Buying .info domain names for niche sites?

42 replies
Hi fellow Warriors. I would like to ask your opinion. I am planning to create lots of niche websites to promote various Amazon, Clickbank and CJ products, as well as Adsense. Since .info domain names are much cheaper than .com domain names, I'm thinking about buying .info to save on costs. I have a 1and1.com account which offers $0.99 .info domain names on the first year. My questions: Are .info domain names still good for affiliate marketing? Or will Google "penalize" my site because I'm using a .info instead of a .com? Thanks!
#buying #domain #info #names #niche #sites
  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    .info, .com, .assdjkflsddjfskdlsjdfk!!! does not matter. serve good content.

    PS: Can we please get a sticky about .info domains addressing this issue? seriously! Please?
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    • Profile picture of the author Luis Medilo
      Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

      .info, .com, .assdjkflsddjfskdlsjdfk!!! does not matter. serve good content.

      PS: Can we please get a sticky about .info domains addressing this issue? seriously! Please?
      Thanks! Actually, I have come across other threads about .info domain names but I'm not really sure if they are specific to my case.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
        Thanks for not getting butt hurt, its just that your question has been asked like a bagillion times on the forum already. = )


        Originally Posted by loyski View Post

        Thanks! Actually, I have come across other threads about .info domain names but I'm not really sure if they are specific to my case.
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        • Profile picture of the author Luis Medilo
          Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

          Thanks for not getting butt hurt, its just that your question has been asked like a bagillion times on the forum already. = )
          Yeah... I'm just too lazy to perform a search and comb all the threads. I want it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.
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          • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
            Originally Posted by loyski View Post

            Yeah... I'm just too lazy to perform a search and comb all the threads. I want it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.
            The horse doesn't post here... that would be Google.

            Tsnyder
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      • Profile picture of the author James G.
        I agree with Sheryl, Google won't penalize you for using a .info. When you search for the term "pagerank checker" on Google, the number one result is a .info.

        I'm guessing it has sealed it's number one spot because that site has been around for so long.

        With that said, it still might be more challenging to get a .info to rank compared with a .com. I've seen an exact match .com domain rank in Google even if it had no content. But if you work hard on backlinking your .infos, then you just might find your sites on page 1.
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        • Profile picture of the author Luis Medilo
          Originally Posted by James G. View Post

          I agree with Sheryl, Google won't penalize you for using a .info. When you search for the term "pagerank checker" on Google, the number one result is a .info.

          I'm guessing it has sealed it's number one spot because that site has been around for so long.

          With that said, it still might be more challenging to get a .info to rank compared with a .com. I've seen an exact match .com domain rank in Google even if it had no content. But if you work hard on backlinking your .infos, then you just might find your sites on page 1.
          Thanks! Now I'm thinking that I should get .com's instead of .info's. I've heard a lot of bad things about .info's, i.e., being used by spammers and that some people are wary of visiting .info sites. Now I have to shell out more money.
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          • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
            Originally Posted by loyski View Post

            I've heard a lot of bad things about .info's, i.e., being used by spammers and that some people are wary of visiting .info sites.
            If by 'some people' you think Internet Marketers, then you're probably correct since many of them have bought into the mythology surrounding .info domains. But, if you're talking about the general public, this typically isn't true.

            Originally Posted by WriteMyOwnCheck View Post

            One problem with .info sites is the "peppered" history of black-hatters and spammers utilizing them.
            BTW, 'black-hatters' and 'spammers' are Internet Marketers of a type and tend to buy into the .info myths too. Therefore, most of them will buy .coms over other domain extensions.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    You wont get penalized for having .info - as long as you are willing to put the work into the site that you need to do to get it ranking well, then it shouldn't matter whether it is .info .net .com or .org. As long as you add lots of quality content and lots of backlinks.
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    • Profile picture of the author Luis Medilo
      Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka View Post

      You wont get penalized for having .info - as long as you are willing to put the work into the site that you need to do to get it ranking well, then it shouldn't matter whether it is .info .net .com or .org. As long as you add lots of quality content and lots of backlinks.
      Thanks! So does this mean that .info and .com are equal in the eyes of Google and other search engines? So it doesn't matter if there is a .com with the same address as my .info?

      And what if I come across a .info domain name in which a .com is already registered, and it so happened that that .com is an established website? Should I grab it? I'm worried that the owner of the .com will get mad at me or even sue me.
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  • Profile picture of the author WriteMyOwnCheck
    Google's goal essentially is to provide quality search results for searchers. Good SEO comes down really to having relevant content and great incoming links, etc. I haven't heard of a .info being penalized; what constitutes bad ranking is equally applied to .com/.net/.org domains. I can tell you this, typically people recognize .com's or .net's much more than they do .info's, particularly when it comes to business sites (.info is generally for informative sites). That isn't to say that you can't do some fantastic niche marketing. There are some great sites out there associated with .info extensions. One problem with .info sites is the "peppered" history of black-hatters and spammers utilizing them. But that shouldn't have any relevance to what you want to do.

