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Is there anything wrong on buying .info domains?

by ninomc
70 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hello,
Do you find a big disadvantage from the SEO point of view (and Google I guess) when you run blogs using .info domains?

Any Suggestions?
#buying #domains #info #wrong
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    From the SEO perspective, no: domain extensions don't affect SEO in any way.

    For flipping, now, that's another matter.

    And there's the question of whether you might at some point lose traffic to the owner of .com, too.

    But SEO - absolutely not.
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    • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      From the SEO perspective, no: domain extensions don't affect SEO in any way.

      For flipping, now, that's another matter.

      And there's the question of whether you might at some point lose traffic to the owner of .com, too.

      But SEO - absolutely not.
      Ack, do you know how many times I preview a post that's taken me ages to write, only to discover you've beaten me to it?

      Curse these arthritis-riddled fingers (I need some excuse). :rolleyes:

      OP: ^^ What she said. :p
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      • Profile picture of the author Rikki_Fawkes
        Originally Posted by DireStraits View Post

        Ack, do you know how many times I preview a post that's taken me ages to write, only to discover you've beaten me to it?

        Curse these arthritis-riddled fingers (I need some excuse). :rolleyes:

        OP: ^^ What she said. :p
        I feel your pain. Nearly every time I try to be the first to respond, I collect my thoughts in three great paragraphs and find someone else has beaten me to it in five.
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    • Profile picture of the author bay37
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      From the SEO perspective, no: domain extensions don't affect SEO in any way.
      That's a pretty bold statement. From my experience domain extensions do affect SEO - regional domain extensions and such.

      As for .infos...

      I'm not disagreeing or anything, and I'm sure this has been discussed before, but could you guys point me to some solid testing data that proves/disproves the whole .info thing?

      Thanks!
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      • Profile picture of the author Rikki_Fawkes
        Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

        That's a pretty bold statement. From my experience domain extensions do affect SEO - regional domain extensions and such.

        As for .infos...

        I'm not disagreeing or anything, and I'm sure this has been discussed before, but could you guys point me to some solid testing data that proves/disproves the whole .info thing?

        Thanks!
        I don't find it to be as attractive for readers as .com or .org domains - that much I've experienced myself.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

        That's a pretty bold statement.
        It doesn't feel like a bold statement to me.

        I'll tell you why: Google's Matt Cutts says this openly and repeatedly. He says it on his blog and on Google's blog. He says it in writing and on video. And he invites people to quote him on it. And I do.
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        • Profile picture of the author Rikki_Fawkes
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          It doesn't feel like a bold statement to me.

          I'll tell you why: Google's Matt Cutts says this openly and repeatedly. He says it on his blog and on Google's blog. He says it in writing and on video. And he invites people to quote him on it. And I do.
          Well, that's something I didn't know - but it's good to know, going forward. Thanks for sharing that. I don't think I'll be buying any new domains soon, but if I do, at least I can chalk that off as one that won't hurt my SEO.
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          • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
            Banned
            I use loads of .info domain-names. I think they look better, for "informative" sites.

            I don't want anyone else to own the .com, though, so I often buy those too and just redirect them to the .info I'm using, and then do the SEO for the .info.

            Confusion typically arises because people see that fewer .info domain-names (for example) rank at the top of Google than .com domains, and they mistakenly imagine that this is evidence that .info domains don't rank so well.

            What it's actually evidence of is that many marketers wrongly believe that .info domains don't rank so well, so they often don't use them when they want to rank well. Therefore there are fewer of them ranking well.
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        • Profile picture of the author bay37
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          It doesn't feel like a bold statement to me.

          I'll tell you why: Google's Matt Cutts says this openly and repeatedly. He says it on his blog and on Google's blog. He says it in writing and on video. And he invites people to quote him on it. And I do.
          Fair enough.
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      • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
        Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

        I'm not disagreeing or anything, and I'm sure this has been discussed before, but could you guys point me to some solid testing data that proves/disproves the whole .info thing?
        Have you tried using the search function of this forum? This is a "Groundhog Day" topic.

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  • Profile picture of the author webapex
    Some say the extension has no effect on search ranking, on the other hand a higher percentage have been deindexed due to them being used in a lot of fly by night, underhanded operations. One would guess the bad rep could have an effect.

