Why Keyword-Match Domains Still Matter for Ranking on Google
Google Is Smarter Than Ever… But Still Weird About Domains
Everyone says “exact-match domains are dead” and that Google is too smart to be tricked by keywords in a URL.
And yet, in the real world, we still see keyword-matching domains ranking insanely well for competitive terms — not because they have the best content or the strongest brand, but because of how Google interprets certain searches.
When someone types a query into Google, the search engine has to decide:
- Is this person looking for information? (informational query)
- Or are they trying to go to a specific website? (navigational query)
When your keyword is also a domain, things get interesting.
A Simple Example: Podcast Show Notes
Take podcastshownotes.com.
If you search for “podcast shownotes” on Google, you’d expect to see blog posts, tutorials, SaaS tools, maybe YouTube videos about writing great podcast show notes.
But what actually happens?
Because the keyword is almost identical to the domain, Google is not sure whether you:
- Want to learn about “podcast show notes”, or
- Are trying to navigate directly to podcastshownotes.com
So instead of treating the query as purely informational, Google often leans toward “this might be a brand / domain someone is trying to reach”.
The result:podcastshownotes.com ranks very high for “podcast shownotes”, even though the query could easily be interpreted as a generic topic search.
That’s the exact behavior we’re trying to take advantage of.
Another Weird Case: Nano Banana vs. Nano Banana AI
This doesn’t just happen with small projects.
Consider “Nano Banana”, which is the name of a Google model. If you search for it, you’d expect Google to clearly understand this is about a Google AI model.
But the top result is “nano banana ai”, which is not actually from Nano Banana itself.
Once again, Google is confused:
- Is “nano banana” a brand / product name someone is trying to navigate to?
- Or just keywords that should trigger a normal informational search?
Because there’s a close keyword–brand–domain overlap, Google often surfaces results that look like a branded/navigational target, even when they’re not the “official” thing.
It’s a bit crazy, but it reveals something powerful:
When your main keyword is also a clean, exact-match domain, Google sometimes treats searches as navigational — and rewards you for it.
Our Bet: Owning the Keyword With the Domain
Seeing examples like podcastshownotes.com and “nano banana” made us wonder:
What if we did the same thing for our own products?
Instead of fighting for generic rankings with a random brand name, what if we just became the domain people might mean when they type the keyword?
So we went out and bought two domains:
1. audioenhancer.com
We acquired audioenhancer.com for $1,500.
That’s not pocket change for a small project, but here’s why we were comfortable with the bet:
It’s an AI tool that helps people enhance the audio of their audio and video files, so the product lines up perfectly with the keyword people are already searching for.
- The keyword “audio enhancer” has between 10,000 and 100,000 searches per month, according to Google Keyword Planner.
- It’s a high-intent term. People searching for “audio enhancer” usually want a tool, not just theory.
- The domain is an exact, clean match: no dashes, no extra words, no weird TLD.
Our hypothesis:
When someone searches for “audio enhancer”, Google might not be sure if they want any audio enhancement tool or specifically
audioenhancer.com.
If Google interprets even a fraction of those searches as navigational, owning the exact domain could:
- Push us higher on the first page
- Give us an advantage over better-funded competitors
- Turn a $1,500 domain into a long-term SEO asset
2. videoqualityenhancer.com
The second domain we grabbed was videoqualityenhancer.com.
Here, the upside might be even bigger:
It’s a tool that helps people upscale and improve the quality of their videos, which matches exactly what users have in mind when they search for a “video quality enhancer”.
- The keyword “video quality enhancer” has more searches per month than “audio enhancer”.
- It’s also extremely solution-focused: people searching for this are not casually browsing, they want a fix.
Again, the domain is an exact match:
- Query: “video quality enhancer”
- Domain:
videoqualityenhancer.com
Same logic:
When a user types “video quality enhancer”, Google has to decide: show them random articles, or maybe the site that looks exactly like what they typed?
If we can combine:
- A keyword-match domain
- Useful content and a genuinely good product
- Decent backlinks and user engagement
…then we dramatically improve our odds of ranking, even in a crowded space.
Why This Still Works (Even in 2026)
To be clear: just buying a keyword domain is not enough anymore.
If your site is slow, empty, or spammy, Google won’t magically rank you just because your URL looks nice.
But we’ve learned:
- Keyword domains can tip the balance when Google is torn between “informational” and “navigational” intent.
- For certain queries, especially where the keyword sounds like a product name, having the exact-match domain can be a ranking multiplier.
- In competitive but not ultra-enterprise niches, this can still give you a real, measurable edge.
We’re not betting on a hack. We’re betting that:
- Google is imperfect at interpreting intent.
- Humans like clean, obvious domains.
- Aligning keyword + product + domain makes it easier for both.
Our Goal: Ranking High (and Earning Back the $1,500)
Right now, we’re in the middle of this experiment.
- We bought audioenhancer.com for $1,500, betting on those 10k–100k monthly searches.
- We launched videoqualityenhancer.com to capture an even larger, highly targeted search volume.
- We’re building real tools and real content around these domains — not just parking pages.
Will this strategy let us rank high on Google for “audio enhancer” and “video quality enhancer”?
We don’t know yet. But the logic is clear:
If people search for the exact keyword that matches your domain, you’re not just another result — you’re a candidate for being the result.
And in a world where a single high-intent keyword can drive thousands of targeted visitors per month, that’s a bet we’re willing to make.
