Exact Match Domain Update

What is EMD Update?

EMD Update is the algorithm update by Google where it targets “exact match domains”. The main purpose of this update is to filter the sites which are using words that match search terms in domain names.

How EMD Update Works?

Even though the EMD update aims to filter the sites with exact match domains some of the sites are not affected with this update. The main reason is that the sites maintain quality content. For example, there are plenty of sites with domain names such as:

• Usedcars.com for “usedcars”
• Allmovie.com for “movie”
• Recipes.com for “recipes”

There are plenty of sites with search terms in domain names but EMD affects the sites that have more generic keyword in their domains. As these sites have lot of keywords in it which help in ranking high in SERP. Example of these sites is Online- Computer-Training-Institute.com that has long tail domain name. EMD targets a site for update when it lacks the content termed as “parked” or if the content is copied, termed as “scrapped” or even if the content on the site is spun. This means that EMD domains are not being targeted instead EMD domains with low quality content are being targeted.

Types of EMD’s:

There are some factors which help in identifying quality domains which help in EMD update:

• TLD extension
• Number of keywords: It is better to minimize the number of keywords in URL. The best idea is to maintain 3 words for .com and 2 words for .org.
• Hyphen or Non-hyphen: Domains with more than a single hyphen is treated as spam. Even domains with single hyphen are old and have fewer advantages compared with non-keyword domain. So it is better to avoid hyphen domains.
• Domains with “stop words” are qualified as “partial match domains” – Domains that include stop words are not qualified.

Some of the Best EMD Domain Practices:

1. The best idea is to spend some amount in buying a good domain name.
2. It is important to skip second level TLD’s such as .info/.mobi/.travel etc.
3. Better to have non-hyphen domains or single hyphen domains.
4. Minimize the number of keywords in URL.
5. It is good to build a brand name keyword domain.
6. Another best idea is to build a Geo-local EMD as they offer lower barriers to entry.

Advantages and Dis-Advantages of EMD:

Advantages:

1. Startup site can gain traffic relevant to long tail.
2. Can get targeted anchor text and social mentions with keywords easily.
3. Can dominate a single niche.
4. Variations in long tail keyword will help in targeting.
5. Brand mentions and keyword mentions will be the same.
6. Effective for generic commercial intent queries and local search.
7. It will be effective to target a single niche with well built micro site.
8. It will be good approach for the businesses having limited keyword sets.

Dis-Advantages:

• One of the main drawbacks is it limits future brand expansion and creates “brand confusion”.
• “Credit” won’t be the same for brand mentions and occur as “generic”.
• It would be harder to claim social media profiles and associate with brand mentions.
• There is high chance of over-optimization.