.info if .com if not available

51 replies
Hi folks,

I've been doing some research, furthermore I have chosen what keywords I wish to rank for. To get an exact domain, I would need to purchase a .info or .us domain as the other, more common, extensions were not available. Fellow warriors, would you recommend not having an exact match domain (and getting a .com) or using an extension such as .us or .info?
#info
  • Profile picture of the author solado
    .com over .info any day, the .com holds ALOT more weight than a .info.
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  • Profile picture of the author howimakemony
    Exact match + .com /.net /.org is the best route to go.
    As for .info domains you will find it much harder to work with .info domain and rank it high with a niche that is medium to more competive.

    Personally i would go with .com/.net/.org domain over anything else for a website that i plan on building long term.

    If you need something short term then go for .info its cheaper and will do the work.
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    • Profile picture of the author ErikNilsson
      Originally Posted by howimakemony View Post

      Exact match + .com /.net /.org is the best route to go.
      As for .info domains you will find it much harder to work with .info domain and rank it high with a niche that is medium to more competive.
      It's True .info need hard work to rank well.
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      • Profile picture of the author Lucas Becker
        Originally Posted by ErikNilsson View Post

        It's True .info need hard work to rank well.
        This hasn't been my experience, I have ranked with .info domain with pretty much the same effort as .com domains.
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        • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
          For me If it's a company I'm starting like a new ultra high fiber breakfast cereal and the name of the cereal is Colon Blow then I want the .com because it's my brand.

          And ColonBlow.Info might just be way to much info for most folks.

          Butt seriously, I have ranked .info just as well as .com in low to medium comp environments.

          Now, maybe it's just my imagination but a few years ago I would have sworn that .coms .nets and .orgs ranked better than any others in competitive KW's. However now I am finding .info does just as well.


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    • Profile picture of the author Cru
      Originally Posted by howimakemony View Post

      Exact match + .com /.net /.org is the best route to go.
      As for .info domains you will find it much harder to work with .info domain and rank it high with a niche that is medium to more competive.

      Personally i would go with .com/.net/.org domain over anything else for a website that i plan on building long term.

      If you need something short term then go for .info its cheaper and will do the work.
      From my own experience it takes just as much time to rank a .info as it does a .com in terms of an EMD. I think you're giving out bad advice here.

      Now, if you ever want to sell the domain, you're always going to get a higher price for the .com than you will for the .info
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  • Profile picture of the author Val Wilson
    In my experience .info is just as easy to rank as .com, so I would be happy to go for the exact match .info domain. As already said, if you are planning to sell, then .com will be more valuable. If you want to go this route, just go for keywordx.com, keywordreview.com - whatever suits your keyword. This will not affect ranking difficulty either.
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    • Profile picture of the author paul_1
      Originally Posted by Val Wilson View Post

      In my experience .info is just as easy to rank as .com, so I would be happy to go for the exact match .info domain. As already said, if you are planning to sell, then .com will be more valuable. If you want to go this route, just go for keywordx.com, keywordreview.com - whatever suits your keyword. This will not affect ranking difficulty either.
      I totally agree with you! But no matter how you look at it - .com is still favorable in a way so, I would suggest going for the .com - you'll not regret it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
    I have a lot of .info and .us domains and they do okay. I'd rather have goodname.us than this-name-sucks-but-the-rest-are-all-taken.com.
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  • Profile picture of the author Guru_Marketing
    Originally Posted by TheDuckDev View Post

    Hi folks,

    I've been doing some research, furthermore I have chosen what keywords I wish to rank for. To get an exact domain, I would need to purchase a .info or .us domain as the other, more common, extensions were not available. Fellow warriors, would you recommend not having an exact match domain (and getting a .com) or using an extension such as .us or .info?
    Well, if you are planning to use your website for a COMMERCE -> .com is recommended. If you are not planning to do business or make any money (just to brand yourself for example) .info is fine.
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  • Profile picture of the author richrowley
    I often add in an extra letter or word and my SEO rankings are fine. Why not try something like ExactMatchDomainX.com, ExactMatchDomainPro.com or ExactMatchDomainBlog.com

