The Impact of the recent EMD update on search engine optimisation

EMD, or Exact Matched Domain, has always been an extremely important process for businesses as they first venture online. With the recent EMD update how should we be thinking as an industry about the way we manage accounts in the future?

Put simply, an EMD is an exact keyword used within a domain for instance, if you were purchasing a website domain for an accountant in Bristol, you could use the domain bristolaccountants.co.uk. A brand domain on the other hand would use the name of the company instead.

In the past, companies that were purchasing domain names for new websites would choose exact domains in relation to the keyword that they were specifically targeting, giving them an almost certain chance of appearing within the higher echelons of the Google search rankings.

With the latest EMD updates things are changing and search engine optimisation professionals may have to tweak their approach. The update has been designed to target low quality websites and therefore should be seen in a positive light as those websites with an EMD need to work hard on other aspects to keep them ranked highly.

SEO professionals can ensure this is the case by utilising other platforms, such as social media and local listings to help build up the brand awareness of the company and not rely solely on an EMD.

Although an exact matched domain will still carry a lot of weight, it will no longer guarantee a high listing without other efforts being made alongside it.