Biased article against exact match domains

[Edwin]

http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/the-problems-with-exact-match-domains-11543

SeoMoz has just published the above ridiculously one-sided attack on exact-match domains. If I wasn't on my iPhone, I would have fired a broadside across the author's bows...

 

[GreyWing]

I wonder if the biggest negative is the fact that he doesn't have any

 

[Rob_F]

Most of his negatives should be in the positives column – I agree, negative if you don't own any exact match domains, which I think is probably the case here.

- Rob

 

[Pred]

a shoddy little article not worthy of a response
not sure what his beef is really
a great domain is all part of seo, brandability and memorability
all part of building a brand

tbh, an ugly 3 word hyphenated .org 'can' get top and will pay some dividends in people finding through serps but thats it
noone will ever remember to retype, also it doesnt inspire confidence when people see the domain as any spammer could have regged for a fiver
tbh a big chunk of the population know a good domain / website is an expensive thing. even small things like a great logo, a cracking domain helps. again the brand
all part and parcel of same thing, domain and website

google does put a hell of a lot of emphasis on keyword domains so that must kill some people in seo
lol

 

[JMOT]

What a knob...

Edwin, your research on exact match CTR in ppc is a great piece. CTR on exact match in SEO should be your next research paper

 

[newguy]

I wonder if google will reduce their value. That would be of concern. I would think that exact match domains are likely to involve investment of some kind (in the name at least) and as such as less likely to be used purely for spammy reasons. If someone is going to spam, they could just as easily use a cheap domain.

 

[BREWSTERS]

From the article;

I’ve held back on the negatives a bit here because it becomes a bit too one sided, and you can probably guess that I think exact match domains carry far too much weighting.

I read that the author is acknowledging the importance of exact match domains (within the serps). Just that he feels they shouldn't be given that importance. As Rob said above, most of his 'negatives' are actually positives if you own the domain.

 

[DomainManagement]

So if i have pinkmobilesphones.whatever and the searcher enters pinkmobilesphones

who is the more relevant to the searcher a, vodafone b o2 c, three.

d, phones4u e pinkmobilesphones.co.uk hmmmm i think i
would click on

dur pinkmobilephones dont you as my brain is telling me its more relevant to my search this is basic stuff

its how they match there adwords/adsence is it not

its all a load of bollocks written by someone that works with the big corporates and is pissed off that he can beat keyword heavy domains
in his seo rankings for his clients

enough said

 

[retired_member13]

<indeed>...

 

[DomainManagement]

he he

well i left a nice and short post back for him

and edwin go give it to him

 

[rob]

I dont think any domain has gone for 'alot of money' on domainlore.

It is SEO, everyone is an expert didnt you know?

 

[johnnyboy]

As an affiliate marketer, I like the fact that Google gives more weighting to exact match keywords. I've had some very erotic dreams about ranking above an established company's website in SERPs. However, as a consumer and average Internet user looking to buy something online, I hate seeing affiliate websites with rubbish content and design; I prefer searching for products by reputable retailers and brands that I can trust.

I would personally like to see Google re-evaluate the weighting it gives to exact match keywords, not only as a consumer but also as an affiliate marketer, because I would not only see better and more relevant results but it would push me to provide better content for my affiliate sites and actually be proud of the work I produce.

 

[JMOT]

Until Google stops reliance on links exact domains will still rule as its far easier to link build on the term without tripping a penalty regardless of any extra weighting or not. CTR is increasingly a quality signal and exact domains benefit from that too.

 

[peter_w]

Heh... My old housemate wrote that. He did tell me he was going to get published on seomoz soon but I didn't know the subject.

There's clearly a lot of bitterness in the post! He used to work for a company that sold local businesses an SEO service which revolved around buying the exact match and getting them ranking for it.

I don't agree with this piece at all, but still pleased for him to be getting his name out there.

The main issue I take is that he says his main gripe with exact match names is that they are exploited by companies such as his former employer... surely however it's just smart business? Why take a flight to New York via Canada when you can go straight there (or something such)?

 

[wb]

I both agree and disagree although the article is very bias. Some exact match domains are far too niche and targetting literally just the one phrase on a thin site. I don't think it's a complete dig at exact match domains, but more the obscure or long tail searches which are getting cluttered up in search results.

