Absolutely 100% you can use the .info and build it up. We have a number of affiliates that are killing campaigns with a .info site.

Sure it is harder, but it is definitely possible. If you do not want to restart the site over then dont worry about switching to .com.

if you had a say in the matter when starting out and can choose between .com and .info, then .com is better. But there is no way you should just let the site go if it is ranked that well.

Keep at it and you will be rewarded.

I love .info sites but I mostly use them to link to the .com versions of the same name. But yeah, they can do just as well as any other domain.

Yes info domains can do as well as every other domain extension end it is not harder to get them ranked. If you got a good domain name and it is appropriate for the website you are running then why to let it go.

Thanks guys, you've made me feel better. My site does have a great keyword name and I really like the site and have put a lot of work into it, I was just getting a little down lately and worrying that I'd put so much work into the site for nothing.

I will keep going with it and make sure it does well.

Thanks

They do just fine, no difference at all. All of my niche sites are .info, and I've never had anyone complain :-)

Domains are domains, no difference but how your users view an extension. Think of people using crap like blogger, lots of high traffic sites on there. I'd say a .info would be better than a yoursite.blogspot.com!

From my experience, without any backlinks at all .info can't do anything in google SERP. While .com, .net, and .org will still be possible to rank highly (depends on the competition off course).

As you have specified, that its at #6 on google for particular keyword, then dont worry about TLD. when we compare .info with other extension then .com or .net are preferable, but if you already have achieved quite a good result with the .info then keep it intact, its better than a .com with no place on google result page.

Honestly, I think the SEO importance of .com, .net & .org domain extensions is overrated. I've had great results with .info domains, plus they're cheaper and it's easier to get exact keyword domains than with other extensions.

Maybe it matters in a super competitive niche, but if you're already at #6 with a .info, I'd keep going with it.

Thanks guys, you really have put my mind at ease with this site. I was hoping it wouldn't make too much of a difference having .info so I will stick with it.

I have many .info sites. A lot of them on page #1 Google for main keyword phrase. There are a couple of things I would consider. When evaluating the effectiveness of your dot.info site use SEO Quake to monitor backlinks, PR, etc. (I use Marketing Samurai). In a head to head competition with everything being equal, .com/.org/.net will probably win out. Backlinks are absolutely necessary as has already been mentioned and is the real key to outranking a competing .com etc. Another way to boost the love for your .info sites is to register them for 2 years. The issue is the .info are seen as throw-away domains as opposed to the others.

Hope that helps.

I think the only thing "bad" about info's is people will tend to type in yoursite.com and wonder why nothing is showing up.

But most people these days know how to click a link so it's rather moot

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Google love .info domain as well as .com because info means information. If you have a good keywords on your info site and building backlinks, your site will rank high. And for further infomartion, i use the domain name of .info too..haha

i have a .info that does great and ranks well for many competitive keywords

I understand the hesitancy, and possible algorithm changes, but I still cannot in my right mind believe that a .com configured as mygreatkeywordphraseblogsite is better then a .info with keywordphrase only.

If I cannot get a well targeted, easy to read .com, .net, or .org, I would much rather have a .info which is easy to read, and doesn't scream SPAM.

This is especially true if I am doing video marketing. I would rather have the shorter, clear, easy to type in .info over the phrase with a prefix and suffix tacked on to it just to get a keyword rich domain name.

I've always preferred .com's

I've done my our survey's in the past and it's surprising the % of people associate .info with scams/fraud

I have a .info that does very well in the search engines. As a matter of fact my main keyword, which is also used in my url, consistently ranks in the top 5 of google against some steep competition.

I think the answer may depend greatly on the site in question. What is promoted or posted? How do people find it?

Unless someone has bookmarked your site they will almost never return. If they remember your domain name they will unlikely remember it was .info. It is so automatic to enter .com. If you own .com AND .info it probably doesn't matter since you can re-direct from the .com to the .info.

For traffic building that is search engine centered, you really have to go with a .com or .net. If your sites are designed to be supported mainly by a strong backlink and social bookmarking network, .info and co.cc is fine. You will likely have to build a link structure that is two or three times deeper than for a .com site, however.

You've heard all the people talking about how important it is to be on the front page of Google, right?

There are exactly ten listings on the front page of Google.

Are there exactly ten people that target your keywords doing well?

I recently moved over to using .org sites and with an exact keyword match in the name (no hyphens) I've been able to rank on page 1 of 1,000 searches a month + keywords with ease. .info's in my experience take more work BUT a .info site I left alone for a while I recently checked up on and it's a PR 3 and on page one for like 5 different 600-900 a month searches.

Face it. The reason we like .info domains is that they are cheap, cheap, cheap. Is there any other good reason to get one? Surely, it's just as difficult to get a good five letter domain there as .com?

