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Short Tail .CO or Long Tail .COM ???

by mwright
18 replies
Would you prefer a short tail .co domain, or a long tail .com domain?

For instance, if you could choose "bowlingball.co" or "redbowlingball.com", which would you choose?

"bowling ball" would probably get more searches, but "red bowling ball" would be more targetted.

.co would probably rank lower than .com.

How would you decide?
#long #long tail #short #short tail #tail
  • Profile picture of the author 100KAffiliateManager
    Forget about 'redbowlingball', there's not much advantage, if any, with an EMD now but as far as perceived value and authority go, a .com extension far outweighs a .co extension

    Just think about it, if you were searching for something and saw a domain 'redbowlingballs.co' and another domain called 'bowlingballs.com' which one would you be more likely to click on.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sillysoft
      Originally Posted by 100KAffiliateManager View Post

      Forget about 'redbowlingball', there's not much advantage, if any, with an EMD now but as far as perceived value and authority go, a .com extension far outweighs a .co extension

      Just think about it, if you were searching for something and saw a domain 'redbowlingballs.co' and another domain called 'bowlingballs.com' which one would you be more likely to click on.
      There is still plenty of value with EMD, as long as its quality content. I dont know why everyone is saying EMD's are bad now. The update was for EMD's with crappy/spammy content.
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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Sillysoft View Post

        There is still plenty of value with EMD, as long as its quality content. I dont know why everyone is saying EMD's are bad now. The update was for EMD's with crappy/spammy content.
        Because they no longer have an advantage like they used to, so there's no point in limiting yourself to EMDs. Build a site with good content and the domain doesn't make any difference at all.
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        • Profile picture of the author LillySage
          Why not try both and see which one pulls more? You can do that for pennies...not like domain names are expensive to register...don't guess, let the world tell you!
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        • Profile picture of the author mwright
          Originally Posted by Sillysoft View Post

          There is still plenty of value with EMD, as long as its quality content. I dont know why everyone is saying EMD's are bad now. The update was for EMD's with crappy/spammy content.
          Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

          Because they no longer have an advantage like they used to, so there's no point in limiting yourself to EMDs. Build a site with good content and the domain doesn't make any difference at all.
          I think you're both right on this one. I've seen bloggers do well with crappy domain names but good keyword-rich titles and posts.
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    • Profile picture of the author mwright
      Originally Posted by 100KAffiliateManager View Post

      Forget about 'redbowlingball', there's not much advantage, if any, with an EMD now but as far as perceived value and authority go, a .com extension far outweighs a .co extension

      Just think about it, if you were searching for something and saw a domain 'redbowlingballs.co' and another domain called 'bowlingballs.com' which one would you be more likely to click on.
      The example is actually "bowlingball.co" vs "redbowlingball.com", but you did make the light go on!

      You will probably get more traffic with the .com domain even though there may be more searches the .co domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      Originally Posted by 100KAffiliateManager View Post

      ..... as far as perceived value and authority go, a .com extension far outweighs a .co extension

      Just think about it, if you were searching for something and saw a domain 'redbowlingballs.co' and another domain called 'bowlingballs.com' which one would you be more likely to click on.
      The ONLY people who "perceive" more value in a .com domain are internet marketers. The buying public neither know nor care what the difference is.

      I have had 100s of students and clients over the years - I have watched many of them use search engines. Not one of them has ever paid any attention to the domain extension. Most don't even notice the domain name. They read the description and click on the heading link.
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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by rosetrees View Post

        The ONLY people who "perceive" more value in a .com domain are internet marketers. The buying public neither know nor care what the difference is.

        I have had 100s of students and clients over the years - I have watched many of them use search engines. Not one of them has ever paid any attention to the domain extension. Most don't even notice the domain name. They read the description and click on the heading link.
        ^^^^^^^^^^
        Exactly this. The non marketer just clicks a link and could care less or even notice the domain name extension
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        • Profile picture of the author mwright
          Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

          ^^^^^^^^^^
          Exactly this. The non marketer just clicks a link and could care less or even notice the domain name extension
          My main concern is if Google cares.

          If .co extensions always end up on the 7th page of a google search then I just won't think about them even if I can get bowling.co... which... I cannot. *sniffle* *sniffle*
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          • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
            Banned
            Originally Posted by mwright View Post

            My main concern is if Google cares.
            That's easily answered.

            It doesn't.

