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What are your thoughts on .info domains?

by rlharding
37 replies
Hi folks,
I was looking at godaddy and they have .info domains for .55c right now. They also host WP themes and do a lot of WP things I can't do. Since I don't know enough about the tech side of things I feel as if I am stuck, well, I am stuck! LOL.

Anyway, At one time anything other than .com was no-no.

Do you think it matters these days?

I guess for that price I have nothing to loose anyway......maybe I am just procrastinating again because I AM AFRAID TO MOVE FORWARD!!arghhhhhhh
#domains #info #thoughts
  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    Personally I would not mess with scamdaddy at all .. Sorry I mean godaddy..

    Anyways ... I would be careful with registering .info domain names unless you are planning on putting up a throw away site. The reason is some networks actually block .info domain names from being posted including twitter.

    The reason why is because the .info is so cheap many spammers registered names left and right and started to spam places with the .info domain names. So several large networks petitioned ICANN to allow them to fully block the domain name and ICANN approved it...

    James
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

      The reason is some networks actually block .info domain names from being posted including twitter.
      Better alert them about these authority .info sites...

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      Move Your Money is posted several times on Twitter, BTW, since it went kind of viral last month.

      There are many more authority sites on .info domains. Blocking them as a group wouldn't make any logical sense. It's something only a lazy idiot of a network admin would do. After all, there are many more spammy .coms than there are all .infos combined.
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      • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
        Oh I fully agree .. I actually own 3 .info names but I am just pointing out that some networks actually do block them. Yes it is stupid and yes there are way more .com's that abuse the internet but you got to admit some of these large companies have idiots running them..

        James

        Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

        Better alert them about these authority .info sites...

        MTA Home Page
        Regular Expressions
        Google PageRank Checker
        Move Your Money

        Move Your Money is posted several times on Twitter, BTW, since it went kind of viral last month.

        There are many more authority sites on .info domains. Blocking them as a group wouldn't make any logical sense. It's something only a lazy idiot of a network admin would do. After all, there are many more spammy .coms than there are all .infos combined.
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    • Profile picture of the author MJMartin
      Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

      Personally I would not mess with scamdaddy at all .. Sorry I mean godaddy..

      Anyways ... I would be careful with registering .info domain names unless you are planning on putting up a throw away site. The reason is some networks actually block .info domain names from being posted including twitter.

      The reason why is because the .info is so cheap many spammers registered names left and right and started to spam places with the .info domain names. So several large networks petitioned ICANN to allow them to fully block the domain name and ICANN approved it...

      James
      Thanks for sharing that, James. I didn't know that

      What are your thoughts on using .info domains to do redirects to affiliate links from your main site (for cloaking purposes) if you don't mind me asking?
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  • Profile picture of the author Travis Van Slooten
    If you're in this for the long term and you want to build an asset or assets (meaning websites that increase in value over time), always stick with .com. Having said that, .net and .org are o.k. too but I personally only buy .com domains. From a resell stand point, .com will always outperform all other TLD's (all things being equal of course).

    By all means, stay away from .info domains. Think about it, when is the last time you ran across a .info website searching for something? Almost never! There is a reason these domains are so cheap.

    Spend the extra few dollars and secure a .com, .net, or .org!

    Travis
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  • Profile picture of the author rlharding
    Thanks!
    That answers my question. I will see if I can get GFI to give me back my .com domain names!
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  • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
    James, I just posted my .info site domain name at Twitter and it worked fine. I checked the link and it went through fine also.

    I have two developed .info's and they do well. And they do rank highly for their keyword terms. However, given a choice I would have taken the .com, net or org first.

    A .com is ideal for resale, what people remember etc. In the big picture the small savings now for a .info is not worth it. Don't forget when you renew it will usually cost the same.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      Originally Posted by LilBlackDress View Post

      James, I just posted my .info site domain name at Twitter and it worked fine. I checked the link and it went through fine also.

      I have two developed .info's and they do well. And they do rank highly for their keyword terms. However, given a choice I would have taken the .com, net or org first.

      A .com is ideal for resale, what people remember etc. In the big picture the small savings now for a .info is not worth it. Don't forget when you renew it will usually cost the same.
      They may have unblocked it .. I know many was posting sexual links using .info.. When I released my facebook and twitter apps I was using a .info and it was blocked.

      There is an article posted about the .info domain names and the petition sent to ICANN, do not remember the link but I am sure someone could google it ...

      James
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Rankin
    In terms of SEO, I found that having a .com got indexed and ranked much quicker then a .info - having tested it over and over again, I'm convinced Google likes .com more

    But, if you are building test sites, throw away sites, anything of the sort then getting a .55 cent domain name may well be right for you. For the kind of business I do, investing $7 in a .com just makes more sense.

