There was a recent article on WebProNews regarding EMDs and how Google views them. In a recent advisory session, John Mueller, who is Google’s Search Advocate gave his perspective on how Google intends to treat keyword-filled domain names. As someone who has a background in SEO, I want to share my thoughts on this topic.
According to Mr. Mueller, Google intends to “devalue sites that rely heavily on keyword stuffing in domains.” He describes keyword domains as a “manipulative tactic” to gain an advantage in search rankings. I think this topic requires some clarification and perspective.
1) There are Levels to EMDs
Just like there is keyword stuffing in articles and content, there also could be keyword stuffing in domain names. I believe moderation is key here. Don’t attempt to squeeze every niche keyword in your domain and you should be fine.
Examples:
BestCarAutoLoanFinancing.com – bad
CarFinancing.com or CarLoans.com – good
2) Keywords can be Brands
The domain industry tends to group domains into different categories, such as brandables, keywords, premiums, short, etc.. I think there is a flaw here because there can be overlap between the categories. For example, a two-word domain (ie: creditcards.com) can be a brand name just like a made-up name. Likewise, a brandable could be considered premium and short at the same time. Wikipedia defines a brand as: “a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller’s goods or service from those of other sellers.” You could technically call any domain name a brand because each one is distinctly unique.
So when Mr. Mueller emphasizes “brand authenticity,” it sort of doesn’t apply to domain names because of my explanation above.
With that said, I do understand why our industry categorizes domain names. Because without categories, it would be hard to label or describe them in marketplaces and to other domainers.
3) EEAT can be achieved with any Type of Domain
According to Google, the key to search ranking is EEAT, aka Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. If this is true, then what your domain consists of, shouldn’t matter. We can build and grow our websites into the most amazing unique experience on the web and logically, the domain that it sits on, shouldn’t affect the outcome. EEAT applies to the content of a website’s character, so the domain name shouldn’t matter.
Do you agree? What are your thoughts?