How important is .COM anyway?

34 replies
Hey guys,

I have found a keyword that has 8,500 searches for it, but, I don't believe is optimized. However, that domain name has been purchased. When I type it in, it goes to one of those "scammy looking" websites - "Related Searches" and what - not.

However - I think there may be something I can do with this keyword - particularly if I make it into a website - keyword.net.

How important is ranking if you don't have a .COM?

Jeremy
#cimportant #important
  • Profile picture of the author foxanthony
    .COM is best, then .net and .org. I've heard .org will get listed faster, though my .net's get listed within a couple of days, no big deal.

    Then comes .biz, .us, .info these aren't great but some people make a lot of money with them.

    The keywords are what really count and then what you do after you buy the domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author bonn
      Originally Posted by foxanthony View Post

      .COM is best, then .net and .org. I've heard .org will get listed faster, though my .net's get listed within a couple of days, no big deal.

      Then comes .biz, .us, .info these aren't great but some people make a lot of money with them.

      The keywords are what really count and then what you do after you buy the domain.
      Agreed and disagree --- agree that keywords are what really count...

      Create awesome content and build a blog - social - SEO (backlink) web for spiders to crawl efficiently and you will climb. over tiem.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy James
    I can see 8,500 monthly searches - but, how can I determine how well that keyword is being used?
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  • Profile picture of the author Sour
    The importance of .com over .net is dependent on the type of website. If you were going to start something that would be trying to retain visitors (such as Facebook, AddictingGames, etc), then a .com may be more important as it's the first thing users will type when they want to return to your site. However, if you have something like BuyAppleIphone4.net, then it's unlikely the average user will ever return because they're just looking to shop around; unless your prices are so incredibly cheap that they may want to tell a friend or return later to make a purchase.

    Do you get what I'm saying?

    As far as ranking goes, it makes no difference to Google.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE

    No TDL is superior to any other when it comes to how they are view by search engines.
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  • Profile picture of the author NerdGary
    In my experience, I have found that .COM and .ORG to be the most SEO friendly.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ahead-DESIGN
    It does not make any difference unless you sell the site, then people frown when they see, say a .info.
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  • Profile picture of the author Always-A-Warrior
    yes I agree .com and .org is taken as important tld's over .net but it depends if .com is parked then .net can rule with good content. It's like a checkers game. It depends if the King is working or sleeping (.com) then you reg the .net or .org and do a checkmate.

    Remember to always do your keyword research first before buying any domain names unless you have a deep pocket to waste on advertising your site.

    Research first and buy later.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Setting aside the SEO value of a tld extension, I think that as people become more sophisticated in using the web, the less the extension will mean. Particularly when looking at .com vs. .net.

      When the web first made a splash, a .com set you apart from all the example.com/users/~somename websites. It meant you were serious enough to lay down some cash for a domain name and web hosting.

      .com meant it was a commercial site.
      .net meant it was a network.
      .org meant it was a charity or other non-profit.

      Those lines are pretty much obliterated these days.

      It also used to be that you only sent people to your home page because asking them to go to example.com/offer was too confusing. Now you see it all the time.
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  • Profile picture of the author rickfrazier1
    Once upon a time, when I was making web sites for a living, we'd always secure all three TLD for the domain name, .com, .net and .org, then link .net and .org to the .com with redirects.

    There was a time, when people actually typed a domain name into their browser, but there sure seem to be a LOT of surfers that don't seem to know how. If they can't get it as a link or save it as a Favorite, they'll never get back to your site. Part of the problem may be that domain names have grown so long, part of the reason may be that so many of the (particuarly young) people can't spell. Too many short text messages with abbreviations and shortened words, and good luck if you have to rely on someone actually entering the words of your domain name.

    Given that, it's not terribly likely that there is much difference between the .com, .net or .org TLD in your domain name. I would, however stay away from .info because I know there are a lot of business networks that block it at the firewall or web appliance just inside of the firewall.
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    • Profile picture of the author Coby
      Originally Posted by rickfrazier1 View Post

      Given that, it's not terribly likely that there is much difference between the .com, .net or .org TLD in your domain name. I would, however stay away from .info because I know there are a lot of business networks that block it at the firewall or web appliance just inside of the firewall.
      I disagree with this. I have several .info sites that do very well. Some are on the first page of google, some even #1.

