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.Info Domains or Subdomains?

by Mark-Dickenson
13 replies
Hello,

I was wondering what would be better for SEO purposes. I am trying to keep costs down and was wondering if Google penalizes you for .info or subdomains...I would think if you have quality backlinks, it wouldn't matter...so I guess my question is...does Google put a lot of weight on domain names?

Obviously I would have my keyword be in the either scenario

Thank you for your time

-Mark
#domains #info #subdomains
  • Profile picture of the author imb
    Google does not penalize TLDs but it has been a common notion that .info are less trusted by savvy internet users compared to .coms because it has been widely used to "sell" something.

    You are right about the quality backlinks. Even if your site is .info or just a subdomain, if you have substantial quality backlinks you will rank well.
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    • Profile picture of the author Simon_Sezs
      I would probably stay away from .info domains.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dick Doe
    Originally Posted by Mark-Dickenson View Post

    Hello,

    I was wondering what would be better for SEO purposes. I am trying to keep costs down and was wondering if Google penalizes you for .info or subdomains...I would think if you have quality backlinks, it wouldn't matter...so I guess my question is...does Google put a lot of weight on domain names?

    Obviously I would have my keyword be in the either scenario

    Thank you for your time

    -Mark
    I would any day go with the .info domain (if I have cash in hand, that is ) - of course, purely to appear more professional. As for SEs, I have both .info domains as well as sub domains and both rank equally well in Google. Domains are of course easier to remember than sub domains so that is another reason to go with the .info domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author Simon_Sezs
      Originally Posted by Dick Doe View Post

      I would any day go with the .info domain (if I have cash in hand, that is ) - of course, purely to appear more professional. As for SEs, I have both .info domains as well as sub domains and both rank equally well in Google. Domains are of course easier to remember than sub domains so that is another reason to go with the .info domain.
      understand that since .info domains are sold at a discount, they are also targeted by spammers and blackhat marketers which means that a .info domain will immediately come under more scrutiny that the '.com' or '.net' domains.

      Why do I say this? Because I know firsthand. You can also ask the countless number of BANS owners that decided to purchase a couple hundred .info domains only to see their sites ALL deindexed.

      Are .info domains bad? In and of itself, probably not. Just be prepared for scrutiny.
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      • Profile picture of the author oroyb
        I don't understand why it would make a difference. You often find URL's from blogspot.com and links to articles from article directories listed on the first page of Google. And it's not uncommon these days to see YouTube videos and Squidoo Lenses listed in the top ten.

        As long as your site is optimized for your keywords, and you are getting links to your site and it's pages, isn't that the same thing that causes us to see high rankings for a Squidoo Lens?
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        • Profile picture of the author sreenivas
          If you are thinking on niche with sub-niches then - subdomains will serve the purpose, even if you are barnding then sub-niches do well. But if your sites are not related to each other then think twice before going for subdomains.

          Again if longterm goals (>year) set for websites then .info & .com does cost same after first or second year. Think and plan before you start.

          Good Luck
          Sreenivasa
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      • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
        Originally Posted by Simon_Sezs View Post

        understand that since .info domains are sold at a discount, they are also targeted by spammers and blackhat marketers which means that a .info domain will immediately come under more scrutiny that the '.com' or '.net' domains.

        Why do I say this? Because I know firsthand. You can also ask the countless number of BANS owners that decided to purchase a couple hundred .info domains only to see their sites ALL deindexed.

        Are .info domains bad? In and of itself, probably not. Just be prepared for scrutiny.
        Just because some spammers buy info domains, doesn't mean google is going to de-index them for everyone. I have a load of info domains that do very well.

        Not everyone is going to look at the domain and think OMG I'm not buying from that because it's .info, in fact if they got there through a link, I'd imagine they probably wouldn't even notice.

        As to the original OP, I wouldn't use sub domains simply because its now so cheap to get a hosting account with the option to add multiple domains

        Kymi
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        • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
          For maximum flexibility, I would definitely go for .info domains. For a start, you can sell the site afterwards which you can't with subdomains.

          -Derek
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          • Profile picture of the author Dave Ryan
            I (and some clients) have .info's that are ripping it up. There's a certain bradablity for them in some markets that make them work out. All depends on how you're going about building traffic to them.

            Dave
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        • Profile picture of the author vinnylingo
          Two links might be of interest to you if you're considering building a site on a .info TLD.

          Google Temporarily Purges .info Domain Names : SEO Book.com

          Poor .info Domain Name Strategy, Afilias : SEO Book.com

          The first link discusses how, back at the end of May, Google purged a large number of .info domains from their index. A large number of these were eBay affiliate sites which used the Build A Niche Store script. That issue seems to be resolved, although a lot of sites which were de-indexed are still not getting back into the index. This situation is only of concern if you're trying to get organic search traffic. I have also heard that .info domains get lower quality scores in Google Adwords, but have no links to back that up.

          The second link is important even if you don't care about SEO. Afilias now has the power to decide they don't like how you are using a .info domain and pull the rug out from under you. This will have an affect on the future saleability of any "VRE" you build on a .info domain. Also, why build a business (or even a piece of it) on something that can be snatched without warning?

          Bottom line, people bought .info domains because they were inexpensive. Now that they have the above two issues stacked against them, .info domains are a cheap solution. I hope you understand the difference. Using inexpensive solutions is business savvy, using cheap alternatives is poor decision making.

          May I suggest spending the extra $4 or $5 to get a dot com?
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