Old domain vs. New keyword domain - Thoughts?

[JordanRussell]

Okay. I'd like to get opinions as to what everyone thinks about domains lately. Here is any example:

The current domain is general in nature, in fact, it's a persons name because they are a real estate agent. So the domain is something like JohnDoe.com. Current stats:

• Has approx. 130 linking domains pointing to it.
• Has over 300 incoming links from these linking domains.
• The link profile is clean and not spammy (not to say there are not a few that might be here and there)
• Was bough in 1994

The new domain would have very little value except it would be keyword rich such as PortlandHomesForSale.com (just an example).

What are your thoughts.

Thank you.

[EGOL]

I might buy or register the domain if it is one that I would like to use.

However, if the agent's current site has really good rankings and is accomplishing goals then I would be very hesitant about changing.

The agent's name as a domain can be a powerful brand.  If he uses a different domain for his business it splits his brand.

I really like keyword domains but they are not silver bullets.  For your example the loss of effectiveness causesd by redirecting all of the links from an established domain could be a greater loss than the gain offered by the EMD.  That means your rankings could DROP!

Also, EMDs usually provide ranking advantage for exact match queries - and little if any advantage for every other query.

Switching makes the most sense for poorly established domains.... much much less sense as the domain is more established.