Personally, but there are some side effects that may give the perception that a KW domain is easier to rank.
Among the side effects: immediate understanding by the visitors of what the site is about, better chances to have proper anchor texts, more visitor trust if the brand is unknow...
I am dubitous about the study. Do you know the exact source ?
Usually, you need less than 30 to 40 000 links to rank a keyword. You need better links. There might be exceptions for single words such as money, dating, acne or very hard keyphrases like dog training.
Comparing the number of links when the numbers are high is not relevant. For example, one site may have 300k links and an other 340k but it proves nothing or very little because all 300k links are not equal.
Study was published October, 2014 by canirank, an SAAS company - canirank.com/blog/keyword-domains/. I don't know the company and have never used the software, but keep in mind they might want to post articles which benefit their own service ...
I'm also dubious of their methodology. As you pointed out, there are a lot of factors that go into ranking. The most obvious, for keyword domains, is anchor text. Backlinks are still big. The keyword will not only be in deliberate keyword anchors, but in URL and branded (assuming it's your brand) anchors as well.
The 40,000 links - most small to mid-sized sites don't have 40,000 links. That tells me they were looking at the deep end of the pool.
Google HAS changed how they treat keyword domains. In 2010 you could put just about anything up on a keyword domain and rank top 10
for that one keyword (more on that in a second). I used to do it with affiliate sites and outrank my merchants. It was fun while it lasted, but it was a game and other businesses weren't amused so Google pulled the plug.
Obviously, they couldn't completely discount the domain as a ranking factor because they'd be killing legit brands, but they did dial back on it with the EMD update, and are probably taking branding signals into consideration too, which makes sense. Keyword.tld that's a genuine brand vs keyword.tld that's an MFA.
As for "owning your keyword" ... which keyword would that be? Sites rank for hundreds, thousands or more keywords - as they should! Clients often overestimate the benefits to ranking for some hard-to-get "trophy" keyword - the numbers usually prove that's not what's driving sales or conversions. Trophy terms tend to bring in top-of-funnel traffic - good to have, but with a higher cost per conversion.
It's fine to brand on a category keyword - if you can do it, go for it. But it isn't a showstopper if you don't. Try these searches:
diamond ring
iphone6
New York lawyer
diet supplement
carpet cleaner
auto loans
I see brands, brands and more brands. So again, not sure where those folks got their data.
garptrader said:
I have seen an NYSE listed company hand-regging newbie-quality domains for its projects.
Newbie to a domainer, there is probably a valid business reason. I know pharmas that hand reg long phrases to use for email marketing campaigns and a small companion site. It's fine for the purpose and saves budget for something more critical.