However, if you are making money with your current domain, I think you should keep it. If not, move on to another niche or switch to a .com if you think you can do more with the niche you are in.

Keep the .info site and just build another site in the same niche with a .com.

Compete against yourself and double your income!

Wow, thanks guys there is just so much information here. I like the suggestion of keeping my .info but also getting a .com in the same niche and doubling my money - I have considered that actually, my only hesitation there is finding the time to build another site right now.

I just used the google domain type analyzer and it comes back as 1 .info and 9 .com domains.

For the top 100 there are:

info: 4
com: 69
org: 4
net: 4
us: 1
edu: 1

So maybe my site is doing ok to be on page 1 with the other .coms and ahead of 60 other .coms

One reason for the preponderance of .com sites in the top 100 could be that because of the higher costs people are putting more efforts in the content and SEO of .com sites than .info sites. It may not necessarily mean the .info site is less effective just that less content, links etc have been created for it than for a .com site. An .info purchase is more likely to an opportunistic purchase.

The more you spend on something the harder you tend to try to make a success.

Every e-mail I receive that is in my spam folder has a .info ext. This has at least given me the impression that all .info is spam.

Yep, they can do well. I have some .infos that rank #1 for their keyword. I usually only go with them if the .com/.org/.net isn't available for what I want but nevertheless they do just fine for me.

I have had good results with any and all extensions, including .us (my fav),.info and even .tv. If you can get a good keyword rich domain name then I would choose that over a .com any day. My impression is that the big G is not snubbing these lesser used extensions like they may have in the past.

You surely must be kidding claiming a .info can do just as well with repeat traffic as .com? How many .info s do you visit via each day?
It is niche relevant if you have a blog or forum website .com will do muuch better, do not kid the members here there is reason the $ is so low for .info

If I'm repeating something that was already said, I'm sorry, but I don't feel like reading through all the replies.

I was extremely attracted to the $.89 price tag of .info domains, especially since I was planning on purchasing a dozen or so domains. I searched and searched for information regarding the pros and cons of .info domains and if it was harder to get them ranked in the SERP.... It was the same story: "It doesn't matter as long as SEO and backlinks and blah blah blah" and "Just stick to .com .net .org - .info are used for spam sites and G de-indexed em all."

Anywho, I purchased MyKeywords.net and MyKeywords.info - Exact same static HTML site, about 11 pages, same on page SEO, and similar/equal backlinking for each. This was back in Feb/March. Using multiple SERP rank checkers this is what I've got (and still get):

.net ranks 2nd in G for keywords
.info not in top 100

Also, the .info was purchased and indexed by G a full month before I purchased the .net. You would think the duplicate content would have canceled the other out, but the .info never ranked in the top 100. And the SameKeywords.net now has a PR of 1! LOL!

My conclusion is that .info's are great b/c they are super cheap and even better if you have a good hosting account, but DO NOT purchase a .info if you plan on ranking high in the SERP's.

This is my opinion and what I've experienced, hope it helps.


Scott G.


P.S. I have another .info domain that doesn't rank in the top 100 with G, but ranks #9 on Bing! I never use Bing! I just looked at it again and the #10 spot is held by the SameExactDomain.org! And the search has no bias. Go figure :p

If one has PageRank while the other doesn't, then the one that has the PR will outrank the page without if both are of similar relevance (to the keyword being searched). The links to the .info aren't of the same quality as the links to the .net. This is why there is at least some difference in SERP for the same keyword.

PR refers to inwards links, both on and off-site. It has nothing to do with the domain extension.

Your idea for comparison is right, it is just that you aren't comparing apples to apples.

I've seen plenty of infos rank. I don't buy them because every site I build is a potential flip and infos don't flip as well as .com or .net or even .org. But if it's just for ranking, go for it. No reason why you shouldn't be able to rank with them.

The .info is doing pretty good if it has #6 Google ranking for a keyword, and I'm glad that you're going to keep going on it. What I'm wondering about is what is it that you're down about? Are you having problems in your life that may be causing a depression about the website?

I think there's a reason why domain appraisal companies put more weight on .com, .org, .net sites compared to .info sites. Personally I've never seen .info sites sitting on no.1 positions for any keyword. But recently I've seen a blopspot.com site sitting on no.1 position for incredibly competitive keyword. So I guess with enough backlinks, it is also doable with .info site... : )

Joseph on page 1 of this thread bgmacaw listed a few sites that are all sitting at #1 in Google and are all .info sites, so it is possible. I don't know how much work has gone into these sites to get those positions, but they are there at #1.

Like many others I go with .com's whenever possible. But, in a couple extremely competitive niches I've gone with .info's and have been shocked at how well many of them have naturally ranked.