    You get the idea....and I've seen quite a few people do this...just try to add something in thats relevant to your niche
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    • Profile picture of the author MiFortuna
      I find .info domains to be exactly the same to rank as .com or .org. I always choose a .com if available and if not then I prefer the .info. It is usually the cheapest of the three and makes no difference in comparison to the .org.
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  • Profile picture of the author mmfromh
    From my experience the domain name extension doesn't make a difference as for as ranking in search engines. It just depends on what you plan on doing with the domain. For example, if I was selling an expensive product I would get a .com, but if I was blogging about the history of sports or something like that I would go with a .com or maybe a .info if I found a good one.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hostpany
    Base off of my experience, I can rank with these domain extensions

    .Com
    .Org
    .Co
    .Net
    .Us
    .Biz
    .Tv
    .Info

    I've tried .me, but no luck there. For some reason its very hard for me to rank with that domain extension.

    I'm going to test .xxx next.

    I've just look over my .info domain names I've purchase a few month back and its ranking in first place for their keywords. I only added about 5 pages with an article on each page.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Stick with .com and don't settle for the other extensions. This is a commercial venture, correct? Plus, if you ever go to sell your domain you will be glad it is a dot com.

      I agree with Rich (post#10) that the thing to do is just add a letter or even a short word at the end of your keyword phrase.

      Try some of these, for example:

      ace, age, alert, answers, bank, bonus, cafe, center, central, club, coach, complete, course, critic, daily, deal, deluxe, depot, digital, dream, edition, exchange, expert, express, extra, extreme, ez, fan, fast, fun, gold, guide, help, hints, hit, HQ, idea, index, info, insider, issues, keys, life, line, list, live, logs, manager, market, master, mill, net, news, niche, oasis, online, only, outfit, owner, pack, pick, place, player, point, portal, post, power, press, preview, pro, profit, program, reader, record, report, review, ring, sales, savings, secret, shop, show, site, solution, source, space, special, spot, star, store, studio, success, supply, system, team, time, tip, tool, tour, town, update, usa, value, view, way, web, wire, works, world, zone

      I have a list of thousands more but these are some of the best. Sure, they are not all appropriate, but you should be able to find some that are that you can register.

      Good luck, Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Take the .info. I don't buy the .us extensions so have not tried to rank them, but have had great success with any .info I buy.
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    • Profile picture of the author Matthew Shane Roe
      Originally Posted by solado View Post

      .com over .info any day, the .com holds ALOT more weight than a .info.

      Originally Posted by ErikNilsson View Post

      It's True .info need hard work to rank well.
      Any proof???


      Originally Posted by ColinT View Post

      It used to be that .com was a must have but lately I`ve read and heard that it isn`t nearly as important as it once was. I personally think that the exact match domain is the most important part.
      Exactly

      To the OP,

      A .info domain is no harder to rank than a .com/.net/.org. If you have a .info EMD available. Then take it!
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  • Profile picture of the author marcuslim
    If you care about getting your site ranked, then .com is the way to go. But if you are simply going to send paid traffic to the site, it really makes no difference whether you use .info or .com.
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  • Profile picture of the author WiFi
    Yes .com is ideal for getting your site ranked. Have you considered adding an additional word or letter?
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    WiFi
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    • Profile picture of the author Kal Sallam
      Originally Posted by WiFi View Post

      Yes .com is ideal for getting your site ranked. Have you considered adding an additional word or letter?
      Many have said they have had a pretty good experience

      With a .info domain...so why would a .com be the deal to

      Rank?
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  • Profile picture of the author Oswald Luis
    if .com its not available try to make this your-domain-name.com or your-domain-name-x.com or yourdomainnamexy or something like that.It always works
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  • Profile picture of the author yoangov
    Check Godaddy auctions for good .com domain

    I don't recommend .info.

    Try avoiding it at any cost.

    Cheers,
    Yoangov
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    • Profile picture of the author Kal Sallam
      Originally Posted by yoangov View Post

      Check Godaddy auctions for good .com domain

      I don't recommend .info.

