Does Google prefer .COM over .INFO or .CO.CC for SERPS

The opinions are divided here. Most people say that .com, .net, .org is the best option to go for when it comes to seo, however I have seen some sites (.info`s) ranking on the top for competitive keywords too. I think Google is more concerned about relevancy instead of domain extension. I don`t know about.co.cc since i`ve never used this domain extension.

From my experience there IS a difference .com .net .org ranks better than others. It does not mean you can't rank with others, well you can rank well with other extensions too, but they require more link-building to get same ranking as .com .net .org

Also I see that the difference between .com .net .org is small in terms of ranking

From my research and experiments (still ongoing), I don't think google discriminate against extension. In this age and time, the site with the best content wins the battle.

Depending on who you believe, I've read on Matt Cutt's website where he specifically said that domain name extension does NOT matter. To believe him or not is a different ball game entirely.

Don't take my words for it! Why not run a simple experiment. In this seo world, testing, testing and again testing will determine who wins or lose. Many a million have opinions and you'll soon begin to see them in this thread. Ask them if their opinions are tested or they heard it from somebody and you'll break a fight. So, why not just run a simple experiment and decide for yourself what works and what doesn't.

Simply buy two domain names, exact match, one in .com and the other in .info. Make sure they're the same exact match. Give both equal time, content and backlink i.e get same amount of backlinks from the same place. Watch them for a time and check your result...do this for two or more niches/domains and the result will be your OWN ANSWER.

What this simple experiment will do for you is simple. It'll help you know who's lying and who's saying the truth. You can't trust anybody's opinion which is not tested. Your tested experimented opinion is what counts and not another's.

Tim

I know for a fact that there is no difference. Google and other search engines do not discriminate against the domain extension.

I currently am ranking a site #1 in the real estate niche, very very competitive keyword, and it isn't a .com

I recently bought an e-book, what it says on the e-book were.
Google loves .com(s) and last year .co was released as well.
Google then announced .co has the same power domain extension as .com does.

But guess what, I've saw some mid competitor keyword has .info ranked on the #1.

Because co.cc suck from a traffic viewpoint.

Have you ever found a co.cc that you would visit twice, or submit a credit card # or email to (I havn't & wouldn't)?

There are lots of pros and cons for .com and .info domain name. I am also not sure about .info domain names.

I have personally bad experience of .info domain name, it was not regular in crawling and indexing, even i was updating it daily with fresh content and getting few back links for each and every postings. I just bought .info because it was cheaper than .com and .net.

It was wrong decision, and i left that domain. I used same content on another domain with .com tail, and i am in ranking on few keywords, getting daily minimum 50 visits from Google. My new .com domain is just 6 months old.

So, if possible, try to use .com or .net domains. .info domains are not getting chances for quick indexing and rankings.

.com and .net are definitely preferred but i've seen .info's do ok with little competition of course

Yes, Google prefers .com domains over .info. So that's the reason why IMers are going with .com domain. It will be helpful in getting high position in search engine result page with .com domain as compared to .info domains.

I am choosing .com domains, if .com is taken I go for .net or .org

This is posted every day it seems.

The general consensus, and I tend to agree, is that TLD has no effect in rankings. (Unless it's an international TLD.)

The reason you see more .com's instead of .net, .org, even .info, is that there's a LOT more registered .com's. A lot of .info's are registered by lazy marketers who never do anything with the site. So that's why, IMO, they don't "seem" to rank as well.

As far as ranking in the search engines, .coms seem to perform best although there are several .info that rank highly, even for competitive keywords that I have seen. However, people are probably more likely to visit a .com than a .info because of familiarity with the extension and trust factor. So even if a .info ranks a little higher, it may receive less traffic than a .com.

I like vanilla while others like chocolate. Honestly, you're going to get many different answers with anecdotal evidence as to why their choice is the best.