Exact Match V Broad Match - Why do people generally ask for exact match stats ?

[domsaleuk]

If you're a UK business with the UK as your sole or primary market then your "best" domain will be a .co.uk (read Nominet's business research reports, now in their 6th year I believe)

If you're aiming at a global market then .com is key.

All - and I do mean ALL - other extensions represent one compromise or another, and take you further away from the ideal. This is as close to "fact" as you can get in our industry.

I would have hoped in 2012 the above would be a "given"! .

Whilst it might be a given that often it is better for UK businesses to have .co.uk domain names over and above other suffixes, this is for various reasons. Just because it may be better for UK businesses to use the co.uk suffix that does not mean a co.uk domain name will win on exact match when it is up against a .com, .net, .co or other suffix that has been developed better, optimised better and established longer.

I think things are continually evolving and my view is that the domain name industry has to be ready to adapt to changes as more and more money is put into development within the digital arena as it is the increase in the production and development of sites that will ultimately lead to an increase in domain sales.

Proving to end users that the domain has value in development terms is one of the things that is likely to increase the flow of sales – and with this I believe many things need to be taken into account such as age (the older the better), monetisation potential, and phrase match because phrase match acts as a good guide for build out potential.

 

[cc976a]

Have you tested this philosophy

There would be some bargains on here where exacts are less than 500 - but phrase much higher - going for around a tenner

Fill yer boots!

From all you've said, and many people's response - people are not necessarily ignoring the long tail, it's just from a sale point of view it is much easier to quantify exacts - rather than quoting phrase (which for reasons stated above 'could' be misleading based on the relativeness between long tail and the site the domain could be used to promote)

End users won't look at exacts only (if they knew where to find them ) - but you are analysing a large reseller market on this forum

 

[domsaleuk]

There are a few bargains around but the key indicators I look at include the age of the domain (which I would say is one of the most important indicators of value) as well as sector, monetisation opportunity, and long tail development potential and there are not many that have all these attributes for £10!

In terms of the philosophy – let’s just say that I am talking from a position of strength as I have a lot of close interaction with the various typical types of end user buyers. As such I believe I have a very good understanding of what their thought processes are likely to be with regard to making purchasing decisions on this matter. I also think that a lot of these people will take advice from digital marketing consultants and/ or SEO specialists etc who are likely to have a similar mindset to me.

I do realise that as you say I am analysing the reseller market here and I understand your point about it being easier for resellers to quantify exacts. As you say however – many end users may not even know where to look for exacts. What they will understand in my opinion is being shown a list of the terms that a site could generate results for once built (essentially the phrase match terms) and the type of traffic this is likely to drive in organic traffic terms which also will give them an idea of what they can deliver in PPC

At the end of the day – unless I have this bit wrong (which I could have) – many people on this forum will be buying with a view to selling for a higher price eventually to end users and whilst they wait to do that then they may build small sites that benefit from exact match (please do correct me if I am wrong on this as I would be keen to know more).

I am not suggesting that the exact match metric should be changed – I am just saying that in order for the domain market to give itself the best chance to open the flood gates to end user buyers then I think the other key factors ought to become part and parcel of the resellers decision making process when weighing up what are truly the best names in terms of resale value.

 

[Edwin]

Whilst it might be a given that often it is better for UK businesses to have .co.uk domain names over and above other suffixes, this is for various reasons. Just because it may be better for UK businesses to use the co.uk suffix that does not mean a co.uk domain name will win on exact match when it is up against a .com, .net, .co or other suffix that has been developed better, optimised better and established longer.

Of course. If I have a store in the best part of town, and nail the door shut, I shouldn't be surprised if the guy on the other side of town (where there's little foot traffic) gets more business than me. A straw argument if ever I've seen one.

However, everything else being equal, a UK business will be better served with a .co.uk domain name than any other extension. This will continue to remain true as long as domain names exist, because the tens of billions of pounds a year being spent collectively by millions of companies to (effectively) brand ".co.uk" will see to it. Think the BBC, for example: "You can find out more about that at B B C dot co dot uk" repeated thousands and thousands of times a day, every day.

 

[domsaleuk]

Hi Edwin

I am not disputing your point about the co.uk suffix. Generally I agree with you on this.

What I am saying is that to give the domain market in the uk (and essentially here we are actually mainly talking about co.uk names) the best chance of success in terms of making sales of domains to end users for good prices, then it is really important that all the key value indicators are looked at.

Using exact match as the primary indicator (which appears to be happening on this forum) is in my view very limiting especially when things like domain age and long-tail development potential are probably just as important if not more important factors to consider.

 

[retired_member34]

I don’t think typing in isahyphennecessary into Google gives any indication that Google does not look at hyphens as word separators when used in the URL. What I think this shows is that Google is becoming better and better at deciphering what exactly the searcher intends to be looking for regardless of how they type keyword phrases in to the engine. I would be very interested to hear Geomals views on why exactly you think that by typing isahyphennecessary into Google it serves as proof that a hyphen in a url is not classed as a space.

It does not serve as an indication that Google does not treat a hyphen as a word separator, as you put it. It is well known that Google does treat a hyphen as a word separator and it has been known for a long time, Matt Cutts blogged about it in 2005. It does suggest that Google does not need word separators, it manages perfectly well on its own.

Your earlier statement was that because a hyphen serves as a word separator then the hyphenated domain could be considered the exact match for 2 or more word domains. You believe lots of things, as someone else stated go fill your boots up, there are lots of hyphenated domains available at good prices. A SEO specialist with vast experience such as yourself should be able to turn them into fantastic revenue streams. Go for it.

By the way, I mostly agree with you on the Exact vs Phrase (not Broad, that's pie in the sky), although everything the GKT produces should be taken with a large pinch of salt until independently verified.