      Try avoiding it at any cost.

      Cheers,
      Yoangov
      Lol..

      And that's based on your previous experience OFFCOURSE
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    .com is the obvious preference if it's available, however, I have had .info sites that have ranked well, it depends on how much work you put into the site. There are many factors that will determine how well it ranks and the extension isn't the only factor, you can do very well with a .info domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author JanusNg
    .com is always preferred. If your choice of .com domain is not available, change the name, it doesn't have to be the exact keyword match. Many high ranking sites do not have keywords in the domain. What matters is the content of your site. My thinking is, don't get carried away by the trivial things. Focus on the essentials, such as creating quality content, an effective business model, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
    We seem to be all over the map here!

    Does ANYONE actually have any proof that in terms of ranking on Google .info carries less weight than .com (or other TLD's)? And if so, what do you base that proof upon?

    - Did you build exact replicas of two sites, one with .com and one with .info, and then compare their rankings after putting identical SEO efforts into them?

    - Is there an actual document or page from Google that states that they value .info less than .com?

    Or did you just buy a few .info domains because they cost 49 cents each, throw junk sites onto them and then complain that the reason they didn't rank was the .info TLD?

    Yes I know the common school of thought is that .com is king, and for a web property you intend to sell I can perhaps see the perceived value. And I fully admit that the bulk of the domains I have purchased are indeed .com's.

    But again, does ANYONE here have any actual verifiable proof that, given the same set of circumstances, .com will outrank .info?

    If so please enlighten me, because I'm considering a project that will require the purchase of over 100 domain names. Choosing .info over .com in this case would amount to over 900 dollars in savings (until of course the renewals come up). So I'd really be interested to know if the .info stigma is valid or if it's just superstition?

    Thanks

    Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author Paperchasing
    Lets see:

    People who say .info is fine cite their own direct personal experience with ranking .info domains.

    People who say .info is harder to rank cite...nothing.

    I wonder who to believe...
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      Originally Posted by Paperchasing View Post

      Lets see:

      People who say .info is fine cite their own direct personal experience with ranking .info domains.

      People who say .info is harder to rank cite...nothing.

      I wonder who to believe...
      Thank you. I was just scrolling down the thread to write the exact same thing.

      You summed it up much more concisely and eloquently than I was going to.

      I'll just add that my most successful site is a .info one.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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      Originally Posted by Paperchasing View Post

      Lets see:

      People who say .info is fine cite their own direct personal experience with ranking .info domains.

      People who say .info is harder to rank cite...nothing.

      I wonder who to believe...
      Believe experience. The others are just parroting urban myth. Alexa hasn't chimed in there, but I'd estimate the value of her .info domains in the thousands per month in income.
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  • Profile picture of the author GaryBurke
    Rankings are done by the exact match domain name not the extension
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  • Profile picture of the author Ricky Dawn
    With good SEO there is no difference I have had lots of sites rank with a .info extension.

    Ricky
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Wilson
    If you're trying to get some brand into your site start by choosing a .com domain.

    If you're choosing it solely for the SEO purposes, again, .com if available. I have good experience with .US domains also.
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    • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
      Originally Posted by marcuslim View Post

      If you care about getting your site ranked, then .com is the way to go.
      Originally Posted by WiFi View Post

      Yes .com is ideal for getting your site ranked
      So please explain - how does the domains TLD affect the way it "ranks"? Any actual proof?

      Originally Posted by yoangov View Post

      I don't recommend .info.

      Try avoiding it at any cost.
      Could you explain exactly why we should avoid it "at any cost"?

      Originally Posted by deehkt View Post

      Yepp. Thats what i was told. Always try to go for a dot com.
      OK, you were "told" that, but who told it to you? Was it someone with authority, someone with proof or just someone who sounded like he/she knew what they were talking about?

      When I was young I was told that you shouldn't go swimming until an hour after you eat. Turns out that's just an old wives tale with no medical evidence to support it. And 600 years ago people were "told" that the world was flat. I believe Ferdinand Magellan and several people at NASA could prove them wrong!

