Exact match domains DOMINTATING the serps
-
For longer tail keywords with typical local monthly search volume of 50 or so, there are exact match domains that are just killing it. Take for instance "alabama registered agent", I'm showing www.alabamaregisteredagent.com in the first spot ahead of the state department, etc. This site has zero links in OSE (DA and PA 1) and is a very small site in general. Can anyone explain why this domain is doing so well?
-
Hi Mike,
If the businesses you're searching for are local in nature, then EMD one-boxes are a known, documented phenomenon currently troubling the SERPs. This is fallout from the Hummingbird update. Read more about this here:
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/01/08/mining-for-google-hummingbird-guano-in-so-cal/
I'm positive that Google is aware of this unintended outcome of the update in which weak, spammy or even closed businesses are ranking in one-box fashion, but as to when Google will tweak the dial to fix this, we just don't know. Hang in there. Lots of people are writing about this, because it is creating such a blatantly poor user experience.
-
Anyone who is concerned about this should spend the money required to purchase an EMD. If you think that the EMD makes a difference in the SERPs this will be the easiest and fastest SEO that you will ever do. Just find the guy who owns it, pay him his price and write a decent page of content. DONE!
All of my websites are EMDs. They do have a tiny advantage in the SERPs if you publish decent content on them. I am willing to pay good money for an EMD when I decide to build a new site (which isn't very often because the cost of a good domain and the content for a good site is quite high).
Up until a couple years ago an EMD was a huge advantage in the SERPs. Then Google cranked back their impact upon SERPs. Today in light competition an EMD can rank you above thin competition with the effort of writing decent content for the topic - but at the same time they can be easily defeated by a person who is willing to work. In heavy competition the EMD is a very small advantage compared to the other work that must be done to win those SERPs.
In my opinion, the conversion rate on an EMD can be higher than on other sites. That is worth the price in my opinion. Also, owning the EMD gives me mental energy to work on the site. That makes all of the difference in competion. They guy with mental energy beats everyone who is slacking.
-
EMD is not by itself enough to cause Google to take action. The key is the quality of the content and value to the visitor. Typically Google is after EMD sites with thin or poor content, affiliate smothered etc.
-
Hi Mike,
I Agree with you. I am also seeing the same thing but don't know how long it will stay as it is.
In Past, Google killed the Exact match domains and now again favoring it.
Thanks
-
Hi Mike
I think this is unlikely just because they have an exact match domain.
The domain you have given as an example is nearly 5 years old so it is likely they have had their site working for them for some time. There are a decent number of pages on the site with information all based around the same subject and they have a registered address in Birmingham AL.
There's likely to be other factors at work too, but as I said, having an EMD won't be the main factor.
I hope that helps,
Peter
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
-
I am tracking my domain e.g www.xyz.com to an existing google analytics account . I want to track www.xyz.com/blog separately in the google analytics account. How can I do that?
I am tracking my domain e.g www.xyz.com to an existing google analytics account . I want to track www.xyz.com/blog separately in the google analytics account. How can I do that?
Reporting & Analytics | | Windlass0 -
Google Analytics to sub domains
Hi, I have a site xyz.com and two separate sites on sub domains xyz.com/abc and xyz.com/def. What's the best way to go about with GA such that I can get all the data in the same place. Should I use the GA code for xyz.com on sub domains as well? Or should I create separate profiles?
Reporting & Analytics | | mayanksaxena0 -
Analytics not tracking traffic from Old Domain Redirect
We've recently 301 redirected one of our client's domains to their new website and the strange thing is, we aren't seeing an increase in traffic in analytics. You would expect the traffic to increase roughly by the traffic volume from the old domain. There were a few hundred redirects and we tested a large sample and the redirects have been implemented properly. Is there something that we did incorrectly in our implementation of the domain redirect? Or is there something else that we need to do in Analytics to properly track those redirects?
Reporting & Analytics | | ATMOSMarketing560 -
Will my Google sub domain filter work
Bon Pormeriggio from cloudy hot sticky & Humid Wetherby UK 😉 I have three sub domains which are reporting all the same stat traffic. Phase 1 is complete in that sub domain tracking has been configured in the analytics code for: http://en.lewispr.be/
Reporting & Analytics | | Nightwing
http://fr.lewispr.be/
http://nl.lewispr.be/ But now i want to get traffic just from http://www.en.lewispr.be/ (Previously all three subdomains reported exactly the dame data). But its this stage I just want to double check. Ive set up a filter correcly as illustrated here:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/check-en-sub-domain-tracking_zps1b24f8af.jpg Will what ive done give me just traffic arriving at http://www.en.lewispr.be/ and not continue the problem of all three sub domains reporting exactly the same traffic?
Grazie tanto,
David0 -
Google Links Disavow - Does that preclude new links from a domain?
If using Google disavow links tool and you disavow links from a 'domain' does that mean that any 'future or new links' from that domain will be blocked? Answer Yes is good if the domain is spammy but bad if the domain was submitted in error ........ Answer NO is good if the domain was submitted in error but bad if the site is spammy. Does anyone have an answer to this please? Also is there a disavow 'undo' request process available? cheers, Mike
Reporting & Analytics | | shags380 -
Need Tips to Track Advertising of Domain on my Car
Hi, I'm working on building a new site. http://www.pilatesboisfranc.com/ I also bought the domain .ca (the business will be in canada) .net .org and .info All the domains are redirect to the .com This site is about my wife new business, a Pilates Studio. We would like to advertise the site on our personal car, using vinyl letters to display the domain name. Is there a way tu use the (.ca) http://www.pilatesboisfranc.ca advertise on my car and track that advertising using Analytics? I know I can use a URL something like http://www.pilatesboisfranc.com/health and track the hit, but using a shorter URL is the key. Can you help? Thank you, BigBlaze
Reporting & Analytics | | BigBlaze2050 -
Linking domains vs Inbound Links
Hello, Whats the diference between Linking domains and Inbound links in Open Site Explorer? And also with is most important to analyze? Tks in advance! Pedro Pereira
Reporting & Analytics | | PedroM18 -
Keeping my rank on SERPs
I recently ranked on yahoo, #4 for my keyword! It has taken 2 months and finally, out of the blue, there I am. This is my first time actually attempting an SEO campaign. At first I was listed for my keyword, then i started dropping after a few days. Then I made a new post, included those keywords, and I got back up to rank #4 again (for the new post). Why is this happening? Do I have to make a new post every 4-5 days to keep myself listed on the yahoo first page serps?
Reporting & Analytics | | SaborStyle0