Google has just announced another change to it’s search algorithm where it is devaluing low quality exact match domain websites.
Exact match domains are where the primary keyword is in the domain name ie. www.keyword.com. Previously as exact match domains ranked well in the Google, people would register many (in some cases hundreds) domain names around all their relevant keywords and populate those sites with minimal content.
Exact match domains were a short cut that people used because it was significantly easier that creating content. The result for Google was search results full of poor quality websites with thin content. Google are always trying to provide the most authoritative, current and relevant search results for any search query.
Google’s latest change follows up on the Panda and Penguin updates of early this year which have attempted to improve the quality of their search results.
The key to building a long term sustainable lead generation machine (your website) is to continuously create quality unique content that people are interested in reading. The trouble with this strategy is that it takes time and work to create content on a regular basis and this strategy does not produce instant results. The effort required to produce content is also a massive advantage for those who are willing to make the effort. It develops a barrier to entry to others trying to copy what you are doing.
The greatest difficulty for SEO firms is that cannot create quality content for professional firms particularly lawyers. The depth of knowledge required to produce quality content that is correct.
The latest changes to Google in respect of exact match domains will take some time to affect the legal market because there are so few firms producing content on a regular basis.
Take a look at “drink driving lawyer”, “dui lawyers” for an example of how exact match domains have been used. Most of the sites in the first two pages of Google for those keywords could be easily overtaken by a strong brandable (firm name) with quality content targeted around drink driving.
