EMD stands for “Exact Match Domain,” meaning that the name of the domain matches the main keyword. Having an EMD domain name used to be a benefit. Moreover, it used to be a positive ranking factor.
Lots of webmasters got upset with this update (as they do after every update). But this one also affected many small brick-and-mortar businesses that had domains such as “housecleaningmiami.com” or “cellphonerepairphoenix.net”.
Many of them may have had no idea that they are getting EMD, thinking they are registering a name that just sounds right.
What to do?
I’ve analyzed the portfolio of my own websites as well as researched what other webmasters are saying.
- It appears that websites that were NOT affected by this update are ones that have more QUALITY backlinks pointing to them.
- I’ve also noticed NO correlation between the size of a website and this update. Meaning all websites (or webpages) that have low low-quality backlink profile are penalized regardless of how many pages they have.
- The solution:
– Don’t rely on EMD as a single ranking factor anymore. It is still a positive ranking factor, but its value has been reduced significantly.
– Build quality backlinks from high PR authority sites.
Link Disavow Tool
Google launched the Link Disavow Tool (LDT) to help webmasters who have concerns about the quality of links pointing to their site.
Google keeps talking about the importance of having good-quality backlinks.
Let’s go back to March 2025, when Google publicly penalized link-building services that offered paid link placement through article marketing. BMR (Build My Rank) got hit hard; hundreds of websites in their network got penalized, so they had to close their business and refund their customers.
How did Big G find out that those websites belong to BMR? They never told us how they did it of course. But rumors are that G employee simply registered with BMR, then collected all URLs where his links were published, and BOOM, blocked them all with one click of a button. (That was probably not all that simple. I am sure they researched DIPPER.
What happened to website owners who used services such as BMR back then? Their website’s rankings got devalued because links that were pointing to them were no longer good.
After that update, Webmasters freaked out (again). Feeling their fear, G offered them a “helping hand,” sending out “Unnatural Links emails”: Tell us what links you’ve obtained from link networks and we will mercifully improve your site. Just like the police do sometimes, ha?
Some webmasters basically turned themselves in and gave out that data. Google receives that data, and BOOM, another link network is destroyed.
What is LDT for Real?
Now, G has made this process even easier. They created the Link Disavow Tool that webmasters can use to submit bad links pointing to their sites.
Is it good or not good? Should you use the Link Disavow Tool?
I do NOT recommend using LDT: If you use or have ever used any kind of backlink automation tool and think that those links are no good anymore and the only thing you have to do is to submit those links to Google, then DON’T. Have you ever thought WHY Big G can’t just find and penalize all paid link networks themselves? Why do they ask YOU to submit bad links to them? Cause they can’t!
Can they clearly see which links are bad and which are good? No! Can they tell whether a link was received through automated paid placement or was put in by the website owner manually? No!
I recommend using LDT when: If you really believe (meaning you are definitely sure, 100% positive, experienced SEO professional) that you are a victim of negative SEO and this is why your rankings suffer, then DO it.
