Keyword rich domains sliding fast

[ShaMenz]

I decided not to worry too much about the statements from google indicating that they were going to consider key word rich domains as a negative for ranking since any of the sites I work on that have them are totally relevant to the content on the sites.

However, since recent Google algorithm updates I see these domains have suddenly slid from top 3 positions to page 4 or beyond in Google SERP's. Nothing has changed on these sites in the intervening time and no change is evident in Bing or Yahoo SERP's.

Is it just my imagination, or are others seeing the same thing for keyword rich domains? and has anyone yet determined the best way to deal with this problem?

[AlanBleiweiss]

Having done comprehensive audits on a number of domains that were hammered by the Panda/Google update, I would say that the domain match factor is either not a factor yet at all (most likely) or had very little to do with the problem you're seeing.  Without seeing the domain I can't offer specific insight, however I'm consistently seeing a number of factors.

• Very poor on site information architecture
• Very confused topical focus
• Very thin unique content.
• Too many ads compared to unique content
• Very weak / poor inbound link profiles (usually skewed to over-use of limited focus keyword anchor text).

If your site has any one of the above issues, that alone could be the primary cause.

[ShaMenz]

Well none of those things would appear to be an issue. However, all of them are small sites created for very small businesses.and so have only 5 or 7 pages (with a good amount of information on the pages). Perhaps the overall size of the site is a factor.

Have you noticed any bias against smaller sites in your research?

[rtavs]

Just to Echo Alans findings. I have found that exact match domains are ranking better than ever at this point in time. For competetive industries they are still at number one. An example can be found if you google "seo belfast". Most of the results are due to domains.

[AlanBleiweiss]

Sha,

I know of several small sites that had no drop due to the Panda update.  Something else must be going on, but without seeing the sites, no way to offer any additional insight.

[PabloGV]

I'm totally with Alan, that drop in the "weight" of the domains containing keywords is not already affecting at all I think, at least outside G.com. After all Mr Cutts has only said that they were probably going to adjust it, but I believe we have to wait until that changes.

[ShaMenz]

Thanks for your responses Alan.

Since these are client sites, it is our policy to seek permission before sharing information about site status. I will do this and provide some examples once permission has been obtained.