Are you lucky enough to have a top-level domain name with fabulous keywords? I am. Among my own top-level domains names are www.pre-diabetes.com. Until last year, businesses and webmasters clamored for exact keyword match domains (EMDs) bidding huge sums on domain names because it clearly was helpful in overall search engine optimization.
But that all changed last year when Google quietly launched its EMD Algorithm Update. The update targeted EMDs because such a high percentage of EMDs were found (according to Google) to be spam sites. Unless your EMD site had great content, good inbound links, and was rich with white hat SEO work, you may have actually been penalized for having a great domain name.
There really is no need to panic and kill your domain name, but you are no longer going to get a free ride for having one either. You will just have to work hard at creating a great website experience like the rest of us with www.boringdomainname.com websites.
- Your Guide to Google's EMD Algorithm Update
- Deconstructing The Google EMD Update
- Google EMD Update: Exact Match Domains No Longer Rank As Well
- The Basics Of Search Engine Optimization