.NET instead of .COM

[jefftardif]

Hi,

I own a .NET domain name. The .COM is already taken and is parked for years now...

This domain is really accurate for my product, but I don't want to be penalized cause it's a .NET domain...

Should I try to find a .COM that will be less relevant to my product or stick with the .NET?

Thanks!

[simonheng82]

How can you get penalized by having a .net domain?

[NeilC]

.net is usually pretty good and should be fine especially when the .com isn't ranking well.

Usually it's best to keep away from cheap domains like .info, you could also go for your country extension if you only want to market your site in one main country such as .us. .au, .co.uk.

[jefftardif]

Originally Posted by simonheng82

How can you get penalized by having a .net domain?

By penalized, I was talking about getting less traffic than with a .COM domain

Originally Posted by NeilC

.net is usually pretty good and should be fine especially when the .com isn't ranking well.

Usually it's best to keep away from cheap domains like .info, you could also go for your country extension if you only want to market your site in one main country such as .us. .au, .co.uk.

Thanks NeilC, I think I will stick with my .NET. The .COM is effectively not ranking well (sedo parking).

Thank you

[JSProjects]

Originally Posted by jefftardif

Hi,

I own a .NET domain name. The .COM is already taken and is parked for years now...

This domain is really accurate for my product, but I don't want to be penalized cause it's a .NET domain...

Should I try to find a .COM that will be less relevant to my product or stick with the .NET?

Thanks!

Myth.

Just build backlinks and properly optimize your site. You can easily outrank the .com. I've even done it with .info's.

[jefftardif]

Great news JSProject, that comfort me in my choice of keeping my .NET

Thanks

[JSProjects]

No problem. If the .com is poorly optimized it's usually pretty easy to overtake it. But if it's properly optimized and has a lot of quality backlinks it's going to be more of a challenge.

[faceblogger]

If .com is not available register .net or .org and they work well. Don't register any others such as .info they are not as effective as .com / .org / .net

[jhonsean]

It doesn't matter if it is a .com or a .net as long as the site is well optimized and had a decent good rankings.

[Marc Marseille]

"It doesn't matter if it is a .com or a .net as long as the site is well optimized and had a decent good rankings."

I agree, a well optimize site will outrank one that is not well optimize despite not having a .com ending.

[pons_saravanan]

I had the same situation as yours. I just purchased the .net and moved on. I was able to rank well for the keywords. After few months i have got an email from one domain broker saying that .com was available. But then i did not show any interest. few months passed by and the domain was open for purchase in godaddy( open market).

Then I just puchased and rewrite the articles and put a link to .net domain. So far no positive movement in serps. But still I feel keeping both of them.

.Net can rank the same as .com. In my case .net itself a keyword. So .net is better than .com in my case.

[Art_Marks]

.com .net and .org - they are all good

And you can't be penalized any way for using .net domain

[jameskahon]

I believe domain extension is not really an issue. Although as what I've learned before Google kept an eye on .info sites because this is usually used by spammers with only a year of domain registration and gone after.

That is why Google also look on the period of the domain registration as a signal. So, I believe if you register your domain for a long period time then everything will be just find.

[ann1986]

You can use the .net but in our experience with the same amount of work done the .com will outrank the .net. But since the .com is just parked domain then consider it luck.

Study your competitors and if you do more then you can easily rank top 3 if you have a good campaign plan.

[AnitaCross]

Originally Posted by Art_Marks

.com .net and .org - they are all good

And you can't be penalized any way for using .net domain

I believe the only true advantage of .com over other TLDs is the mindset of the people using the internet.

Dot-com was so prevalent as the internet went mainstream, that for many it is synonymous with the web. Though it isn't as bad as it use to be.

As long as people are using links to arrive at your site, that mindset shouldn't be a problem. And as more well known companies use the other TLDs, and advertise their web addresses, having a .com will become increasingly less important. Especially with the younger generations, who grew up with computers, and pretty much take internet access for granted.

In the 15 plus years I've been marketing online, I have yet to hear anything definitive about one TLD over another when it comes to the search engines. (Except for country specific extensions, of course.)

Just keep doing what you're doing, and don't worry about the extension. If you've got the content, you'll get the traffic.

Respectfully,
-Anita

[abelchua]

if the .com is not doing well you should do your best with .net as the .com would have a bad "reputation" with google

[AnitaCross]

Originally Posted by jefftardif

The .COM is already taken and is parked for years now...

Originally Posted by abelchua

if the .com is not doing well you should do your best with .net as the .com would have a bad "reputation" with google

The .com domain is parked. The content, if any, will be quite recognizable by the search engine algorithms for exactly what it is, and will not be held against any one who picks up this domain and develops it.

To have a bad reputation, the site would have to have elements that are specifically frowned upon by the search engines, such as hidden text, or links to sites that also violate the search engines' guidelines.

Hope this clears up a misconception,
-Anita

[jefftardif]

Many thanks for all your answers. I'll stick with the .NET and put a bot on .COM to grab it if it comes available.

[worldseotools]

I think .com is good statment for index

[IMoptimizer]

.Net should be fine. If you can get traffic to the site by monetizing and getting backlinks like everyone else said, than you should be fine.