    The bigger effect of this bad reputation is probably on the resale value of a site into which you may invest 100s of hour of labor.
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  • Profile picture of the author mandark
    Other posters are correct that .info sites will absolutely not affect your SEO ranking.

    However, a .info site often carries a negative connotation of being low-quality. This is obviously not always the case, but if I search for something on Google and have a choice between a .com and a .info, I will almost always choose the .com. Many other searchers have similar opinions. Just something to think about
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  • Profile picture of the author edge83
    Nothing to worry about- there actually is a (small) difference from google's perspective because of the fact that it is one extra character- I don't remember the exact details on that but i'm sure you can find that info if you are curious, but it shouldn't deter you. If the .info is for the keyword you want and you build things the correct way you will be fine.
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  • Profile picture of the author Antonios
    One of the problems with an extension other than .com is that people include the .com even if the site is .info or another extension.

    I had an .info site and since what I was offering people did really wanted it and I had included a phone number in the ad, many people called me informing me that they could not access the site.

    Up on verification, many were using .com instead of .info

    This makes it double negative if that domain is available with .com and you don't acquire it. If your .info domain becomes profitable, the .com could be bought by a competitor.

    Another extension to secure is .org if the domain or one similar is available.

    .info could be friendly for users looking for educational info.rmation.

    Sincerely,

    Antonios
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    • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
      Originally Posted by Antonios View Post

      One of the problems with an extension other than .com is that people include the .com even if the site is .info or another extension.

      I had an .info site and since what I was offering people did really wanted it and I had included a phone number in the ad, many people called me informing me that they could not access the site.

      Up on verification, many were using .com instead of .info

      This makes it double negative if that domain is available with .com and you don't acquire it. If your .info domain becomes profitable, the .com could be bought by a competitor.

      Another extension to secure is .org if the domain or one similar is available.

      .info could be friendly for users looking for educational info.rmation.

      Sincerely,

      Antonios
      Yes; loss of traffic to another TLD (usually the .com) can clearly be a problem if you're advertising your site through a medium which requires that the visitor enters your URL into their address bar manually. But I think it's less of a problem if the origin of most/all of your traffic is search-engines, or from anywhere else where the visitor is simply "clicking through", and doesn't even have to pay attention to your URL at all.
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      • Profile picture of the author bay37
        Originally Posted by Rikki_Fawkes View Post

        I don't find it to be as attractive for readers as .com or .org domains - that much I've experienced myself.
        Agree with you 100%.

        Originally Posted by DireStraits View Post

        Yes; loss of traffic to another TLD (usually the .com) can clearly be a problem if you're advertising your site through a medium which requires that the visitor enters your URL into their address bar manually.
        ...or building a brand.
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        • Profile picture of the author Rikki_Fawkes
          Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

          Agree with you 100%.



          ...or building a brand.
          I've actually had more success using .info's for domain redirects in article sites and using the .com's for branding.
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          • Profile picture of the author bay37
            Originally Posted by Rikki_Fawkes View Post

            I've actually had more success using .info's for domain redirects in article sites and using the .com's for branding.
            That's what I said - using a .info domain for branding could be problematic.
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            • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
              Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

              That's what I said - using a .info domain for branding could be problematic.
              Absolutely.

              When I was a web-host, I perhaps rather stupidly established my site on a .net domain that I really liked, for which the .com domain was already registered.

              Although most of my visitors were referred from online sources (and thus came simply by clicking a link/banner/whatever), I later noticed, as I became more established, that customers recommending me in forums and on their own sites were occasionally using the wrong URL. I shuddered at the thought that if they could get it wrong so easily online (after having visited my site numerous times already), it must also be a problem for those recommending me to others offline (or indeed for those to whom I was being recommended).

              Luckily for me, I re-checked the .com one day, and it'd been bought up by some site offering it for sale, with a pre-agreed price of only about $300. So I snapped it up, and all was well.

