How DEAD are EMDs?

I have noticed that despite the freak out in the SEO world about death of SEOs, some EMDs are still staying strong. One of my sites on front page was going head to head with an EMD and the EMD site is still up there strong !!!

the KW is "induction lighting"
I was actually about to invest in about 50 EMDs to get them ranked and sell them.
what do u guys think?

It's a risk, and you should only expect them to rank for a short while.

I think you should wait a couple of months before investing in something like that, just to see how it plays out as google tweaks the change (killed some small businesses that couldn't rank for their own business name etc).

Personally, all of my EMDs have been killed. All dropped off the face of the Earth.

I don't think 50 EMDs on single niche will work... Yes, few emd and make them authority site, it will work also and ranked easily also.

The point being that since the google EMD update the perceived value of EMD's has dropped in a huge way, so even if you "can" get them to rank, it's not as easy as it once was, so it's not really a good idea to buy mass EMD's right now.

You are missing something. Not because a site has an "exact match domain" doesn't mean he's automatically going to dive down the depths of the SERPS. Take a look. If Sony has a url like Sony.com and the keyword is ofcourse "sony" then it would be an EMD case right. But it's not because Sony is a brand, and is currently taking the lead when it comes to technology gadget related search. Brand is still there. If you have created a great brand to your site then you are going to stay there on your spot until the end of time.

As long as you have decent content and don't build unnatural links, EMDs are still great.

Instead of buying a lot of multiple EMD sites. Why not buy one and create a solid brand. Create a good image for your site. And in the end you can sell your site for ten times more than you originally invested. There's no easy way with Google now.

EMDs are still fine. People who say otherwise either don't make sites themselves or put quality crappy content/links. EMDs are always the way to go provided you bring out quality content and links.

Not dead, just demoted. Its really not that big of a deal. Just go for quality, not cheap tricks.

I agree with the possive thinkers here. Quality content is what google wants. My plan of action is human written, original content about 15 per site. A brand (until sold) contact info. about us page, privacy policy, etc what you expect out of a branded website.
Google can't possibly NOT allow you to rank for your business if the name is Chiropractor New York and you have the domain. And they have no way nor do they care to shut it down.
Also using a theme that is worth while could help specially if you can link it to a map.

The problem is after doing all this work how much should I ask for?

Quality content rules nowadays! But i saw some EMD sites are still ranking

EMDs need solid substance behind them. On their own they aren't very helpful anymore

What Google wants is for online business to use PPC to get high rankings, period. The rhetoric about wanting quality content and natural/diverse links, etc, is just window dressing to create good will about its business model---draw sites into its loss leader, free organic traffic, in order to persuade them over time to use Adwords. Their algo keeps changing in order to progressively punish or disrupt sites that are relying on free organic traffic for their long term earnings.

Currently, the EMD changes are actually more about deranking sites that are built on 1-2 keywords (which is the normal base around which a lot of EMDs have been built) than the EMD itself. Many EMD sites were completely unaffected, while many non-EMDs were hammered heavily. To avoid the current slap, the simple workarounds are to:

1- Use 6-7 or more keywords to build a site, not one or two. This avoids the 'thin-MNS' alert in the current G algo.
2- For new non-EMD sites, use existing domains, not fresh ones. The algo hones in on new domains, not aged ones.
3- Do 1 and 2 in conjunction with building some authority sites, covering several niches. Again, avoids the 'thin' filter.

4- Have a core of high quality links pointing to the inner pages of the site, which in turn point to the main page (hi PR backlinks, press releases, Wikipedia or Google News links, Document share links, edu/gov links, etc). Have good tier II backlinks pointing to the core/tier 1 quality links (top articles directories, Web 2.0, social media, video, etc.), and only then do any blasting of links to the tier IIs from social bookmarks, blog comments, and the like.

well one of my emd's definitely got smashed since latest emd-kill update and it seems impossible to come back ranking good.
i know for a fact G went tougher on sex-related emd's sites. even on top notch quality websites.

EMDs are fine....

EMDs that have no content/point directly to an affiliate site....DEAD.

How dead is M-Cunts? Soo dead, soon. I can't wait until he's fired or just dies.

totally fine, you just can't expect it to rank because it's an EMD... you actually have to give it value.

So, in that sense the EMD silver bullet is dead.

Only low quality EMD'S got penalized and not all i see many sites still rank with EMD and good information...

firstplace said:

Instead of buying a lot of multiple EMD sites. Why not buy one and create a solid brand. Create a good image for your site. And in the end you can sell your site for ten times more than you originally invested. There's no easy way with Google now.

Click to expand...

I agree with you. It is beneficial for your business.