Good exact match domains will have more value to them than purely getting an exact match bonus, for example both the memorability and brandability of them.

 

[crazihos]

I can't log in on there to leave a reply at the moment cos im on my phone but I will tomorrow, talk about a one sided opinion, it's not balanced at all!

I agree that exact domain+very thin site should be looked at but exact domain+good site should get a bonus for sure.

Msupermarket just spent millions on exact names and that's not only for the bonus, it's because from a user pov a quality site on life insurance called lifeinsurance.co.uk is perfect and will always be perfect.

At some point lifeinsurance.co.uk would have out ranked msupermarket even without a bonus simply because logic would dictate it and they knew it.

I'm currently spending thousands building a Tenerife holidays site on an exact domain because a user will find my site a lot more logical to use when booking in tenerife than they would if I used travelsite.co.uk, again that's a no brainer!

I own branded and exact and make money from both but exact just makes more sense and given the option as a developer/marketer I'd much rather build a good site on an exact because i know that as an end user I'd much rather use a good site site on an exact!

His examples too- iv not checked the actual sites but the exact solicitors domain seems to rank above a directory and a solicitors that covers the whole south. If that's the case the exact would be more relevant surely for anyone wanting a local service.

If anything its brands that screw up the serps because nobody can afford to compete with the link buying they do so an exact domain gives smaller busineses a chance to compete on a level field with firms with massive budgets, something an seo firm working for them will never like!

 

[edo]

I think it's a fair post by the SEOmoz guy. And I say that as someone who owns a reasonable amount of exact match domains and wants Google to give as much love to exact match domains as is humanly possible.

The poster is not arguing that exact match domains shouldn't get a bonus in the SERPS, but that they currently get too much. Sadly, I think he's right. Time and time again you see horrible-looking, wafer-thin affiliate sites using exact match domains to rank above High Street chains and that has to be bad for the average searcher from a usability point of view.

Of course from our standpoint as domainers and developers exact match domains are brilliant as it gives us a chance to compete with the big boys, but there will come a tipping point as the SERPS becomes increasingly filled with spammy guff.

I hope as much as everyone on here this doesn't happen in the near future, but it's inevitable it will at some point.

Cheers,

Ed

PS Was amused by your comment, johnnyboy, about the "erotic dreams" you have about affiliate marketing. Can you expand on this? Slooooooooowly.

 

[retired_member34]

Time and time again you see horrible-looking, wafer-thin affiliate sites using exact match domains to rank above High Street chains and that has to be bad for the average searcher from a usability point of view.

This is the cause of the problem I think. Google has rightly given an exact match boost as it has seen it as a signal of investment in the website and authority. However, as a result of this it is being used to game the search results (mostly by people similar to us) and as soon as Google sees gaming then it tends to adjust the alogorithm to compensate. I've seen a few articles now with the opinion that Google will turn the dial down on exact match.

The irony is the more successful domainers are at developing exact match domains, the more likely Google is to adjust the bonus down.

 

[johnnyboy]

PS Was amused by your comment, johnnyboy, about the "erotic dreams" you have about affiliate marketing. Can you expand on this? Slooooooooowly.

You know, it's the usual dreams. A couple of my ultimate 'affiliate fantasies' include outranking CompareTheMarket.com for the keywords "home insurance" and being 2 pages above B&Q for the keyword "sheds". And I've managed to outrank these established websites with a completely unrelated, brandable domain name, MassiveDonkeys.br.com. I also have a weird fetish where I'm ranking really, really well for the keywords "rechargeable AAA batteries" but the details of that are too explicit for the eyes and minds of Acorn members; more suited to an adult chatroom/forum.

 

[vizzo]

It's a weak article that doesn't appear to have been thought through and presented very well.

His main gripe seems to be the selling of keyword rich domains+websites for low ranking search terms. His use of the example "dsa approved diving instructors in luton" is interesting. From a purely "search" perspective it's a waste of time - no one will ever search for that. But maybe there's also a bit of a link manipulation factor involved - the site links through to the Driving school's own (poor-ish) website.