              So yes, for branding purposes, or for any site where I planned for my traffic to originate from anywhere but search-engines (and if I expected my visitors to be anything but "one-timers" just passing through), I'd think twice about using a more "obscure" TLD such as a .info.
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          • Profile picture of the author myob
            I use .info domains almost exclusively for many of my little niches. The .info domains certainly do have a place in marketing, with its disadvantages noted. In developing niche markets, for example as in product review sites/blogs, it brings a huge advantage in finding tightly targeted labels unavailable in .com TLDs.
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          • Profile picture of the author jwardz
            Originally Posted by Rikki_Fawkes View Post

            I've actually had more success using .info's for domain redirects in article sites and using the .com's for branding.
            That is really good to know. I have heard both sides. This is why. It looks like it depends on the application. Thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author smartdoctor
      Originally Posted by Antonios View Post

      Up on verification, many were using .com instead of .info
      Antonios
      most people do not know there is a difference so stick to .com it is easier that way
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  • Profile picture of the author ninomc
    Thank you for all the great advice..Also where can I find more information about this topic?
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  • Profile picture of the author dexterfulton
    The only problem with .info is the perceived value the visitor associates with the extension. With proper link building .info can out rank a .com domain, however everything being equal, and both domains in the top 2 spots, the .com would definitely get more clicks.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author bay37
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        If you're marketing to internet marketers, perhaps, yes.

        I'm not in that niche, and my customers don't know the difference, or they think .info looks better for an information site.
        I have actually carried out a large survey for this, and a very substantial number of people chose:

        1. Given a choice they always go for .co.uk/com/net/org (most of the participants came from the UK).

        2. They associate .info with low value (poor content) websites.

        3. Some associate .info websites with "spam".

        This was a rather large survey, over 1400 responses, eight months ago... Participants were mostly University students/lecturers.
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        • Profile picture of the author myob
          Apparently none of my customers from any of my .info sites heard anything about any silly "survey". ROFLMAO!
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          • Profile picture of the author bay37
            Originally Posted by myob View Post

            Apparently none of my customers from any of my .info sites heard anything about those surveys.
            No offense meant to anyone - no need to get defensive so quickly.

            This was done as part of a large group project at Uni... I like data.

            Pointless discussion. I'm off to bed.
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            • Profile picture of the author myob
              Originally Posted by bay37 View Post


              Originally Posted by myob View Post

              Apparently none of my customers from any of my .info sites heard anything about those surveys.
              No offense meant to anyone - no need to get defensive so quickly.

              This was done as part of a large group project at Uni... I like data.

              Pointless discussion. I'm off to bed.
              Do you like data so much to change it? How can you sleep at night? You went and changed my direct quote, and now it's missing some key data. This is what I wrote:
              Originally Posted by myob View Post

              Apparently none of my customers from any of my .info sites heard anything about any silly "survey". ROFLMAO!

              I love data! But, I also understand how to use it. You cited only ONE limited survey of 1400 responses.
              So, comeon, you gotta laugh at how silly this looks!
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              • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
                Originally Posted by myob View Post

                Do you like data so much to change it? How can you sleep at night? You went and changed my direct quote, and now it's missing some key data. This is what I wrote:


                I love data! But, I also understand how to use it. You cited only ONE limited survey of 1400 responses.
                So, comeon, you gotta laugh at how silly this looks!
                While I don't agree with him as far as the .info debate goes, you edited your post after he replied.

                So he didn't change anything, he was replying to the post you had originally made.

                Either you forgot you edited your post, or are deliberately trying to make him look bad.

                Regardless of which one it is, I think you should retract what you are claiming.
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                • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
                  I have never found any issue with ranking any of the extensions I have used. I have not used any dot biz or dot us, but as far as the other 4, I have never run into an issue using any of them.

                  Except maybe the odd site or two that won't let you enter in a domain name with 4 characters in the extension, but that is about it.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

          Participants were mostly University students/lecturers.
          Then take notice of it, if you're marketing primarily to university students and lecturers in the UK.
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  • Profile picture of the author myob
    bay37,

    I apologize for upsetting you, and I noticed you deleted your angry post. Yes, I was just jacking you around, but it was only meant in fun. Although your premise may indeed be valid for some instances, the dogmatic conclusion using such loosely supporting data just seems silly to have been taken so seriously. The marketing data for using .info or other domains can also be supported for targeting specific niche markets. The conclusion: test it yourself. Your mileage may vary.
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    • Profile picture of the author bay37
      Originally Posted by myob View Post

      bay37,

      I apologize for upsetting you, and I noticed you deleted your angry post. Yes, I was just jacking you around, but it was only meant in fun.
      No worries! I can normally see it coming. Was just a little tired last night.

