A partial match domain (PMD) is a domain name that contains part of the keywords a site wants to be found for, combined with other words or a brand name. An exact match domain (EMD) consists only of the search term.
What does it mean for SEO?
A keyword in the domain used to be seen as a ranking advantage. On September 28, 2012, Matt Cutts announced on Twitter an update that would reduce low-quality exact-match domains in results, affecting 0.6 percent of English-US queries to a noticeable degree. It targeted EMDs with thin content, not keywords in domains in general.
Google has made no statement about the effect of PMDs. Agency opinions differ, from “small added value” to “still works”. A domain that tells users and linking sites what the page is about has a practical benefit (assessment).
Example
For the query “bike repair shop Cologne”, bike-repair-cologne.com would be an EMD. bike-repair-meier.com is a PMD because it joins part of the term with a name.
FAQ
Do exact match domains still work? No bonus is documented. Content and link profile remain what counts.
Sources
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