    At the end of the day, if you are working hard and creating good value and great content, you should be alright.

    I hope that helped my friend and fellow warrior.

    Make it a great day!

    Best of Success,

    Erik
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    • Profile picture of the author wenzel777
      For your purposes, a .info domain will work just fine. As others have said, if you're trying to brand a product, then by all means go w/ the .com/.net...but if you're just trying to get some pages up for cheap, the bulk of your work will be driving TRAFFIC...which is why content & backlinks will play a much larger part to your overall strategy. Best of luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    This has been covered ad nauseam in the threads here. It makes absolutely no difference to Google what TLD you're using, so if it's going to be more economical to use .info domains, I'd say to go for it. A great bonus is that many of the more desirable exact match keyword domains are still available as .info domains, so you'll definitely stand a better chance of ranking if that's the case.

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    Why is everyone asking this? I swear I've replied to a dozen threads in the last two weeks . . .

    GOOGLE DOESN'T CARE (sorry to yell, lol)

    I have several sites that are .info, remember to go for exact keyword matches and you'll do fine I have never had a problem ranking on the first page of google with a .info, it all depends on your content and keyword research.

    Good Luck
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by Coby View Post

      Why is everyone asking this? I swear I've replied to a dozen threads in the last two weeks . . .

      GOOGLE DOESN'T CARE (sorry to yell, lol)

      I have several sites that are .info, remember to go for exact keyword matches and you'll do fine I have never had a problem ranking on the first page of google with a .info, it all depends on your content and keyword research.

      Good Luck
      Coby, good to see you're holding down the fort and policing these "are .info domains any good?" type threads that have been popping up everywhere in here lately. Let's silence the critics and give them an earful so that they'll stop with this nonsense!

      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author USHwy129
        Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

        Coby, good to see you're holding down the fort and policing these "are .info domains any good?" type threads that have been popping up everywhere in here lately. Let's silence the critics and give them an earful so that they'll stop with this nonsense!

        Paul
        Wack-a-mole!
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  • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
    I once had a PR-NA dot info domain out rank a PR7 Fortune 500 company for one of their main keywords of interest. It was very low competition, but still. There is nothing wrong with dot info.
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  • Profile picture of the author dave147
    Just optimize them and it'll be all good!
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  • Profile picture of the author LetsGoViral
    Google does not penalize one TLD over other. Also, the .info domains are usually cheap only for the first year, so if you are planning on long term projects, just get a good .net or .org if all .com's are taken.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    I'm starting to think many newbies are posting all these similar threads to get some reassurance about the right TLDs to pick...lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    Hey loyski,

    Wanna help out the community a bit? If so, go ahead and write something like:

    EDIT: .info domains are given the same value as .com, .net, and .org! Don't buy into the mythology!

    If you do that, then a lot of people won't just view the thread, read your post, and leave (trust me it'll happen, sadly)

    Hope that solves the situation at hand
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    My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author madison_avenue
    I just did I search for "make money online"(using quotes) it has 23,000,000 competing pages in a competitive niche. A .info domain is ranked on the first page of Google.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Hopefully the compelling evidence offered in this thread will lay this rumor that .info domains are useless to rest forever. Even Google has officially confirmed this, so it's time to start using this knowledge to profit - remember that it's usually much easier to find an exact match keyword domain as a .info than any other TLD.

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    What people don't seem to realize is that anything can rank in the search engines with the right optimization and backlink methods.

    If you looked back a few weeks ago, a blogspot ranked #1 for make money online, and 2 different .info's at the time. However, that is such a competitive keyword, the websites are going to bounce as others put more effort.

    But if they can rank for one of the most competitive internet marketing keywords in history... why wouldn't you be able to rank for an extremely low competition keyword?

    Just my 2 cents.

    Conclusion: .info's are fine... so is everything else, just focus on optimization and backlinks
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    My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author Andrea Wilson
    Im thinking of buying dot info domains as well. Like what other folks said they are all equal in the eyes of Google. My only dilemma now is where to find the best place to get bulk dot info domains. Kinda hard to find some place that will not charge more after a year of contract.



    Andrea
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    • Profile picture of the author Luis Medilo
      Sorry guys and gals for making a thread about a topic that has been discussed many times in other threads. Being a newbie that I am, I just needed an assurance before I spend my hard-earned money on something. You can call me a cheapskate but that's what I really am. Now I know that .info domain names are harmless and would rank high in the search engines if promoted well. But I doubt other newbies will stop asking the same question over and over again. LOL
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Andrea Wilson View Post

      My only dilemma now is where to find the best place to get bulk dot info domains. Kinda hard to find some place that will not charge more after a year of contract.
      Yes, you won't find that easily, I think.

      If you want "privacy protection" on them, you can try my trick, if it helps: I buy them at GoDaddy for $1 each, and if you buy 5+ in one transaction, you get a year's free privacy protection with all. Then after about 10 months I move them to Namecheap, where I get another year's free privacy protection (or more, if you renew for longer).