      I have a memo on my desktop bg that goes "never get involved in ANY argument on WaFo", but here I am again... Should have known better.

      P.S. I didn't delete anything, one of the mods nuked it. Good stuff.
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      • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
        Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

        No worries! I can normally see it coming. Was just a little tired last night.

        I have a memo on my desktop bg that goes "never get involved in ANY argument on WaFo", but here I am again... Should have known better.

        P.S. I didn't delete anything, one of the mods nuked it. Good stuff.


        I have a different (but similar) memo that says "WARNING: dealing with people nearly always results in arguments!".

        And that's one of the reasons I've never been too active on any forums over a sustained period of time, and possibly why I'm bordering on being an anti-social, mountain-dwelling recluse.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendon Zahrndt
    Please listen to Alexa Smith, post #2.

    Brendon
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  • Profile picture of the author jackpot9
    Originally Posted by ninomc View Post

    Hello,
    Do you find a big disadvantage from the SEO point of view (and Google I guess) when you run blogs using .info domains?

    Any Suggestions?
    I've personally found them more difficult to rank compared to the 3 favourites and would never buy them. There are of course people from opposite camps.

    Guess it's an acquired taste and you have to try for yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Originally Posted by ninomc View Post

    Hello,
    Do you find a big disadvantage from the SEO point of view (and Google I guess) when you run blogs using .info domains?

    Any Suggestions?
    This has been asked literally a thousand times here, and the short answer is NO! The TLD does not make any difference whatsoever from an SEO standpoint, and will not negatively impact your rankings. Period.

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author loristm
    I personally don't like .info domains. It may not affect the SEO but visitors like .com and .org URLs
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by loristm View Post

      It may not affect the SEO but visitors like .com and .org URLs
      Have you actually asked them, or is that really what you prefer, yourself, and assume that others will, too?

      I have asked mine, and the majority of those expressing a preference at all actually prefer .info names for "information sites". Yours, of course, may be different.
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      • Profile picture of the author bay37
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I have asked mine, and the majority of those expressing a preference at all actually prefer .info names for "information sites".
        Do you mind sharing some more details about your target audience?
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

          Do you mind sharing some more details about your target audience?
          With apologies, very few successful niche marketers here, in non-IM-advice niches, are willing to disclose their niches, for obvious reasons.

          I'm involved in 8 different niches, excluding "IM advice". In other words, (with one minor exception for which I have no proper site and am not even building a list) I'm not selling products aimed at internet marketers, the one group some of whom I imagine may prefer to see .com domains to .info ones, though I have no direct evidence of that.
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          • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
            So you find out that travel .com is taken but travel .info is available

            You do some research and find out that the .com is not on the first 20 pages of Google for major related keywords, and has only 50 backlinks.

            Would you buy the .info?


            Martin


            BTW, travel.com.au - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Holiday Packages, Cruises, Tours - one destination. endless possibilities. ranks higher than TRAVEL.com*® - Worldwide Travel Reservations for the keyword "travel". This means that you should never buy a .com because the .com.au, is obviously better.
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            • Profile picture of the author paulie888
              Originally Posted by Martin Luxton View Post

              So you find out that travel .com is taken but travel .info is available

              You do some research and find out that the .com is not on the first 20 pages of Google for major related keywords, and has only 50 backlinks.

              Would you buy the .info?


              Martin


              BTW, travel.com.au - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Holiday Packages, Cruises, Tours - one destination. endless possibilities. ranks higher than TRAVEL.com*® - Worldwide Travel Reservations for the keyword "travel". This means that you should never buy a .com because the .com.au, is obviously better.
              In this case, you'd have to look at the competition on page 1 of Google and not the .com, since it isn't even in the top 20 pages.

              With an especially broad term like 'travel', I'd imagine that there is very strong competition for that keyword, especially in the US version of Google. What you'd have to do then is look at how many backlinks the top 10 sites are getting, in addition to the types of backlinks they're using.
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              • Profile picture of the author Devid Farah
                They can work well to keep the costs down if you are just, as an example, needing a website name to use as a landing/squeeze page.

                Low cost and effective.

                Also they are far more often available than corresponding TLD’s.
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              • Profile picture of the author Gunedat
                You should be ok with .info. I have a few sites with .info that are sitting pretty on the top of Google page 1.