      My experience is the keywords and content are more important. When going after micro niches it is super easy to get number #1. A lot of times my sites compete with very old .com's in the same niche.

      Since you are aiming at 8500 searches a month, I wouldn't worry about rather or not its .com, .net, .org, .info, etc. Pick your keywords and find a domain that fits and is available. If you decided on 'cocker spaniels' as your niche and the only thing available is "cocker-spaniel.info then take it! Often in these small niches the domains that are already registered are not competitive sites anyways.

      However, you will hear lots of people tell you that it matters and in some niches it may, but it hasn't affected me any. So my experience says it doesn't matter.
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Originally Posted by rickfrazier1 View Post

      I would, however stay away from .info because I know there are a lot of business networks that block it at the firewall or web appliance just inside of the firewall.
      That would be quite stupid if they did that considering the vast number of useful sites that have.info domains ranging from the premier online reference for regular expressions to the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority. I've done contract work at a substantial number of corporations and I haven't seen any generic blocking domains based on extension. Instead, most work off of domain blacklists from their firewall provider and use Bayesian filtering to catch the rest.

      Of course, there are network admins that block vast ranges of domains, regardless of extension. Some do it because of laziness while some do it because of a company policy to strongly limit employee Internet access. For example, one place I did a short contract gig at blocked any site that used WordPress because it was a "blogging site".
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  • Profile picture of the author Quentin
    A .com is only as good as its content!

    Que
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    • Profile picture of the author Sam Rodrigo
      Ok, someone beat me to the answer. Once you do the basic SEO for any site, especially a wordpress site, then the vital part is the content that your visitor will read.

      success,
      Sam

      Originally Posted by Quentin View Post

      A .com is only as good as its content!

      Que
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  • Profile picture of the author stephfoster
    I prefer .com when I can get it, but if it's not available, so be it. People are merely more familiar with .com. I don't think it gives any SEO benefit. More memorable for type-ins, if that's what you're after. It's the TLD most people will try first.
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  • Profile picture of the author kenny5
    If you can optimize the website right, you will get results with a .net domain name.
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  • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
    When you go to sell a site, they won't care if you have a .com with $0 income! Traffic and income sells, so don't place too much emphasis on it. The person with the best links always wins (unless his competitor reports him as spam to Google ).

    TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author cheaterscode
    there is no difference with any TLD
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    • Profile picture of the author theentry
      Originally Posted by cheaterscode View Post

      there is no difference with any TLD
      But I still think surfers prefer .com.. So if .com is available then go for it..
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  • Profile picture of the author the_knight
    I heard even .com and .info will get the same result lol
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  • Profile picture of the author eMarketingStar
    Another thought is .net is good for Technology type keys.
    Also try buying the spammy site you never know make a offer ...
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    I think the .net will be perfectly fine for ranking purposes, and if you put solid and valuable information on it chances are very high people will regard it as having more authority than the scammy-looking site that you mentioned above.

    No one's going to pay any attention to a .com website if it's poorly designed and does not offer valuable content. Just go ahead and register that .net domain, and then concentrate on making it the best that it can possibly be.

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyrus Antas
    Problogger.net hasn't stopped Darren Rowse from doing quite well.
    And don't forget about Leo Babauta from zenhabits.net.

    Tyrus
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  • Profile picture of the author microunique
    Banned
    As far as I know there is no different. But you should go for .com first
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  • Profile picture of the author stekys
    after com i would get .net, .org, or .info all can rank pretty well, but of course .com is the fist choice
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  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    Its all for looks. Decide on your keyword then try to register the exact match domain. Just take whats available that suits your taste and MATCHES the keyword. The mistake is people think that since .info are such a cheap domain that they are not as valuable. This is a myth! Google doesn't care what your extension is. In fact, if you are making a adsense type site that I think INFO fits because thats exactly what your giving them.

    In fact, I just started a new blog a little over a week ago. The main key word is coon hounds, the .com was taken (although it was not very well put together so I immediately ruled it out as competition). The .net was 'available for sale' as a "premium domain" and they wanted over $2k for that domain. So the .info was an easy choice, lol. However, this blog is only about ten days old and I'm adding a post a day so it has about 9 posts right now but is already showing up on the first and second page of google for nearly every keyword. My articles at EZA are also showing up (one #1 for one of the keywords) and link back to this site. Like I mentioned this is a .INFO site. (CoonHounds.Info) Right now the two biggest competitors are coonhound.com (no 's') and coondawgs.com, but I have analyzed their number of backlinks and I am confident that I will outrank them soon. In fact they don't even show up for some of the keywords I am already ranking for. These sites are most likely built by similar enthusiasts but not ones with IM experience like myself, so they are not optimized.

