Top SEO's are recommending brandables not EMDs

[DomainVP]

If you want to learn SEO I recommend dropping into the channel of josh bachynski. His SEO show is underrated, and has some excellent advice when it comes to how to execute great white-hat SEO.

One of the things he is recommending to his viewers is to go with short brandables within any extension, yes even the new gTLD's.

In his intro video he is advising to pass on the 'expensive' exact match $5k - $50k domain names and go brandable. Then start advertising via social etc...

This does come from an SEO expert an not so much a branding expert, but I thought that it was interesting to hear for recommended SEO practice for 2016.

Your thoughts?

 

[enlytend]

One of my clients wanted an exact match domain for her next niche activity, her seo told her she does not need to spend around $1500 for the name, because the search engines don't put that much weight on it.

Those limited minded people don't understand that coupons.com name goes much beyond search engines and if business starts with exact match like that it is hard for mycoupons.com greatcoupons.com couponistic.com etc. compete with them because of instant authority, memorability, natural traffic etc. that comes with it.

Not knowing the domain or the client's business it's hard to say what factors their seo consultant did or did not take into consideration. EMD's like my "lawyers" examples earlier in this thread do NOT help with memorability. Even with distinctive EMD's that get typeins, not all of them give you useful traffic. Type-ins from short EMD's for example are generally "top of funnel" traffic (often with vague or ambiguous intent), not "credit card in hand ready to buy" traffic, so there's that much more marketing that has to be done to retain and convert a prospect. A no-brainer for a big company with a big budget, not always a win for a small company with more limited resources. As for branding, there's a big difference between "coupons dot com" and your average EMD.

If your client already has a site, adding a site / domain for a new line of business increases your workload. Microsites are usually more trouble than they're worth.

But again, I don't know the domain or your client or what their seo consultant communicated to them (because sometimes what we tell a client, what they think we said, and how they explain it to someone else are 3 different things), so I can only speak in generalities.

if you listen carefully
he switches from seo to ppc
and mixing it

Interesting - because for PPC (search, that is) there are very real benefits to having an important keyword (or parts thereof) in a domain:

• Increases ad relevancy for the keyword and for phrases containing it, which can increase quality score, which lowers bid cost on those kwds.
  
• Words in the display URL that match the search query are bolded, which improves CTR

 

[Jeeps]

Knowledge, get your knowledge here!

... @enlytend has pwned this thread.

 

[disaac81]

When they say "SEO experts" it always makes you wonder...

I mean so many so called seo experts still do the same tactics from 10 years ago thinking they are somehow ground-breaking techniques.

Anyway, on to topic...

Brandables have nothing to do with seo. What does have an affect on seo is how powerful a brand name is in search, so if people get to you by searching your "brand name" \ "product name" it increases your credibility and so forth your sites ranking within part of the algo. Note that it does not mean emds ar edead, actually emds are alive and kicking.

Businesses all operate multiple urls these days, usually for products and services, so having an emd that is "relevant" is really the key to fulfiliment of the user experience.

The search engines are looking less and less at keywords and more and more at behaviours, although keywords will always have a part to play, since they are part of the natural model of how human look for things and link to content they like.

 

[arjun29]

Microsites are usually more trouble than they're worth.

Slightly off topic but I would love to hear few more words about the statement if you could.

 

[tomcarl]

SEO value of domains put aside, commercial branding advice from a Search Engine expert is like getting a cosmetic surgery consultation from a dentist.

Just another person speculating on what domain to use while the domain no longer plays a role in what you're paid to do. Kind of like asking an SEO guy which logo to go with.

There's more to an EMD than search engine optimization, it is a brand itself and the two words "dot com" are part of that brand, not just its web address.

Opt for a short dot-whatever Today where there's far less action, public awareness, and money circulating because it may be the future? And advertise it on Facebook? Okay.

Short, 1-2 word, exact-match dot coms will always hold an advantage with CTRs and instant credibility with consumers, not for what they're capable of on the backend, but the perception they give.

The average consumer who knows nothing about our industry searches "used textbooks for sale" and on page one finds TextBooks.com, Bookovo.com, and Textbooks.xyz, SEO matters aside, who would they instinctively be most comfortable giving their credit card information to?

Which site are you going to enter your social security number, CreditReport.com or Credit.report?

"Give it time, it will be the future" - Maybe, but are we doing business now or in the future?