                However, .info domains does have a little bit of disadvantage, in terms of SEO. The major 3 TLD's are easier to rank. To combat this, I only use .info if I get exact match domains to it, and the competition is not too stiff.
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                • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
                  *Give me strength.*

                  Originally Posted by Gunedat View Post

                  However, .info domains does have a little bit of disadvantage, in terms of SEO. The major 3 TLD's are easier to rank.
                  Why do you say this? Can you prove it? Where is your evidence? Please show us it.

                  Google themselves openly state that there is no difference in the way they treat different TLDs for ranking purposes.

                  What would they gain from stating this if it weren't true?

                  A smarter question would be: what would they lose from stating this if it weren't true?

                  The answer: a lot of potentially high-quality, useful, relevant and informative websites ranking highly in their SERPs and helping their business - all because they'd stupidly encouraged quality site owners to base their sites on "inferior TLDs", which stacked the odds against them from the start.

                  Google wants to rank good, relevant websites; they can't afford to be misleading people in any way that would inhibit them from doing this. At least, it'd be wholly illogical for them to do so, wouldn't it?

                  Openly and aggressively lying about their algorithm in this way, and luring site owners into a false sense of security, would only hurt them and the quality and integrity of their search results in the long run.

                  They would not (and do not) do this for the sake of "preventing spam", because that tactic would not work, either. Spammers, armed with the knowledge that .info TLDs are useless, would simply use other TLDs instead. Then what would Google do - penalise every other TLD in the same way?

                  Secondly, how do you profess to have measured this alleged "slight" SEO disadvantage in a way that is meaningful and accurate?
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                • Profile picture of the author thecableguy
                  Originally Posted by Gunedat View Post

                  You should be ok with .info. I have a few sites with .info that are sitting pretty on the top of Google page 1.

                  However, .info domains does have a little bit of disadvantage, in terms of SEO. The major 3 TLD's are easier to rank. To combat this, I only use .info if I get exact match domains to it, and the competition is not too stiff.
                  Have to agree, IMO they are a bit harder to rank, I don't care what Matt Cutts or anyone else says. I'm not saying you can't get it ranked, but it requires more work. Judging from searches of thousands of EMD domain others seem to think that also, lots of times the .info is taken (usually after the .com, and .net). Just curious have those who disagree actually tried to rank an info domain? Or is it hearsay or what Matt Cutts says? I tried dozens of .info domains when EMD domains were kinda magic back in 2006, while some did get ranked it wasn't with the same frequency of .com, .net and .org (I've tried with biz, mobi, us, tv as well but not enough to form a positive opinion). I let dozens of .info domains I registered expire untouched after not getting the com, net or org to get anywhere near the first couple of pages in the SERPS. Like I said IMO. But if price is a factor as mentioned it works out to about 2 cents a day difference for the first year only.
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                  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
                    Originally Posted by thecableguy View Post

                    Have to agree, IMO they are a bit harder to rank, I don't care what Matt Cutts or anyone else says. I'm not saying you can't get it ranked, but it requires more work. Judging from searches of thousands of EMD domain others seem to think that also, lots of times the .info is taken (usually after the .com, and .net). Just curious have those who disagree actually tried to rank an info domain? Or is it hearsay or what Matt Cutts says? I tried dozens of .info domains when EMD domains were kinda magic back in 2006, while some did get ranked it wasn't with the same frequency of .com, .net and .org (I've tried with biz, mobi, us, tv as well but not enough to form a positive opinion). I let dozens of .info domains I registered expire untouched after not getting the com, net or org to get anywhere near the first couple of pages in the SERPS. Like I said IMO. But if price is a factor as mentioned it works out to about 2 cents a day difference for the first year only.
                    Here's a challenge for you. Start a dot com that goes for the niche of pagerank or
                    pagerank checker. Then come back when you have defeated prchecker.info
                    with your dot com. Using the logic here, it should be very, very, very easy with that
                    magical dot com.

                    Paul
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                    • Profile picture of the author thecableguy
                      Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

                      Here's a challenge for you. Start a dot com that goes for the niche of pagerank or
                      pagerank checker. Then come back when you have defeated prchecker.info
                      with your dot com. Using the logic here, it should be very, very, very easy with that
                      magical dot com.

