Exact keyword in domain - does it work

[LeszekNowakowski]

Hi,

a hypothetical question:

let's say there is a fresh domain travelnorway.com (of course there is already domain like that, I am using it just as a example)

Will it rank first on googe  for "travel norway" query on google?( I mean in situation where 30 other companies are trying to rank for the same phrase)

Thanks!

[LeszekNowakowski]

Yes, they have keywords in Meta Title, but to me it looks more like keyword stuffing - it just repeating keywords in different language.

When you look on the other competitors they usually do much better content wise and social media wise.

It seems that age of the website is an important ranking factor here. Pioneer privilege?

[webtheoria.com]

If you search for this keyword in Google you will see that www.campericeland.is has done one thing right! Their meta-title is:

Camper Iceland, Iceland Camper Tours, Island, Wohnmobile, Camper ...

Meaning they start with the words: Camper Iceland

which all the below website (except one) do not use in the same context!

Their domain authority is low: 28 /100 but atleast they have a link from a very popular website:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/iceland/transport/getting-around/car-and-motorcycle

If you judge the authority of the other websites and especially the one who has the same keywords in the meta-title you will see that:

www.camperrentaliceland.com/

Domain Authority is less: 16 /100

Also: https://www.campericeland.is is a four year old website according to the Wayback Machine!

[LeszekNowakowski]

I would like to continue this discussion by giving an example of Icelandic company: www.campericeland.is

(I could come up with more in this country like this)

They lack almost everything when it comes to SEO (on page optimisation,inbound links, content, the website has poor usability), yet they rank first for phrase "camper iceland"

How come? ? Is it just the lack of other websites and competitors (although there are plenty behind, who do much better job) that makes this possible ?

[webtheoria.com]

your are most welcome! if you like you can mark the answer as a "good answer" in order to show this topic as Answered!

I wish you all the best!

[LeszekNowakowski]

Thanks Matt for your answer!

[LeszekNowakowski]

Thank you for your answer!

[MattRoney]

Hi Leszek!

To answer your question directly—no, having the exact match keyword in the domain name will not, on its own, result in a first-page ranking. It certainly doesn't hurt (unless it's part of a pattern of spammy keyword stuffing), but the impact it will have is vanishingly small.

[webtheoria.com]

You can write a book on the subjec. Exact Match Domains or EMD work but not as much as what they used to. Google has reduced their strenght over the passed years or so, and most likely today are in their worst. So to anwser your question EMDs would maybe be a small benefit when used to target a keyword which is very competitive, but a greater benefit when used to target a non competitive keyword, but nonetheless valuable to you.

you can read more here: https://moz.com/blog/the-exact-match-domain-playbook-a-guide-and-best-practices-for-emds