    So its a fallacy to think the extension will effect your rankings. Also, if its a good site, people will take note of the domain or book mark it, so stop worrying about people typing it in. People hardly type addresses in any more. In fact, My girlfriend, who is rather intelligent, uses the "address bar" for a "search bar" so she would just type in "coon hounds" into the address bar if she was looking for my site or similar ones. Do what makes money and stop worrying about the small details.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by Coby View Post

      Its all for looks. Decide on your keyword then try to register the exact match domain. Just take whats available that suits your taste and MATCHES the keyword. The mistake is people think that since .info are such a cheap domain that they are not as valuable. This is a myth! Google doesn't care what your extension is. In fact, if you are making a adsense type site that I think INFO fits because thats exactly what your giving them.

      In fact, I just started a new blog a little over a week ago. The main key word is coon hounds, the .com was taken (although it was not very well put together so I immediately ruled it out as competition). The .net was 'available for sale' as a "premium domain" and they wanted over $2k for that domain. So the .info was an easy choice, lol. However, this blog is only about ten days old and I'm adding a post a day so it has about 9 posts right now but is already showing up on the first and second page of google for nearly every keyword. My articles at EZA are also showing up (one #1 for one of the keywords) and link back to this site. Like I mentioned this is a .INFO site. (CoonHounds.Info) Right now the two biggest competitors are coonhound.com (no 's') and coondawgs.com, but I have analyzed their number of backlinks and I am confident that I will outrank them soon. In fact they don't even show up for some of the keywords I am already ranking for. These sites are most likely built by similar enthusiasts but not ones with IM experience like myself, so they are not optimized.

      So its a fallacy to think the extension will effect your rankings. Also, if its a good site, people will take note of the domain or book mark it, so stop worrying about people typing it in. People hardly type addresses in any more. In fact, My girlfriend, who is rather intelligent, uses the "address bar" for a "search bar" so she would just type in "coon hounds" into the address bar if she was looking for my site or similar ones. Do what makes money and stop worrying about the small details.
      Great post there! I find that too many people are getting caught up in the TLD issue, as evidenced by the myriad threads in here referencing this very same question.

      It all depends on what you intend to do with the site. Obviously, if you're intending to flip it or sell your own product, you should try your hardest to get a .com. But there are other purposes for which a .info will work just fine. As you've pointed out above, a predominantly informational type site with Adsense would mesh well with a .info domain.

      Quit putting the .info domains down, but instead try to find valid and relevant uses for them! They are very much overlooked and neglected, and it's really a shame. On second thought, I should keep quiet and let you fight over the .com domains so that we can reserve the .info ones for the select few astute marketers.

      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author bravado87
        I don't see much of a difference between .com .net or .org
        Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author dk1
    I've read in multiple articles from people with insider knowledge (Matt Cutts to name one) that there is no difference for .com .net .org .co or any other domain. They are all considered generic top-level domains. Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author LauraJames
    When my company works with a client setting up a website and/or blog, almost every client wants a .com listing. Like many other people, I attempt to find a suitable .com domain first. Here in Canada, .ca domains are also popular. When customers have decided to go with a .org or .net or .ca, however, it has not affected them negatively at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    I hope we can lay this to rest once and for all. The TLD doesn't matter at all in terms of ranking on Google, and this has come straight from the horse's mouth (Google!)

    I'm not quite sure why this issue keeps popping up in threads time and time again, perhaps this time around it will finally sink in, lol!

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary King
    The ONLY time it matters is if people are TYPING it in.

    If it's reallybigcoolsiteforprofits, then people will type in:

    reallybigcoolsiteforprofits.COM out of habit

    Otherwise, it doesn't matter... income and positioning are all that matter.

    All success,

    Gary
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  • Profile picture of the author thatgirlJ
    Get the domain (no matter if the .com is available), put up quality content, get enough backlinks, and you're golden
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  • Profile picture of the author RasiFranks
    I say as long as the content is good there is no need for a .com. Thats only for people that are returning to your site from memory and in most cases peoples browsers cache your site anyways.

    So in most cases its if someones returning from memory from another computer...No need for a .com
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