                      Paul
                      Where did I say that it would be very, very easy with a com, net or org to beat ANY site that is ranking? I just said IMO it's more difficult to get an .info site ranked. You're entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine. I'm not saying everybody that says there's no difference just because Matt Cutt's may say so and taking his word for it could be mistaken. But have you ever tried getting the EMD and putting basically the same content on both and seeing if there is a difference? Well it doesn't matter, you don't have to "convince" me of anything, and I'm not trying to convince you of anything, like I said JMO. But you could pick ANY site that's ranking in the SERPs and it doesn't matter what TLD you have it would be tough to beat. Like I said it's not that you can't rank with an .info domain, but IMO it just takes more work. After searching thousands of EMD's apparently I'm not the only one that feels this way. Maybe it does matter maybe it doesn't, but unless you're actually registering it for a specific purpose , for $6 for the first year only given a choice I'd go for the com, net or org every time. Like I said IMO.
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                      • Profile picture of the author paulgl
                        Originally Posted by thecableguy View Post

                        Where did I say that it would be very, very easy with a com, net or org to beat ANY site that is ranking? I just said IMO it's more difficult to get an .info site ranked.
                        That's exactly what you are saying. A dot com is easier to rank than a dot info.
                        So, do it. Beat said dot info with your dot com. Since dot coms are so much easier
                        to rank, as you say, it should be a piece of cake.

                        FYI: Every new site you are creating is competing with established sites that rank.

                        So, all things being equal, a dot info that is #1 should be easier to beat with a dot
                        com. After all, the dot coms have more seo juice, right?

                        Because if you are conceding that there is no juice for a dot com to beat
                        a dot info on just the dot com, then the argument vanishes.

                        Paul
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                        • Profile picture of the author thecableguy
                          Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

                          That's exactly what you are saying. A dot com is easier to rank than a dot info.
                          So, do it. Beat said dot info with your dot com. Since dot coms are so much easier
                          to rank, as you say, it should be a piece of cake.

                          FYI: Every new site you are creating is competing with established sites that rank.

                          So, all things being equal, a dot info that is #1 should be easier to beat with a dot
                          com. After all, the dot coms have more seo juice, right?

                          Because if you are conceding that there is no juice for a dot com to beat
                          a dot info on just the dot com, then the argument vanishes.

                          Paul
                          Who are you trying to convince? Hey go ahead and beat ebay.com or google.com with your .info domain if it's SO easy. You pick a particular domain to beat then yeah it's going to be tough, but what's the point? Just so I can prove a point. Do you understand what IMO stands for?

                          I'm outta here.
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                  • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
                    Originally Posted by thecableguy View Post

                    Just curious have those who disagree actually tried to rank an info domain?
                    Yes. I have several that rank well. I have some that haven't done so well. The same is true of .com and .net domains I've purchased and used the same promotional techniques on.

                    Now, I do often go for less competitive keywords (westernhorsesaddle.info) and brand+keyword (bobshorsesaddles.com or myhorsesaddle.info) rather than high competition exact match keywords (the same is true of other domain types I buy). What I've noticed is that people who complain that .info's are hard to rank or that their new exact keyword match .com domain is 'sandboxed' are those going after rather competitive terms.
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                    • Profile picture of the author thecableguy
                      Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

                      Yes. I have several that rank well. I have some that haven't done so well. The same is true of .com and .net domains I've purchased and used the same promotional techniques on.

                      Now, I do often go for less competitive keywords (westernhorsesaddle.info) and brand+keyword (bobshorsesaddles.com or myhorsesaddle.info) rather than high competition exact match keywords (the same is true of other domain types I buy). What I've noticed is that people who complain that .info's are hard to rank or that their new exact keyword match .com domain is 'sandboxed' are those going after rather competitive terms.
                      Yeah I agree and have had .info TLDs rank as well, but they seemed to be more difficult and take longer. And yes ANY competitive keyword is difficult to rank for But I thought the "sandbox" was a myth Kidding aside it could also have been that the .info sites were more affiliate sites than informational, I heard someone mention that that played a part as well.
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            • Profile picture of the author bay37
              Originally Posted by Martin Luxton View Post

              BTW, travel.com.au - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Holiday Packages, Cruises, Tours - one destination. endless possibilities. ranks higher than TRAVEL.com*® - Worldwide Travel Reservations for the keyword "travel". This means that you should never buy a .com because the .com.au, is obviously better.
              I'm pretty sure those rankings are very region-specific.

