No Good Domain Extensions...What would you do???

13 years ago

I'd probably give it a shot with a .info. I don't normally use .info extensions, but I have once in a while when the keyword was too good to pass up. While .info domains don't usually rank as easily as .com, .net, and .org domains, they sometimes surprise you, especially if you build a really good website around them. I've had a few .info domains that ranked reasonably well and brought in some good Adsense money and Amazon sales.

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Sunnyside_Services

13 years ago

There is much controversy about hypens in domain names, but Google themeselves have stated that they can read hypens and basically just act as a space between the words, I'd go for hypens.

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TheFreebieGuy

13 years ago

Yes, it is good to have your keywords in your domain name, but that's really not the only factor. I've had a blog with my name that ranked well for the keywords I wanted to (even though the keyword isn't in my name).

I would definitely avoid the whole .info thing. Try to go with a .com, if not, then .net. Work on adding content consistently, then I would go out there and try to get backlinks in a very natural way.

There are so many websites out there that try to get you to pay a certain amount to get "quality backlinks", but I would stay away from them. The main thing is this - Put good quality stuff out there that's link-worthy, promote your site, and people will link to it.

Yes, it's not as sexy as buying a million links, but it works, especially over the long term. That's my two cents.

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djones 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Lrsamuel

I would definitely avoid the whole .info thing.

But are .info domains really so bad? While I've heard a lot of people say to stay away from them, I've heard just as many say they work just fine.
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- bgmacaw 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by djones
  
  But are .info domains really so bad? While I've heard a lot of people say to stay away from them, I've heard just as many say they work just fine.
  
  They work fine for many sites. For examples, Google the following bold terms in the paragraph below...
  
  This does beg the question, have you ever searched for info on Noam Chomsky? How about regular expressions, roman coins, craft ideas, or how to check your page rank? Maybe you've never needed to do some research to find out if New York was a sanctuary city or to find out something about New York transit. Did you ever look into Spain tourism?. Oh, and have you thought about moving your money to a local bank before you go shopping on Black Friday?
  
  But, to go back to the OP question...
  
  Don't get too uptight about having a pure exact keyword match just like you don't need to worry about having a particular domain extension. What really matters are the quality and quantity of the links you build to a site. When you look at search results for many keywords, especially long tail terms, you'll see sites that aren't exact matches beating out exact matches. It's not that having an exact match won't help you rank, it will. However, it isn't a magic bullet and won't guarantee ranking, especially against powerful competitors.
  
  Another thing to consider is how strong the competition is. For example, if keyword.com is a 10 year old, well established, site don't expect to beat it anytime soon with key-word.com or anything else. However, if keyword.com is a deindexed, parked, domain that a domain speculator is waiting for someone to pay $10K+ for, then go for the hyphen or a different extension and use good internal and external SEO practices to develop the site.
  
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- Piper Anderson 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by djones
  
  But are .info domains really so bad? While I've heard a lot of people say to stay away from them, I've heard just as many say they work just fine.
  
  Really, I've never had a problem with the handful of .info domains I've put sites on. I usually get a .info if I'm doing a website devoted to one very particular product or type of product and the .com, .org, and .net are taken. I've only needed to go with the .info a few times, but with good SEO and backlinking, the .info sites HAVE ranked well on Google (within the first three pages, and a few even on the first page), and have brought in enough income that I was able to sell the sites for amounts in the $xxx's within a month or two of starting them.
  
  While .info domains aren't my first choice for any site, I don't automatically discount them if the keyword phrase is good and profitable, and the other extensions aren't available.
  
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GirlyGurl

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Lrsamuel

Yes, it is good to have your keywords in your domain name, but that's really not the only factor. I've had a blog with my name that ranked well for the keywords I wanted to (even though the keyword isn't in my name).

I would definitely avoid the whole .info thing. Try to go with a .com, if not, then .net. Work on adding content consistently, then I would go out there and try to get backlinks in a very natural way.

I agree. Find a .com that fits your niche, even if your target keywords are not in it. Something catchy and memorable. Then create good content with keyword rich titles. Finally use good old SEO techniques and social media to draw traffic.

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Craig Brower

13 years ago

I am surprised that no one has mentioned article marketing.

As far as hyphens are concerned and google, I have read that basically ( and forgive my laymans way of describing this LOL) will read domain name in order of words.

For example if the domain name is ReadingFasterNewspapers.com (bad domain name, but this is for an example)

Google will see Read first, before reading. It will then see Fast before Faster, and will see News, before Newspapers.

Apparently google then tries to figure out exactly what to use to rank the sites higher based on domain names as well as the content. I think this may have something to do with ranking as well. As far as .info domains, I guess it works the same way.

