What Makes An Exact-Match Domain Name So Expensive? Are They Still Worth It?

In the early stages of SEO, Exact Match Domains also known as EMD were really famous for their search engine optimization benefits because, with the help of minimal SEO, you could easily rank on the first page without difficulty.

As these domains have several benefits, they’re more expensive than most .com domains due to their quick ranking & authority factors, but the question is, are these domains still worth the cost as they were in the past?

In this article, we’ll discuss what are exact match domains, do EMD helps with SEO, why people think it works, how expensive it is, do these domains have actual value and authority, is having a keyword in the domain name good for SEO, what are the most expensive domain keywords, and much more so stay tuned till the end to find out more about the EMDs.

What Is An Exact Match Domain Name?

An Exact Match Domain (EMD) is a domain name that precisely matches a product or service offered by a business, enabling them to gain SEO benefits with minimal effort.

In the early 2000s, many digital and e-commerce businesses used EMDs to quickly rank their websites and build authority on Google. This practice still continues despite the fact that Google has taken special countermeasures against it since yearly 2012.

Here is a list of some famous EMDs to clear your concepts and give you a better understanding of how this domain works:

• Newsportsshoes.com
• Mobileaccessories.com
• Newlaptops.com
• Weddingphotographer.com
• InteriorDesigners.com
• SofwareEngineers.com

We hope now you have a better understanding of what EMDs are, and how they helped the SEO back in the 2000s, so let’s move to the next section and see if these domains are still effective or not.

Do Exact Match Domain Names Still Help With SEO?

Google claims that EMDs no longer provide the same SEO benefits as they once did. SEO success now largely depends on factors like page speed, content quality, backlinks, and more, rather than just domain name.

No type the URL of a product or service to find it, instead type the long tail keywords to get the same thing they want with the same specifications. We’re not a digital marketing consultant, the facts we’re telling you are the bitter truth that some people don’t want to digest even in 2023 when SEO is not as simple as it used to be.

Now, sometimes a keyword or a website ranks in 6 months with ease, and some keywords couldn’t rank even in a year with a proper SEO plan and strategy–All depends on the difficulty & search volume of the keyword or niche.

The URLs don’t rank well anymore, but fast page loading speed, correct page structure, high-quality content, online citations, reputable sources, and high-quality backlinks are some of the factors of SEO.

If you’re a business owner who is just selling sports shoes or offering the services of wedding photography, Exact Match Domain might be a good idea for you, but if your business has several mobile accessories like mobile covers, hands-free, protectors or you’re selling different kinds of software and interior designs, then EMDs are a bad fit for your website.

If a business solely offers a specific product or service, an EMD might be beneficial. However, for businesses with diverse offerings, EMDs might not be the best choice.

How Much Does An Exact Match Domain Cost To Buy?

Exact Match Domains were considered very expensive from the start of the websites & internet when SEO wasn’t even a thing, and when Google started the whole process of search engine optimization, these domains became more important than they ever were.

We don’t understand why people want to get their hands on this domain when there’s no sign of personalization, trust, authority, or even a chance to engage with your target audience.

Suppose, you have two options to buy Sports Shoes on the internet, one is Nike, and the other is Sportsshoes.com, which will you choose between them? Nike is a brand that has the trust and authority of Google and its target customers while Sportsshoes.com looks like a seasoned business owner who is selling sports shoes.

No matter whose shoes are affordable and less expensive, people who know the value of the products of Nike will always prefer them instead of some unknown shoe seller.

Many EMD Owners sell their domains between $30 to $50 in 2023 because they know it’s not as important anymore as it was in the 2000s, but some clever domain owners are still selling their domains in hundreds or even thousands of dollars due to the value their domains have.

Does A Domain Name Have Any Actual Real Value Or Authority?

We know most people don’t know what domain authority is, that’s why we’re talking about it to educate the people who’re considering a domain for their business to understand what they’re buying or getting into.

Every Domain has a DR (Domain Rating) which is considered a score to rank & assess the quality of a website. The exact match domain algorithm plays a role in this, as Google evaluates the relevance of a domain name to its content. The DR can change from time to time as the site grows over time, and Google starts to rank and trust the website content & its relativity to the niche you’re working on, especially when considering factors like the exact match domain algorithm.

When you purchase a domain name, the DR sets automatically to zero, and as you start to publish high-quality content, create high authority backlinks, do internal & external linking, and perform technical SEO, your DR starts to grow from 0 to as much as you want.

Moving back to the question, does a domain have any value or authority? Yes, domains have a Domain Rating (DR) which assesses the quality of a website. This rating can grow as the website’s content and backlinks improve, making the site more trustworthy to search engines.

The Checklist For Business Owners When Buying A Exact Match Domain 

We’ve created a checklist of questions that you’ll ask to yourself and your business partners before you purchase an exact match domain for your small & large-scale business:

• Do I really need a domain name?
• Why do I need a domain name for my business?
• Has somebody already used this domain before and how can I check it?
• Is the domain name unique?
• Will It help me in my online journey?
• Can I use this domain for my e-commerce business?
• How can this domain help me in my digital marketing strategies?
• And much more as these questions were built to give you the idea of what questions you should ask yourself to decide what works best for your business

In short, business owners should ask several questions, including the need for the domain, its uniqueness, its potential aid in digital marketing strategies, and more.

Does A Domain Name Have To Match Your Company Name?

It depends on what you want your website to become as you can create a brand name for your website or you can just create a domain for your sports shoes like sportshoes.com which is quite expensive and doesn’t guarantee that it will actually work or you can create a brand name like Nike to sell your shoes at any price without caring about the prices of your competitors.

Creating a brand would take some time, but you can’t imagine how much edge it will provide you once people around the world recognize you and Google gives you the authority your brand deserves.

We advise our customers to consider the factors of availability, brand ability, search engine optimization, ease of remembering & spelling, trust, and authority when they consider a domain name for their business as it will help them in the long run.

It depends on business goals. While an EMD can provide immediate clarity, creating a brand can provide long-term recognition and trust.

Should I Use A Domain Name Traffic Estimator?

We don’t think that using a Domain Traffic Estimator is a good idea, as these tools don’t have access to the Google Analytics and Search Console so the traffic that they show you is just an estimate of what traffic a domain has.

Many domain sellers have created these types of tools to misguide their clients to show the potential of the domains which are nothing but a piece of crap to increase their sales & shit.

And, it’s also important to consider what type of traffic is coming to your website and which sources are they using to find your website, and where most of the traffic is coming from. If you have a solid understanding of these questions, you’re sure to find something that your competitors could not.

Maybe the traffic they’re showing you is old and hasn’t been updated for a very long time, or they’re showing you a huge traffic potential to make you a customer, so be wary of these tools, and if you want to check something, make sure to see the history of the domain to evaluate it.

Conclusion

We hope after reading this article, you’re now ready to purchase a proper domain name instead of an exact match domain which can’t even build a brand for your business. Exact Match Domains are like a shortcut that may benefit you to rank in the local searches, but you can’t expect to rank & compete with the global competition.

In case after reading this whole article, you still want to opt for Exact Match Domains, good luck to you and your business, and if you have queries & doubts about the whole article, please send us your thoughts in the comments or email us your problems so we can propose a solution.