What to look for when choosing an Exact Match Domain (EDM) / Keyword Domain for your business.
YOU NEED TO PURCHASE A DOMAIN BUT AREN’T SURE WHAT TO DO. CHOOSING A DOMAIN IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHOICES YOU CAN MAKE WHEN STARTING OUT WITH A NEW BUSINESS.
If your search for an exact match for your brand name and availability for your brand name is limited, what do you do?
Clients often struggle with this step and are not sure where to go. I’m going to break it down for you with some amazing resources for choosing your domain.
Following these recommendations will set you up for success, help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well as Search Media Marketing (SMM) in the future.
Where to Begin with Choosing a Domain Name?
1. Does anyone care?
What I mean by this is are people searching for your phrase? What is the search volume?
The good news is you can find out with the Google keyword tool. First, sign in to your AdWords account (or create one). Then go to Google Keyword Planner. Type in your keyword and you will be able to see the exact match search volume. You can then determine how many people are searching for this keyword in your target market.
2. Do I have to mortgage the farm? What will this keyword cost you?
If you have a desire to own a popular domain, chances are, it has already been purchased or is very pricey.
3. What is an EDM (exact match domain)?
An exact match domain is one that contains the keywords you are trying to target for your business. This often is done so that you can increase click through rate (CTR) to your website and also
4. What Does an Exact Match Domain Look Like?
If your brand name was Stefan’s Furniture in Naples, Florida and you wanted to target high-end furniture purchasers, you could purchase a domain like www.LuxuryFurnitureNaples.com
5. What are the Benefits of Exact Match Domains?
The Search Engine Journal provides 2 benefits for exact match domains.
1. A keyword phrase in the domain is a ranking factor for Google.
2. If the keyword phrase is in the domain, other webmasters are more likely to include the keyword phrase in the anchor text when linking to the site.
However, things have changed, as they always seem to do for internet marketing. Since 2010 and ongoing Google updates, keyword domains are not as beneficial as they used to be. Check out this data:
• The “average EMD ranking went from #13.4 down to #26.6,” and the “average top 10 EMD went from #3.2 down to #11.9.” - High Position’s study
• EMD correlation with ranking has dropped from 0.34 in 2010 to 0.18 in 2012 - SEOmoz data
(This data was summarized by SEJ)
Where Do I Go From Here?
Things have changed on Google and they have de-prioritized sites who used keywords in their domains but were not high quality. What I mean by this is keyword stuffing without relevance in your domain name could lead to negative rankings from search engines.
For more information, SEO MOZ has an amazing guide: The Exact Match Domain Playbook: A Guide and Best Practices for EMDs