      Originally Posted by rosetrees View Post

      my most successful site is a .info one.
      Originally Posted by Ricky Dawn View Post

      With good SEO there is no difference I have had lots of sites rank with a .info extension.
      These comments sound like they are based upon actual experiences, as opposed to hearsay. So why do marcuslim, WiFi and yoangov claim otherwise?

      Again, is there ANYONE with actual PROOF that the .info TLD should be avoided "at any cost"?

      It's a serious question, as I mentioned it is personally important to me because of an upcoming project. So far on this thread (and other threads like it, this topic is a popular one here) I have yet to see anyone offer any concrete evidence to support the bias against .info.

      Please enlighten me!

      Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author elvisA
    i think the only way OP to find out is by buying both .com and . info domain and run your own SEO test on them.

    elvis
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  • Profile picture of the author ezmystic
    .net is better than a .info, but .com is always best. depends also on if you are promoting and web address and want people to remember it or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    * You can definitely get a .com to rank
    * You can definitely get a .info to rank

    What type of site are you building on it?

    If it's a branding/authority site then 1000% get a .com and stay away from the .info
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Meaney
    If a .info is good enough for Chomsky...
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  • Profile picture of the author nicheblogger75
    I alwasy shoot for the ."net" extension of the ".com" isn't available. However, sometimes they want a lot of money for them even if they are available. I often do keyword searches and try to get exact domains, and another little "trick" is to use dashes in between the keywords. You'd be surprised at how many of those domains are available in the ".com" extension.

    I find that with a little work, however, the ".info" domains can be made to rank almost as well as ".net" or ".org". Plus, they're cheap!
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  • - I cannot comment on whether Google weights .com and .info any differently. I just don't have enough first-hand evidence for either case.

    - However, if you value other non-SEO aspects such as visitor "memory" and branding, it's got to be a .com, period. Even if you have to settle for second-rate keywords in your domain name.
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  • Profile picture of the author david carr
    A domain is a domain, its just as easy to rank an .info as any other domain. The only thing to consider is country targeting.

    Regards
    Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author sandebdavid
    Well i would advise you what an expert advised me, .com is still the best to work with, may be with time others (.ing, .co, .net .etc) will match it..
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    • Profile picture of the author ShaneGorry
      Originally Posted by sandebdavid View Post

      Well i would advise you what an expert advised me, .com is still the best to work with, may be with time others (.ing, .co, .net .etc) will match it..
      .etc That would be a really interesting TLD.
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  • Profile picture of the author ShaneGorry
    I agree with those that have said just add a simple word to your exact keyword match. It's amazing how easy it is to find a good domain like this. In fact sometimes it will make the keyword phase flow better then the keyword phase alone, for example buyfatcows.com buyfatcowshere.com.

    Another example is the dot com for "dog trainer". I entered it into the address bar and as you would expect it is taken. But some one else has come along and simple added "the" as in "the dog trainer dot com". The thing is "the dog trainer dot com" is an actual website where as "dog trainer dot com" is just a domain name that someone is trying to flip. In other words "dog trainer dot com" is most likely not even competing with them in ranking for the keyword phase. This may not be the case for the OP but the fact remains that there is often much potential other then the exact keyword phase match.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nino
    95% of my domains are .com even if i sneak 1 relevant word in it. I'm not going to change that habit soon.
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  • Profile picture of the author IDN101
    For a serious site I would only consider the .com

    It may only be a perception, but it can set the whole 'tone' of your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author YellowGreenMedia
    .info ranks just as good as a .com, i have multiple sites with .info's that are a view months old outranking aged PR .com domains..,. people that say that .info ranks harder then .com have no clue about SEO... sorry but that is the truth... its a myth that .info is worst than a .com... The only reason i can think of to select a .com is when you wanna flip the site, but even then, if your site has traffic and is making sales you can sell it on any TLD
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  • Profile picture of the author seogameviet
    I think: .net >.biz> .org > .info
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