which domain to use and which to forward.. SEO reasons. discuss! [closed]

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I am developing a site for a client and they currently own two domains.

howafarms.com and grassfedbeeffl.net

The current site has howafarms.com traffic forward straight to grassfedbeeffl.net. My question is.. which one should I use as the main url and which should I forward. Normal logic tells me howafarms.com should be the main url. But... from an SEO standpoint, I will alr开发者_StackOverfloweady be winning the battle in google rankings if someone types howafarms.. so the added weight from the domain wont be very effective. On the other hand, if I use grassfedbeefl.net, I think the benefit from those words in that domain will help SEO quiet a bit more.

What is your opinion on this?

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Google does give a bigger weight to EMD (exact match domains). It has been proven numerous times that ranking an EMD is much easier than non EMD.

If "how a farms" is a popular search term, then choosing howafarms.com is better choice than grassfedbeeffl.net. However, if people are searching "how farms" instead "how a farms" then howafarms.com adds no great value to your SEO campaign. Because it is no longer considered EMD.

Just to give you an example, try to search "seo tips" in Google search. Notice how many EMD are sitting at the top results? In spite them having a poor content. On the other hand quality sites which give you real SEO Tips are buried far away in Google search, just because they are not EMD and have to work harder.

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In my somewhat qualified opinion there is really no need to change a domain name for SEO reasons. Google really couldn't care less what your domain name states because a domain name is no indication of content quality.

The only benefit that should concern you is the benefit to the user. If you think one domain will benefit users then go with that one, otherwise don't change a website to manipulate metrics no one outside of Google truly understands.