Do Keyword Domains Matter

Image via CrunchBase

Over the years there has certainly been much confusion around…

“Should I or should I not have my ‘keywords in my domain?”

My first answer has always been…

The domain name doesn’t matter much if there is no content on the domain.

If you’re just buying domains to own them, fine.

But if you think forwarding a “key-worded” domain to your existing site will help you – it won’t.

Next –

Longevity…

Let’s say a client wants to “rebuild” an existing website.

Imagine the site uses a “company name domain.”

The domain is NOT “key-worded.”

Well, depending on a few factors – it is better to use the “non-keyword” domain.

Factors like…

If the current domain is mentioned in various directories.

Even if the domain has “not so good rankings” and is being killed by the competition for search terms, but has been indexed it would make sense to redesign using the existing domain.

If the current site has any sort of depth and the content can be built on.

How long has the site been around?

It’s much better to build on one that’s been up for a while than to launch a new one.

The launch of a new domain is pretty much the launch of a new business identity.

Certain times and “re-branding” might call for this approach but most of the time it’s not necessary.

Lastly…

“EMD:” It stands for “Exact Match Domain.”

Once again – it can help you if the site is viewed as “Quality” in the eyes of Google.

No quality! An EMD can hurt you!

Why? Because part of Google’s recent updates put low-quality EMD’s on the chopping block to be “DE-Listed.”