The only EMDs that ever lost value were longtails that no longer rank.

 

[enlytend]

Slightly off topic but I would love to hear few more words about the statement if you could.

I think we've already wandered a little off-topic , so very briefly, and in context of microsites in addition to a primary business site:

1. Risk of being seen as "doorway sites" - https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2721311?hl=en
2. To avoid #1, you're doubling up on content creation and promotional efforts (social media, linking ...) which ...
   
3. Splits up your link equity and site visit metrics. Unless it fully stands alone with a distinct purpose, you could just as easily be promoting the content on your primary site, in which case your entire site benefits from the traffic and links it acquires.
   
4. They RARELY drive significant traffic to the main site. My observations from auditing accounts with full access to their analytics data. They generally drive only a tiny handful of visits if that - fewer than 5/month, sometimes none. So maintenance, promotional effort and risk usually outweigh the benefits

Your mileage may vary.

 

[Keith DeBoer]

I think this has been a well documented trend for the past few years.
And yes single words can and do make great brands......

 

[Josytal]

Either way, the shorter the name, the better - if you can help it.

 

[interbuyer]

Interesting recent case study.

A company approached me to buy a category killer exact name domain.

It matched their current product exactly.

Their current website was the same EMD but in dot info.

They were well established but always on page 4-5 in Google serps.

My domain was currently on a one page landing page, offering a similar product via affiliate links. It received little very little serp traffic.

My website was not appearing in the serps in the first 20 or so pages.

They moved their main website to my domain immediately, after purchase and placed a notification on original website with a link to new website. No 301 redirect.

Three days later they were number 2 on page one in Google serps. They have remained there.

Website remained unchanged.

I spoke to the purchaser two weeks later out of curiosity.

They said it was the best investment ever, sales up 60% , would recoup initial purchase cost in less then 120 days. Purchase cost $38,000.00

Conclusion: EMD's work very well for established websites.

 

[Recons.Com]

Interesting recent case study.

A company approached me to buy a category killer exact name domain.

It matched their current product exactly.

Their current website was the same EMD but in dot info.

They were well established but always on page 4-5 in Google serps.

My domain was currently on a one page landing page, offering a similar product via affiliate links. It received little very little serp traffic.

My website was not appearing in the serps in the first 20 or so pages.

They moved their main website to my domain immediately, after purchase and placed a notification on original website with a link to new website. No 301 redirect.

Three days later they were number 2 on page one in Google serps. They have remained there.

Website remained unchanged.

I spoke to the purchaser two weeks later out of curiosity.

They said it was the best investment ever, sales up 60% , would recoup initial purchase cost in less then 120 days. Purchase cost $38,000.00

Conclusion: EMD's work very well for established websites.

How did google know it was "established website" without a 301 redirect?

 

[interbuyer]

How did google know it was "established website" without a 301 redirect?

"I" called it established because it had been active for a reasonable number of years, offered a legitimate product, was a manufacturer and not and affiliate site. That is my personal description of established, not necessarily Google's .

Edit: I checked the day after sale and they had no 301 redirect, just the page with the link to the new website name, saying we have moved to serve you better. I just checked now and they do have a 301 redirect to the new EMD, so they could have placed it after my first checking and prior to the serps changing. Either way the only material change was the move to the .com EMD from the .info EMD

 

[Recons.Com]

"I" called it established because it had been active for a reasonable number of years, offered a legitimate product, was a manufacturer and not and affiliate site. That is my personal description of established, not necessarily Google's .

I understand that. But for Google to move that content ahead, it would have to know somehow that it is established. How would it do it without redirect? Unless, it has some algorithm to a) understand that it is the same context as old one duplicated; b) prioritize that now the same name is in .com and must be more reliable/better match.

 

[interbuyer]

I understand that. But for Google to move that content ahead, it would have to know somehow that it is established. How would it do it without redirect? Unless, it has some algorithm to a) understand that it is the same context as old one duplicated; b) prioritize that now the same name is in .com and must be more reliable/better match.

It was not duplicated but replaced on the new website, as they removed all content on the original, leaving only the link to the new website address.

Yes, it is seems that the new .com website gained more authority and was deemed more reliable almost immediately.. That is why I postulated that .com EMD still hold considerable authority, value.

 

[cmdomains]

^They must have used Google Search Console optimizations as well? Not sure if it's common as I rarely read about anyone using it when I go through SEO articles.