Google: Exact Match Keyword Domain Does Not Mean Rankings

Oct 27, 2011 - 9:47 am 27 by

matchingA Google Webmaster Help thread has a site owner complaining that his new site that he purchased and rebuilt doesn't rank well for it's domain.

He bought stocktips.com and is upset it doesn't rank for the phrase [stock tips]. He said:

We bought this domain few months back and we're struggling to rank for our own name. We completely re-designed the website, done a good job with on-page SEO, no black-hat whatsoever, what could be wrong?

In response to that, Google's JohnMu responded saying a few things:

(1) Buying the site made it appear as if it is a new site.

(2) Buying an established site and running similar content on it in the future does help you get a jump start.

(3) Exact match domains does not equal rankings for that keyword phrase.

John said:

FWIW Just to chime in -- it looks like you have a site on a domain that has been used before, and which includes keywords that you're targeting. While that can help, you basically still have a new website. Having keywords in your domain name does not automatically result in your site ranking first for those keywords -- our algorithms do much more than just look at keywords in a domain name :-).

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Image from Bannykh Alexey Vladimirovich/Shutterstock.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Bing SEO

Bing Webmaster Tools Down Has Been Down Hours

Mar 19, 2025 - 1:10 pm
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 19, 2025

Mar 19, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Updates

Google Confirms Volatility Prior To March 2025 Core Update Was Not That Core Update

Mar 19, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google

Google Tests AI Overviews In Middle Of Search Results Page

Mar 19, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Expands Health Overviews & Adds What People Suggest In Search

Mar 19, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing SEO

Bing Webmaster Tools Copilot Feature Opens Up To All

Mar 19, 2025 - 7:31 am
Previous Story: SEO Sharing Is Limited In Public Settings