Can moving to a new TLD boost search rankings?

[JoyHawkins]

I ran it through Ahrefs and found some press releases but nothing fantastic. What I found interesting is that the word "agency" was bolded in the search results.

 

[heckler]

I ran it through Ahrefs and found some press releases but nothing fantastic. What I found interesting is that the word "agency" was bolded in the search results.

So maybe there is a conversion win to be gained from these domains? What are you thinking Joy?

 

[JoyHawkins]

Honestly, I don't know what to think. I've literally read like 5-6 different articles on this topic in the last few weeks with conflicting information. I don't deal with this with my clients currently at all so I have no actual experience with it. I also haven't seen anything other than the odd example here and there that shows anything conclusive.

I do know that I don't always believe Google when they say something isn't a ranking factor.

 

[Tim Colling]

...I do know that I don't always believe Google when they say something isn't a ranking factor.

Yes, same here. I mostly believe Google when what they say is likely to either:

1. Increase Google revenues
2. Not harm Google revenues

 

[Tim Colling]

...
Moz for back-link research is almost completely worthless in my experience.

Yep.

 

[JacobMaslow]

No problem.

Didnt mean to imply that EMDs dont work as they do and always will. EMDs have an advantage with anchor text will naturally have the keywords and you can be a bit more aggressive without running a foul of penguin.

Most importantly, Google's algorithms will always ensure a real EMD ranks. People often enter the site they want into the search box, "sony" "amazon" and the like.

Google made some updates so that a EMD doesnt automatically rank if its a really thin site with a generic term (cheap general electric refrigerators), as affiliate people were setting them up by the dozen.

Wow. That piece by Conrad was SOLID! Thanks for sharing Jacob.

In case you guys missed it, there was a great discussion about EMDs over here on the forum and the conclusion overall was that yes, they do work still. So along with what Eric was saying I think it's more just having keywords in general in the domain that can still help (not the TLD).

Here was another case recently I saw that was praising the new TLDs. This was for a car dealership. Thoughts?

 

[James Watt]

Didnt mean to imply that EMDs dont work as they do and always will.

That might be an overly bold assumption there. The main thing Google's interested in, is which ranking factors lead to the highest quality list of results for searchers. EMDs seem like more of a relic of the old days than an actual useful stat. After all, why should a site with an EMD be more likely to provide the searcher with valuable content? If they are statistically correlated they'll stick around as a factor, but I kind of doubt it. I'm convinced they still matter, but will they still by 2020? Or even by this time next year? Maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised either way, especially with Google starting to play with deep learning using Rank Brain. False factors that don't actually improve user experience are probably going to get spotted more easily moving forward.

 

[JacobMaslow]

Sorry if it seems overly bold but Google's algorithm and updates need to meet quality thresholds that Google published. Someone searching for Amazon, needs to see Amazon on top regardless if the New York Times or CNN do an indepth focus and gets lots of links.

This is one of the things quality raters look for, by ensuring the EMD is a a factor, google can "fully meet" the user intent for many searches.

Take a look starting from part three (page 76) of the guidelines which deals with "Needs Met"

https://static.googleusercontent.co...s/assets/searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf


Of course there was an EMD update targeting thin sites with few backlinks as well as generic terms.

That might be an overly bold assumption there. The main thing Google's interested in, is which ranking factors lead to the highest quality list of results for searchers. EMDs seem like more of a relic of the old days than an actual useful stat. After all, why should a site with an EMD be more likely to provide the searcher with valuable content? If they are statistically correlated they'll stick around as a factor, but I kind of doubt it. I'm convinced they still matter, but will they still by 2020? Or even by this time next year? Maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised either way, especially with Google starting to play with deep learning using Rank Brain. False factors that don't actually improve user experience are probably going to get spotted more easily moving forward.

 

[JacobMaslow]

By the way looking at the study, the lawyer got 254 visits for the month.

Real lesson is that anyone can do a case study.

 

[James Watt]

Hey Jacob, reading my little rant from yesterday, it comes off as a little more confrontational than I meant it. You're definitely right that EMD is a big deal when it comes to brand keywords... but I also think that someone getting an EMD specifically to capitalize on a generic, valuable keyword area is a different thing, and that's what we're likely to see a decline in as Google's algorithms get more intelligent. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens, but you're right, it's definitely not as simple as getting rid of that factor. I'd still be surprised though if citykeyword.com is still as useful in the future as it is now (or for that matter, naming a business 'city keyword' in GMB).

 

[JacobMaslow]

You didnt say anything out of line. Nice to hang out where people get passionate about SEO.

Having the EMD boosts other SEO efforts. But just registering the domain isnt going to give you anything.

Local Search Forum is a long tail generic term but there is lots of content. Also a lot of links coming here (authority).

It shows up on top of the search results. People seeking to go to this forum likely enter the term into google.

This way you dont have to remember .net or .org or figure out if there are dashes. Google is also extremely forgiving of spelling errors and typos. If you enter a domain directly into the dashbar it needs to be perfect. Also chrome's dashbar is also the search box.

On the other hand, a few years ago someone put up a site frigidairedehumidifier.com and started ranking against me even though I put in a lot of work ranking for that term. His site was really thin and he likely set up a few EMDs every month. No reason for Google to give him any sort of boost.

Hey Jacob, reading my little rant from yesterday, it comes off as a little more confrontational than I meant it. You're definitely right that EMD is a big deal when it comes to brand keywords... but I also think that someone getting an EMD specifically to capitalize on a generic, valuable keyword area is a different thing, and that's what we're likely to see a decline in as Google's algorithms get more intelligent. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens, but you're right, it's definitely not as simple as getting rid of that factor. I'd still be surprised though if citykeyword.com is still as useful in the future as it is now (or for that matter, naming a business 'city keyword' in GMB).