Am I being a Snob about .info domains?

by KenJ
24 replies
I am looking to register a new domain. For my top keyword, only .info is available.
I know I can add a prefix or suffix to get a .com, but I would prefer to have just the keyword.

I have the impression that .info domains are not as good although I do not know why.
What do you think and why please

Kenj
#domains #info #snob
  • Profile picture of the author dsmpublishing
    Hi

    Im a proud owner of three dot infos and i must admit i was previously a snob but i wanted the keywords so i jumped on.

    It depends what the site is - mine is an information site but if it was just a blog or just a sales page i wouldnt touch a dot info. They are cheap and are great for content sites but beyond that i wouldnt bother buying them.

    kind regards


    sam
    X
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  • Profile picture of the author thumperhartley
    There are loads of schools of thought when it comes to .infos. Some think that Google gives less weight to an info domain. I don't believe that for a second as I have hundreds of indexed info domains bringing in plenty of traffic. Having the keyword in the domain helps a load but I think it also depends what you are going to do with a site. If you are planning on developing it long term and maybe selling it on then people are funny about infos as most folk type in .com by default and have never heard odf the info extension but if you are getting most of your visits from searches then nobondy looks at what they are clicking on in the SERPS as long as the content is what they are looking for.

    Edit: Oh, and they are cheap as. At least for the first year (less than $1)
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  • Profile picture of the author rlharding
    Ken, I asked this same question recently and was advised that .info domains are typically used by scammers. I decided against using .info even though godaddy has them/had them for .99c at the time.
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  • Profile picture of the author thumperhartley
    Don't forget they renew at the higher rate though, something like $7-8. Traditionaly they are sometimes used by BH marketers but there are still plenty of regular sites using them. Just check out some site auctions
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    • Profile picture of the author KenJ
      I'm not worried about the cost. Its the name I'm after. I think domains are ridiculously cheap anyway.

      Online real estate is a fraction of the cost of rent for a brick and mortar premises.

      The scammers issue doesn't seem relevant as i am no scammer. Surely search engines would look at each domain in its own right.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        [DELETED]
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        • Profile picture of the author KenJ
          There you go Alexa

          I am provoked

          I have no info domains to date because there seems to be some spooky hush hush don't go there "If the site really matters" hocus pocus.

          The keyword I am talking about is my name - a version of it. So it does really matter whether or not an info domain is OK or not.

          I thought Bgmacaw had convinced me not to worry but now??....

          Kenj
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          • Profile picture of the author wordwizard
            Originally Posted by kf View Post

            I read recently that your .info urls will not be clickable in aweber emails.

            Something to consider, or double-check with aweber, if you hope to build a list through that domain. There's likely a work-around by using html, rather than text emails.
            Ouch! Aweber is finicky in other ways as well...

            It really doesn't want me to use my gmail address as the send from address -- even though that's the address I use for everything, while the "real" addresses are much more clumsy and I don't check them as often since I have way too many of them... (and they don't have such good spam filters either).

            Anyway, I mostly use them for affiliate products too, and for disguising hoplinks, and for experimenting with niche projects (buying several for several keywords to see which one works best).

            Mostly, people will be sent to those sites, via Google or via links, so remembering that it's .info won't be a big issue with them.

            For my "big" sites, I go with .com (or .net if needed).

            Gotta check out bigmacaw's link though...

            Elisabeth
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            • Profile picture of the author wordwizard
              Just read bigmacaw's article.

              Great info. I do some of the same things (trying to get a lot of different niche sites going with exact keywords (or rather, I've just started with that, and plan to do more).

              So personally, I don't mind if lots of people avoid .info names -- it leaves some for the rest of us ;-)

              Though actually, a LOT of times, both .com and .info is already taken... while .net and .org are still available. So clearly, lots of people are catching on and/or doing the same thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author azland55
    Do not use info's as they are associated with spam sites. You are better putting a hyphen or an extra word in front or behind your keyword. There is only three domains to worry about in this order .com .net .org
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  • Profile picture of the author Victoria Neely
    You're not the only one. I turn my nose up at .info domains too, even though it's mostly because I'm used to .com domains. I seem to recall reading a guide or two that advised against buying .info domains if you think you might sell the site in the future, since .info domains don't sell as well as .com domains.

    I suspect it's like buying the brand name goods at the grocery store instead of settling for the generic stuff. The generic stuff is sometimes just as good, buuuuuut...
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Keegan
    I saw a .info ranking in the top ten google results for a very competitive search term the other day so good rankings are possible...

    It may take slightly more effort than if you had the .com, .net or .org though.
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    • Profile picture of the author KenJ
      Hi Victoria

      Glad to see I'm not the only one. This is a long term project and will not ever be for sale.

      Kenj
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  • Profile picture of the author kswr123
    normally i use .info's for expermineting because they are cheap
    $1 to get a domain on my hosting - WP is free - content is writen by me. Simple.
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  • Profile picture of the author JoMo
    .info's rank just fine. Big G doesn't care.


    -joel
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonboom
    mydigitallife.info has repeatedly come up tops for tech related searches I've been doing. Good results on an info related topic can be had for sure. That site crops up tops in the search for random searches like backing up Outlook, moving to windows 7, etc. Someone is doing some crazy good SEO with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author loopline
    I have .infos that come up in SERPs, I think its really about the public image. If you really want to sell something, then just find a quality .com you can live with.

    If your revenue model is ad based, or community based (forum ish) subscriptions or whatever then it could be fine.

    You can always buy a .com you can live with and then buy the .info as well and then just direct people to the .com or 301 it or there are lots of possibilities.


    Originally Posted by kenj View Post

    There you go Alexa

    I am provoked

    I have no info domains to date because there seems to be some spooky hush hush don't go there "If the site really matters" hocus pocus.

    The keyword I am talking about is my name - a version of it. So it does really matter whether or not an info domain is OK or not.

    I thought Bgmacaw had convinced me not to worry but now??....

    Kenj
    Why not buy the .me ? is it available? Or buy the .info and go with it, you can always redirect later. I mean I bought a .net and then randomly a year later or so I was checking the .com and it was all of a sudden available. So I snatched it up, and have been good since. Of course thats not the norm, but you can track the stressfulness of .com site and then in their worst moment make them an offer.

    Anyway, you can also use like a middle name or a nickname or variation.
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  • Profile picture of the author yommys01
    If you are going to flip the site in the long run then by all means don't go for dot info domain names.

    Have you tried adding words such as : hub, empire, mastery, blog, tips, 101, 411 e.t.c at the end of the domain ? I never had any difficult time choosing domain names ever since I learnt the trick of using one of the above at the end of my domain names.
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  • Profile picture of the author lowjo
    Get the .info...if it's the keyword you want and you cannot find another TLD then just grab it. They rank, most people don't associate them with scams and they will have to grow in popularity as the other TLDs get exhausted.

    Almost every single time someone says don't do this or that doesn't work anymore they're probably blowing smoke.

    Domains are cheap, building websites isn't too hard what is the worst case scenario? Can easily use everything from your .info domain if it fails miserably and build a .com (unless the duplicate content myth comes around to bite you )

    Cheers,

    Jonathan
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  • Profile picture of the author NoGuru
    I heard that G penalized dot-info's for a while -- I believe a lot of spammers bought them in 2008 when they were super cheap. However, I started bumping into several .info sites that ranked well, so I ended up buying some. I've had no problem with them whatsoever, and I don't see any reason to be shy about buying them.
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