Google recently launched a new algorithm change that penalizes websites that use Exact Match Domain Names. It is called the Exact Match Domain penalty or EMD. This is yet part of another round of algorithm changes Google has had recently to penalizes sites using short cuts to get rankings. In last year we have seen Penguin and Panda updates kill rankings for many sites and now comes EMD.
Historically, exact match domain names would give you slight benefit in rankings. So what is the best way to recover from this and is there a way?
From doing some research, it appears that not all exact match domains are effected, so it appears that Google is looking at other factors to decide if they should penalize EMD sites.
I have also noticed that the websites which have not been updated for long and have not actively been doing link building have lost rankings.
Also, the sites which have been posting too many blog updates, but had low quality back links have also lost rankings.
I have also noticed that only those EMDs have lost rankings which were not being worked upon in a good way and quality backlinks were missing. The EMD sites which were previously ranking only and only due to their domain name but were missing quality links, have lost ranks.
What my recommendation is to stick with white hat SEO. If you have low quality back links start cleaning them up. If you have poorly written or spun content on your websites, start improving them. Fresh content is good, but only if you have quality content and back links.
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Article submitted by Pierre Zarokian of SubmitExpress.com. If you need SEO Services or have been effected by EMD Penalty, make sure to visit SubmitExpress.com.