Google announces algorithm change to exact match domains

Google has announced that it will stop giving an advantage to exact match domains. An example being if you are a web designer in the west midlands and have the domain westmidlandswebdesigner.com you will no longer experience the kind of strong search results you once enjoyed.

Google’s exact announcement is that they will be “turning down the knob on low-quality exact match domains” – this means that local businesses with simple websites will see their rankings be affected pretty hard as a result of this change.

SEO now becomes one step harder for smaller businesses to improve search engine rankings . The main alternative to deliver results is Pay Per Click advertising using Google ad-words.

2020 Update

Sitting here in 2020 amidst the Coronavirus pandemic and reflecting upon this change that happened back in 2012, it was no where near as bad as thought.

In fact, if anything, it was ahead of the curve and looking back made perfect sense.

With User experience and the customer now being at the heart of everything we do whether that be web design, App development or SEO – Having an exact match domain seems a little bizarre and really doesn’t fit with the idea of giving the best experience to users.

An exact match domain tells users next to nothing.

With brand becoming so important for SEO , having your brand name/company name in your URL makes far more sense and is far more natural.