Keyword as domain- worth buying it?
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Hi,
I just noticed that a top keyword for our industry is available as a domain, but for around $2,500.00 USD.
For example, www.chicagoplumber.com. If we already have a pretty well established online identity as, let's say, www.chicagopipes.com, would it be worth buying the new domain and making it our primary?
Thanks for your feedback!
-Will
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Nick have given a good answer.
Remember exact match domains only help you for that keyword and are beatable.
in my experience, exact match advantage is big, in a non competitive neighbourhood but when you have a high competitive neighbourhood, that advantage is not so great.
If you had 10 dollars and I had 5, you would be much better of then me, but if I had 1 million and you had 1 million and 5, then that extra 5 is not such a big deal -
Nice stuff Steve! Just tried and works good! Thank you for sharing.
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Russ Jones published a great formula for calculating the value of exact match domains a few weeks ago
http://www.virante.com/blog/2012/01/25/calculating-the-potential-value-of-an-exact-match-domain/
The formula went like this -
x = number of searches per month
y = expected conversion rate
z = profit per conversion
c = cost per month to run the site - include marketing/hosting etc
m = number of months you are willing to wait to turn a profit
.35 = estimated number of clicks for ranking #1 (35%)
The formula turns out like this -
((xyz*.35) - c )m
I put it in excel and then play with the numbers to get a range for a valid price. I like his formula better than the one we used for a long time.
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Moving to a new domain means new link building. You can 301 all you want but it's just not the same. Close, but it's never feels as pure as your first.
I'd business-case it. Will the keyword-as-domain give you some ranking power? Probably. Will the boost be worth the $2500? Well...maybe. Also take into consideration what happens if someone else snatches that domain up. Then $2500 might not look so bad when faced with a competitor with a new full tank of SEO gas.
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