I am not sure exactly how it works, or how it could hurt or help a domain name, but I'm sure it affects it one way or another.

Does anyone have any information on this, or can elaborate more???

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Hydroxide

13 years ago

Originally Posted by eplio

I am surprised that no one has mentioned article marketing.

As far as hyphens are concerned and google, I have read that basically ( and forgive my laymans way of describing this LOL) will read domain name in order of words.

For example if the domain name is ReadingFasterNewspapers.com (bad domain name, but this is for an example)

Google will see Read first, before reading. It will then see Fast before Faster, and will see News, before Newspapers.

Apparently google then tries to figure out exactly what to use to rank the sites higher based on domain names as well as the content. I think this may have something to do with ranking as well. As far as .info domains, I guess it works the same way.

I am not sure exactly how it works, or how it could hurt or help a domain name, but I'm sure it affects it one way or another.

Does anyone have any information on this, or can elaborate more???

I'm expecting an answer for this too. I hope it doesnt hope the site...

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Crew Chief

13 years ago

Originally Posted by eplio

This is more a question for discussion...

Let's say you found several great keywords and the competition is low, and the search potential is good. If there are no .com .net. or .org available...what would be your Number One Way of getting to the top of the Search Engines.

Would it be article marketing, video marketing, ppc, etc. and why do you prefer one way over another.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts

DULY NOTE: When a person understands Off Page SEO, they understand that they can outrank a EMD, even if it is a .com, .net or a .org.

As far as TLDs go, aside from .com, .net and .org, I personally use: .info, .biz, .us and .co.cc and outrank competition in competitive niches and markets. Ranking has very little to do with the actual domain name. If you doubt the veracity of the statement go and Google make money online and then check to see where all of the EMDs for that keyword phrase are.

While checking, you'll also notice that most of the top SERP results don't even have the Keyword Phrase make money online in their TLD.

In terms of Off Page SEO marketing, a smart IMer utilizes a myriad of tools, vehicles and strategies and doesn't prefer one strategy over the other.

In other words, if you're targeting a competitive Keyword Phrase and the backlinks look like this...

PR 7 = 56
PR 6 = 112
PR 5 = 156
PR 4 = 95
PR 3 = 110
PR 2 = 750
PR 1 = 4,789
PR 0 = 7,368

The game plan would be to set up your OFF Page SEO to mimic your top competitor and then addendum what they have done with your own set of OFF Page SEO backlink building.

If you stick to one particular way of getting the top ranking in the SERPs and your primary competitor has implemented: article marketing, profiles, RSS Feeds, video marketing, social bookmarking, private BL networks, .edu and .gov BLs, Web 2.0 properties and web directories to get the top spot, your chances of competing with them are pretty slim.

So my answer would be, reverse engineer your competition and use their OFF Page SEO as a foundation and build your BL campaign from there.

Giles, the Crew Chief

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DNChamp

13 years ago

for your question on the domain part only. If all extensions are gone change course just a bit and go with a .TV and instead of articles go with videos. Even take articles and transform them into videos. Step out the box so instead of traffic reading they are watching!

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Odhinn

13 years ago

I'm with adding hyphens too. If those are gone, why not 2 hyphens? If that's gone, why not add a '1' at the end? Or put a '1' in the beginning. Or come up with a 'branding' name if this is going to be a huge property.

Remember, there are an infinite number of domain names out there. Just ask a mathematician. At least one of them has to be good.

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Rus Sells

13 years ago

I would do what seems to be the popular trend and send the domain owners a trademark infringement letter and maybe you can scare them out of the domain!

Its about the perception you can create! Hehe.

Besides that all the other advice is pretty spot on.

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Craig Brower

13 years ago

I think that there are so many options a person could take with their business, keywords, etc. It definitely is not a one size fits all...even with things like Sniper sites, it has a lot to do with content.

I notice that most parked pages for an exact domain never show up in a search, so its proof that the domain is really only part of the equation.

What does surprise me however is the amount of 2-3 page Wordpress Blogs that show up in the search engines for keywords, when there are tons of other sites out there with similar keywords, and ranked substantially lower.

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Vincenzo Oliva

13 years ago

One word, SUBDOMAIN. I consistently steal great keywords that people would die for by adding a subdomain. Just get a relevant secondary keyword for your root domain and use your best in 1 or 2 or 10 subdomains, each one can have a separate index or wordpress install.

/makemoneyonline.fastcashonline.com

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Craig Brower 13 years ago

Nice...always forget about the subdomains. Do you have any issues getting ranked with a SD???
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No Good Domain Extensions...What would you do???

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