      I don't like using GoDaddy at all, to be honest, and will only use them as a registrar for buying .info domains, 5 at a time, for one year, just because it's so cheap.
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Originally Posted by Andrea Wilson View Post

      Kinda hard to find some place that will not charge more after a year of contract.
      The low intro 1 year price is how .info domains are marketed so renewals and multi-year purchases are at the normal price, which is about the same as other common extensions. However, you should have your niche site performing at about an average of $1 a day by the time it needs to be renewed, thus earning the renewal money in about a week's time. Even if it's only making $50 to $100 a year it may still be worth it to keep it around. If it isn't paying for itself, then drop it.

      Oh, and another risk is bulk buying is buying too many and not getting them developed within a reasonable time frame. I'm playing catch up right now myself on some domains I bought about 6 months ago because I had some client work that took precedence over them. So don't bite off more than you can chew and make sure you have a plan for developing the domains (including a SEO campaign).
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  • Profile picture of the author pavionjsl
    Use .info's all the time , they are fine.
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    realise it is what is it!!

    Why?

    dot com means you are running a commercial business, plus you are serious about your business.

    Dot info tells me three things

    1) you are cheap ass

    2) you are are a lazy ass

    3) You are a scammer, why are you selling me niche products or IM products claiming how good it is. If it is so good, why hasnt it made you enough money to buy a proper domain name. LOL.

    Pretty obvious. That is why I have seen a few newbies come in here and whine about how they are not making IM sales....and their website is a friggen info name. LOL.

    Isnt it time to stop thinking about running a business online and actually run one...help people no matter what niche you are in. So if that is you go for a dot com, or at least a dot net or something.

    Just my 2 cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author webtrading10
    Personally, I would always go with dot-org or dot-com even if dot-info is only $1 yr.

    The main problem with .info (and most other tld's) is that you will get basically no natural/typein traffic, no matter how good the keywords may be (and will also end up losing a percenatge of your visitors, mostly to the .com).

    However, with .com (also .org especially in certain categories like health & disease) you can get natural traffic since I estimate at least 95% of typeins go to .com and .org
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    • Profile picture of the author Crew Chief
      Wow! Where did this come from and why? Celente, Celente, Celente, what gives and why all the hostility towards .info TLDs?

      Originally Posted by celente View Post

      realise it is what is it!! Why? dot com means you are running a commercial business, plus you are serious about your business.

      Dot info tells me three things

      1) you are cheap ass

      2) you are are a lazy ass

      3) You are a scammer, why are you selling me niche products or IM products claiming how good it is. If it is so good, why hasnt it made you enough money to buy a proper domain name. LOL.
      .info tells me that you have, in all probability, a site that is providing information. Hence, the .info

      To determine that a person is lazy, cheap scammer because they registered a .info, that's got to be on of the funniest things I've heard in the past hour. You were joking, right?

      Tell me Celente, how does a person like you rate and view these other TLDs?

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      Should they all be purged from the Internet or banned by Google, in your opinion? Do you consider people who use other TLDs other than .com's lazy, cheap scammers also? Just asking! :confused:

      Giles, the Crew Chief
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      • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
        Crew Chief, WINS THE THREAD!

        Originally Posted by Crew Chief View Post

        Wow! Where did this come from and why? Celente, Celente, Celente, what gives and why all the hostility towards .info TLDs?



        .info tells me that you have, in all probability, a site that is providing information. Hence, the .info

        To determine that a person is lazy, cheap scammer because they registered a .info, that's got to be on of the funniest things I've heard in the past hour. You were joking, right?

        Tell me Celente, how does a person like you rate and view these other TLDs?

        AC
        AD
        AE
        AERO
        AF
        AG
        AI
        AL
        AM
        AN
        AO
        AQ
        AR
        ARPA
        AS
        ASIA
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        Should they all be purged from the Internet or banned by Google, in your opinion? Do you consider people who use other TLDs other than .com's lazy, cheap scammers also? Just asking! :confused:

        Giles, the Crew Chief
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    There is no hostility.

    Just go and have a look at these sites.....i mean really. Go and take the time to search for what we are talking about.

    No use on going on your tangent, I do not see the point to it. Most people in here will agree with me unfortunately see above. Maybe read my post properly, and understand the over generalization I was giving.

    it is not about right or wrong, it is about understanding how others think of these, if you are going to sell them anything or advertise as well.

    Just my two cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rsberg
    Just now finding this thread and it's quite interesting to me how this (and other myths/generalizations like it) seem to carry on through the ages even after they are pretty much debunked by the masses. I understand newbies sometimes don't know any better and will ask, I'm ok with that, still just funny to me how it continues to persist.

    Probably because of people making assumputions like a couple of the posts here...

    You do know what you do when you make assumptions right?

    You make an ASS out of U and MPTIONS, no body wants that now do they
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