    I also believe the average consumer trust a .com more then a .info. Of course there's no valid proof of it, but I like to keep as many factors to my advantage as possible when doing internet marketing, and having a .com is one of them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emily Meeks
    As far as I'm concerned, .info domains are good for CPA landing pages; they're cheap and effective for that very purpose, and you don't have to shell out $7 just to set up a domain redirect. Other than that though, stick to .com (or .net/.org if you're so inclined).
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Emily, this is so true. The poor .info has been shunned by many, but it actually works quite well even for SEO purposes, but if you're putting up a site for branding purposes or want to resell that site later on down the road, then it'd be better for you to look for a .com, and this is mainly because of people's perception that a .com is more credible and recognized.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dexter007
    In a simple line, I buy .info only when I have a keyword, I have a freebie offer to promote and am intending it to use the promotion for only a short time i.e. 6 months- 1year at max. Go for .com if you are thinking of long term !
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  • Profile picture of the author zoobie
    Well, it depends on what you want to do with the .info. If you want to use it as an internal or a private purpose, then it may a good idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    info domains have always been so cheap that they've been very popular with spammers and have a bad reputation. I have a few, but mostly try to avoid them. I'd much rather have the .com, .net or .org than an info domain and will dig deeper for my domains to avoid them.

    In addition, I build a lot of sites that will eventually be sold. info domains are not nearly as impressive or valuable as .com and even .net.
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  • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
    Originally Posted by rlharding View Post

    Anyway, At one time anything other than .com was no-no.

    Do you think it matters these days?
    I wrote this long blog post on it recently: Earn Online Cash with .Info Domains

    As for hosting on GoDaddy, it isn't ideal as compared to other options such as HostGator but using it is better than doing nothing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Pat Ordenes
    the .info is still out with the jury for me.
    In Australia, the National Train network uses a .info as their main site...
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  • Profile picture of the author E-supreme
    Not a huge fan of .info and from all of my domains in the search engines not one is outranked by a .info. However, they can be effective just depends how you use them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rezbi
    I think people pretty much expect just info on them. But that's my opinion.

    The best way to find out is to test for yourself taking into account what you're using them for.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Barbour
    I own around 8000 domains and have been a domainer for 10+ years.

    I only buy .INFO domains in 2 cases:
    1. To protect an important .COM (I buy all extensions)
    2. For a very highly searched term and all other extensions are gone

    Never buy a .INFO as your primary site to run an online business on....ever.

    As far as registrars go I keep all of my valuable domains at Moniker.com - they (unlike Godaddy) have never had a domain stolen.
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  • Profile picture of the author Audi0
    You can currently register a godaddy .com domain instead for $.99 with coupon code BOWL2010
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    i have a.info domain that ranks pretty well for some very competitive keywords
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  • Profile picture of the author Raj Riyat
    Any thought on .us?

    It's increasingly difficult to find names using the .com, .net and .org extensions.

    Are there any other extension you guys would consider?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Moffatt
    Jeff Mulligan sent out a email this morning saying that his .info domain was unable to be clicked in certain email providers (I think gmail) and he will now steer clear of them.

    I'm not sure how often this happens but it's definitely something worth considering if you can't make the domain a hyperlink via some email providers.
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  • Profile picture of the author vivekrai
    Search engines usually block .info sites as they represent spammers,
    so take care as to how you would like to use your site with the domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author JaySchmidt
      I bought an .info domain about 2 months ago. The keyword it represents gets only around 1000 searches per month (according to the Google Keyword Tool). So I decided to use it for an inexpensive experiment. The .com, .net, and .org names were all parked, so I took a chance on the $0.89 .info.

      I thew up five (decent quality) articles on a wordpress blog, all based on long-tail variants of the keyword. I used pages instead of posts.

      It took several days before it was indexed by Google. This seemed to take longer than getting a .com indexed (although I'm relatively inexperienced in these matters).

      When it finally did get indexed, I couldn't find it in the SERPs.

      Eventually though, after giving it some EzineArticles backlinks, it showed up high on page two. This took around 2-3 weeks. I am sure I could have ranked the .com more quickly.

      After 5 or 6 weeks, it stuck around the 7th position on page 1. I think it will move up at least 2 spots soon, based on the strength of the competition and their (lack of) backlinks.

      It's a buying keyword, and it makes a small amount of money through the Amazon affiliate program.
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Originally Posted by vivekrai View Post

      Search engines usually block .info sites as they represent spammers,
      so take care as to how you would like to use your site with the domain.
      You know, when you just comment off the cuff without reading the whole thread you miss a lot of stuff, like what searching for things like "regular expressions" and "metropolitan transit authority" turn up. :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author mawhitney
    Don't beat yourself up. Cheap route isn't the best route. Dot coms are the most searched. I never search for dot info, nor has a site ending in dot info ever showed up in any of my searches.

    Spend a little extra for the dot com. It's not that much. If you feel you can't afford a dot com, you're not expecting to make any money online. One sale online can cover the yearly cost of that domain.

    To be a pro, do as the pros do. Find a successful Internet Marketer and mimic what she/he does. If it made them successful, it will make you successful.

    Quick note about WordPress - I'm no techy either, but I found a lot of videos on YouTube that helped me understand WordPress.

    To Your Success
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  • Profile picture of the author Website Tuner Articles
    .info are ok. If you have a good name like cars.info your domain could get high rankings at the SE.

    I don't think the domain ending really matters..

    I have a few very good names with a .asia ending and they rank high.
    My arowana.asia is even on page 1 at google.
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  • Profile picture of the author deaddogdesign
    It is all about the dot coms. No to .info unless it is a redirect.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua Summers
    As most of the others mentioned, it really depends on the overall purpose of the domain. If you're looking at more of an authority type site then .info definitely isn't the way to go, but if you're setting up a Wordpress site around targeted keywords I don't think .info is quite as taboo. I'd still stick with a .com, .org or even .net when possible though, the extra $6-$7 you pay up front is worth it in the end.
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