMDs for your brand.
Quickly Build Traffic for Your Startup
If you have decided to go with an exact match domain name, you can easily get a lot of traffic for your startup and kick start your website with high-quality traffic. While your competitors will have to stick to the SEO practices, you can easily generate a lot of traction towards your startup company with the help of an exact match domain name.
Low-use Keywords
Moreover, if you have a business that does not require any high ranking keyword, and you can sustain by using low-use keywords, an EMD can easily help you leave your competition behind. Since you will not be using any high ranking keywords, Google will not give you any penalty for using an EMD website. Here is Diib’s keyword research tool that could help you in this situation:
Target Local Traffic
If you only want to target local traffic in your area and local users, you can use an exact match domain name or a partial match domain name. The exact match domain penalty only applies to those websites that have to interact with the international customers, and if you are only looking to target local traffic, you can use an exact match domain name to get in touch with your intended audiences quickly.
Keywords as Brand Name
Another pro for using an exact match domain name is that you can use the specific keywords as part of your company name. This will give you an added bonus and the additional benefit of getting into every search result for that specific keyword. You will not have to suffer from an exact match domain penalty as your company name will already have the keyword, and it will not be constituted as keyword stuffing. For example:
(Image credit: WordStream)
What Are The Cons Of Exact Match Domain Names?
Before making the decision about using exact match domain names for your business, you need to familiarize yourself with the possible pros and cons of exact match domains. Let’s take a look at the cons of using EMDs for your business.
Confusion Among Similar Names and Competitors
When similar businesses start showing up in your local area, it will cause a lot of confusion because of an exact match domain name. These businesses may also have a similar keyword in their domain names, and this is why there can be a lot of confusion among different businesses.
A Target for Competitors
Your website may become a target for your competitors and online trolls. This means that you can always find competitors and trolls in your comment section or in your contact us section.
Social Media Management Will Be Harder
Moreover, if you are using an exact match domain name, it will be harder for you to create a social media profile with your brand URL.
Since a lot of competitors will be trying to compete for the same social media
profile name and brand URL, it will be harder for you to claim that URL for your business. Additionally, exact match domain names do not look good as social media profiles and are often viewed as trolls or fake businesses.
Exact Match Domain Names Are Expensive
Purchasing an exact match domain for your business can be extremely expensive as compared to a partial domain name or a standard domain name.
Therefore, if you are already working on a thin budget and you are thinking about using an EMD for your business, you should know that it will cause a lot of financial stress and put a strain on your budget.
These domain names can often go for thousands of dollars, and you will have to bid for these domain names. This will constantly raise the stakes, and you may have to pay a higher amount than a standard domain name.
Restricted to One Product
These domain names may not always portray your full scope of services, and you may be restricted to only one product.
This means that if you want to scale up in the future, your brand name and URL will remain the same, and there is nothing you can do about that. Therefore, if you are currently using an exact match domain name, and you want to offer a wider array of services, it will require a lot of SEO keywords and practices for your website to show up in the top results for those new services. Using an EMD can restrict you to only one product or service for the future.
EMDs Are Becoming Obsolete
The modern SEO practices are slowly making EMDs obsolete and less relevant. So, if you want to continue your business in the future and you want to scale up in the future, you may need to revise your strategy and stay away from using exact match domain names or even partial match domain names. These domain names will become quite irrelevant in the future, and SEO practices will be used to boost a website’s ranking in terms of search engine ranking.
What is The Bottom Line?
Google only penalizes those exact match domain name websites that offer low-quality content, but are currently ranking in the top search results. Google previously did this with private blogs that were using too many backlinks to rank their websites higher than others. Now, Google has turned its attention towards EMDs, and there is a penalty for misusing domain names for search engine ranking.
Therefore, if you are using an exact match domain name or even a partial match domain name, and you are offering valuable content and an appropriate SEO strategy to your users, you do not need to worry about these websites.
However, if you do not have an exact match domain name for your business, you do not need to worry as you can easily match and defeat EMDs with the help of SEO practices and strategies.
Diib®: Develop an Effective Exact Match Domain Strategy!
Back in the day, people used to worry that they would be left behind by their competitors if they have the advantage of an exact match domain name. With the help of Google’s new ranking algorithm, you do not have to worry about that, and you can easily get your website in the top results of the search engine by employing a powerful and effective SEO strategy for your content and website. Diib offers actionable analytics that can help you whether you decide on an Exact Match Domain or Brand Domain. Here are some of the features you’ll love:
- Bounce rate monitoring and repair
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- Technical SEO monitoring, including domain strength and overall health
Building a strong content driven website with Diib can give you domain strength. Click here for your free scan or simply call 800-303-3510 to speak to one of our growth experts.
FAQ’s
The school of thought is divided in this arena, however, exact match domains can still prove to be an effective strategy in 2021. Just make sure to pair your exact match (or partial match) domain with a strong SEO and content foundation and this should prove effective.
A partial match domain, or PMD, is a domain name that contains some keywords or phrases that you are looking to rank for. This can prove beneficial as you can’t be accused of keyword stuffing if the keywords are an actual part of your domain name.
Since 2000, GoDaddy has been the best, most affordable place to buy a domain name. Historically, you could get domain names for as much as 70% below the going rate. With GoDaddy growing in popularity, you may not find 70% off deals, however, you can still find great deals.
Bluehost is an ideal way to get a free domain. When you sign up for their hosting services, you get a free domain in addition to stellar online hosting services.
A phrase match gives you some flexibility of broad match, however, it does bring with it a higher level of control. Your ad will only show up when the searcher uses the keywords in the exact order (phrase) you enter them.
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