              Surely it's not as simple as just saying "all is always equal".
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          • Profile picture of the author bay37
            Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

            With apologies, very few successful niche marketers here, in non-IM-advice niches, are willing to disclose their niches, for obvious reasons.
            I don't really mind disclosing mine... I go by many different names though, so it would not make much of a difference to me. But I certainly see how it could cause trouble in some cases/to some marketers.

            I wasn't really asking you for niche info though. I'm more interested in your target demographics and customer "type".

            Perhaps not the right place to discuss this - on a public IM forum

            Thanks for your reply!
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by loristm View Post

      I personally don't like .info domains. It may not affect the SEO but visitors like .com and .org URLs
      Do you know this for a fact, or are you just "assuming" this? Have you actually polled your visitors to see what TLD they prefer?

      Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions, it'd be best to ask before assuming anything.
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      Originally Posted by loristm View Post

      I personally don't like .info domains. It may not affect the SEO but visitors like .com and .org URLs
      I personally don't give a monkeys what it is so long as it works for me.

      Like Alexa I get the impression you personally don't like .info and that you haven't researched it and therefore don't actually know for sure what domain ending people (f)actually prefer,
      ...if indeed they care one way or another.:rolleyes: Having said that I do agree also, that if the site is an information site, why on earth wouldn't they prefer a .info necessarily?
      Your statement appears to cover the entire internet. Which it shouldn't.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    The whole argument is moot when getting back to the OP original question,
    Do you find a big disadvantage from the SEO point of view
    Of course not. We are not talking branding, remembering, feel-good, touchy-feely
    warm fuzzy feeling one gets down their leg at the mere mention of a dot com.

    SEO, the SE part, search engine, does not list sites by feelings. This is my line for
    the day: This is not 1997. Web surfers are attuned to different domains from
    .biz to .tv.

    I have no idea why price seems to be an SEO thing. I get .coms as cheap as .infos.
    If price mattered, guess what? You all would be paying up the wazoo for a .co

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author craigcdz
    Originally Posted by ninomc View Post

    Hello,
    Do you find a big disadvantage from the SEO point of view (and Google I guess) when you run blogs using .info domains?

    Any Suggestions?
    no i don't think its a big issue but yes you can't get that much results which you can get from .com domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author seomelbourne
    .info domain is generally meant by an educational or informative site. But from the SEO point of view the extension doesn't matters a lot. The SEO work done on a particular site matters.
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  • Profile picture of the author TZ
    .info is no problem. It's ALL based on the content. If it's "seen" as original by Google, Yahoo, etc. then "Bob's Your Uncle".

    We have 2 .info domains that have been making an average of $15 bucks a day in Adsense - these are just auto-blogs keep in mind.

    Many of our auto blogs run on .info domains.

    You can DOOOOOO it sparky!
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  • Profile picture of the author drvn4eagles
    Originally Posted by ninomc View Post

    Hello,
    Do you find a big disadvantage from the SEO point of view (and Google I guess) when you run blogs using .info domains?

    Any Suggestions?
    Someone may have already mentioned this, but I have noticed with my sites that the .com and the .org and the .net Always out rank anything that I have tried to rank for if I don't have those extensions. It is just easier to find a close name to it with either a word before your domain or after. You can still rank for those keywords, just in a different way.
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  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    Originally Posted by ninomc View Post

    Hello,
    Do you find a big disadvantage from the SEO point of view (and Google I guess) when you run blogs using .info domains?

    Any Suggestions?
    Absolutely nothing wrong with .info domains. I love 'em. Cheap and effective. Find a product or buying phrase, register the .info with the product or keywords you're targeting, optimize, profit.
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    • Profile picture of the author howinfo
      My main site is on info domain and not because .com was not available but the site was supposed to be informational so .info was the most logical and appropriate choice and it also has that nice flow and look to it and as people who are looking for information do prefer to click on .info

      The site was kind of an experiment at the beginning but now as it has been doing so well I have left all the other sites and mainly work on this one now. I must say that I have not seen any negative effect using .info extension. No problem with ranking or people confusing it to .com It rather has positive effect as the domain name stands out and is easy to remember, just the perfect extension for informational website and lot of people looking for info on internet so it has worked out really well.
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  • Profile picture of the author fabiobr
    the very good tip, this post!
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