Enthusiasts of Domain names refer to some domain names as being “exact match.” this means the domain name best describes the product or service, such as cars.com being an exact match domain for a site about cars.
It is widely believed that using a domain that exactly describes the products or services of a website was a good bet for a number of reasons.
One, it helps people find exactly what they are looking for. Also, Google gave lots of importance to the words in a domain name, making it easier to rank for the term of the domain.
Recently Google has significantly reduced the importance of the words in a domain name in its search algorithms. So you might wonder if these exact match domains is still a good choice for websites?
Lately, one-word domains that can be used as a brand have become more popular than exact match domains that describe a product or industry. Think Lemonade.com for an insurance company. Like Amazon.com, the site’s domain has nothing to do with what it sells.
But exact match domains sure still have value. They might even be a better bet if they have both exact match and brandable uses.
Desktop.com is a good example. Desktop.com doesn’t literally sell desktops, but it offers an easy way to organize web apps in what it considers a “desktop”, like what you see on your computer.
There can be challenges with Exact match domains. It can be more difficult to create a brand around. And if you pivot your business to sell a different type of product or service, or expand well beyond the initial product category, you might find yourself needing to rebrand.