            Google has stated clearly, openly and repeatedly that ".co" domains are exactly the same as any top-level international domain for all SEO/ranking purposes. This actually applies to three formerly geotargeted domains now in widespread international use: ".co" (formerly geotargeted for Colombia), ".me" (formerly geotargeted for Montenegro) and ".tv" (formerly geotargeted for Tuvalu). There's no big mystery about this at all.

            Sure, there are people who don't acknowledge it, and will try to "argue" with it, even now, and some of them will even allege that Google's deliberately and repeatedly lying about it for for some reason impossible to imagine (well, it sounds weird but that's the only way they can justify their own bizarre perspective, isn't it?!), but that's just a question (like so much else in internet marketing) of deciding by whom one wants to be guided.

            Apparently I ran out of "thanks" for the day, but Carol and Suzanne (posts #11/12 above) are of course both totally correct, too.

            (By the way, call me pedantic but there's no such thing - in this context - as a "short tail": only a long tail and a "more popular"/"mainstream"/"top-20%").

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            • Profile picture of the author mwright
              Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

              That's easily answered.

              It doesn't.

              Google has stated clearly, openly and repeatedly that ".co" domains are exactly the same as any top-level international domain for all SEO/ranking purposes. This actually applies to three formerly geotargeted domains now in widespread international use: ".co" (formerly geotargeted for Colombia), ".me" (formerly geotargeted for Montenegro) and ".tv" (formerly geotargeted for Tuvalu). There's no big mystery about this at all.

              Sure, there are people who don't acknowledge it, and will try to "argue" with it, even now, and some of them will even allege that Google's deliberately and repeatedly lying about it (well, it sounds weird but that's the only way they can justify their own bizarre perspective, isn't it?!), but that's just a question (like so much else in internet marketing) of deciding by whom one wants to be guided.

              Apparently I ran out of "thanks" for the day, but Carol and Suzanne (posts #11/12 above) are of course both totally correct, too.

              (By the way, call me pedantic but there's no such thing - in this context - as a "short tail": only a long tail and a "more popular"/"mainstream"/"top-20%").
              Thank you, Alexa.

              I always respect your pedantry, as well as your wordsmithery and skepchickery - in any context.
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              • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
                Banned
                Originally Posted by mwright View Post

                I always respect your pedantry, as well as your wordsmithery and skepchickery - in any context.
                LOL, you're very kind, thank you. I'm only sorry to have run out of "thanks" for the day, apparently. :rolleyes:
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      • Profile picture of the author 100KAffiliateManager
        Originally Posted by rosetrees View Post

        The ONLY people who "perceive" more value in a .com domain are internet marketers. The buying public neither know nor care what the difference is.

        I have had 100s of students and clients over the years - I have watched many of them use search engines. Not one of them has ever paid any attention to the domain extension. Most don't even notice the domain name. They read the description and click on the heading link.
        We'll just agree to disagree
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  • Profile picture of the author Leo M
    This ^^^
    people generally go towards a .com or easier to remember
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  • Profile picture of the author thedanbrown
    Ya i would try and go with a .com or .net site just for perceived authority, in terms of SEO value though both your examples hold the same weight with Google. Keyword in the domain has much less SEO value now than in the past though
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Schuman
    I think domain name companies thought the .co version at a higher price would make them more money, but I have not seen them really catch on. I have never bought a .co and prefer .com, .net, or .org.

    You can always play around with the words a little and still get a .com domain name for just about anything and have it still rank high with good content and backlinks like everyone has been saying.
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  • Profile picture of the author PerformanceMan
    Domain names are incredibly irrelevant to eventual success.
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  • Profile picture of the author smadronia
    Originally Posted by mwright View Post

    Would you prefer a short tail .co domain, or a long tail .com domain?
    For the most part, when I search information on the internet, I don't pay much attention to the domain name unless it looks really suspicious. But, if I feel I'll need the information again, or it's interesting to me, I'll make note of the domain name.

    Despite being used to domains coming in all flavors, I will still add .com to the end of many domains, even if I know they're not .com domains. TV Tropes is a common mistake I make, and I do it almost every time.

    Sometimes I screw up, and enter whateverthedomainc.om, but I've never screwed that up, that I know of, and entered whateverthedomain.co instead.

    People are trained to look for .coms more than anything else, so I'd go with a dotcom. Of course, if the domain you're looking for is hugely long, I'd look at a way to choose another one. redbowlingball.com isn't all that long, but superhotcheapredbowlingball.com is too long.
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