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The TLD Domain Controversy?

by jficarro
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Most people say, including Google (to my recollection) that your TLD doesn't effect SERPS. So, a .info can rank as easily as a .com.

Of course I'd rather have a .com any day. But I am wondering if this information is even true.

I have my eye on a .us site, but I'm noticing that no matter what I search for, it's either .org, .com, .net, or .edu that comes up on page 1 Google.

So, if it doesn't matter... why don't we see any .ca or .us or .ly on page 1???

Anyone have an educated opinion?
#controversy #domain #tld
  • Profile picture of the author affiliatecopywriter
    Originally Posted by jficarro View Post

    Most people say, including Google (to my recollection) that your TLD doesn't effect SERPS. So, a .info can rank as easily as a .com.

    Of course I'd rather have a .com any day. But I am wondering if this information is even true.

    I have my eye on a .us site, but I'm noticing that no matter what I search for, it's either .org, .com, .net, or .edu that comes up on page 1 Google.

    So, if it doesn't matter... why don't we see any .ca or .us or .ly on page 1???

    Anyone have an educated opinion?
    A .com and .org work best for SEO purposes. A .net would come third. And everything else is about equal. That's been my experience with domain names.
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  • Profile picture of the author hicksdelight
    Matt Cutts said in his video it makes no difference, but I'd keep it a top tier domain though, for me .com/.net/.org etc makes no difference.

    A .ca though might.
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  • Profile picture of the author jficarro
    I think I've seen the Cutts video. But still wonder why there's no .us on page one if it makes no difference?

    Not trying to get off topic, but when G announced the penalty for having all ads above the fold - I thought great, it'll narrow my competitors. But no change in there sites that have NOTHING but ads until you scroll to the bottom of the page.

    So... hard to totally trust G (no choice, but hard).

    I ran across a forum discussion from 2005 debating this same topic of .us TLD and nobody has been able to conclude anything concrete yet.

    Thanks guys. I guess in the end, we just make our best guess and go for it.
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  • Profile picture of the author TryBPO
    I think I remember seeing a video with Matt Cutts talking about TLD's not making a difference.

    We generally stick with .com/.net/.org for our domains. We've gone after .info and .biz in the past, but usually find that they require more SEO to rank when compared to the .com/.net/.org. This is pretty anecdotal, though...haven't really tested through it and others will have varying opinions, I'm sure. This could also be, though, that with the .info and .biz domains we were able to target slightly more aggressive keyphrases. It could have been that they were just more difficult because of THAT and not because of the TLD.

    I'd also add the caveat that a couple of our highest earning sites (in the top 20) were from .info's or .biz's as well...go figure.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
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    Originally Posted by jficarro View Post

    Most people say, including Google (to my recollection) that your TLD doesn't effect SERPS. So, a .info can rank as easily as a .com.

    Of course I'd rather have a .com any day. But I am wondering if this information is even true.

    I have my eye on a .us site, but I'm noticing that no matter what I search for, it's either .org, .com, .net, or .edu that comes up on page 1 Google.

    So, if it doesn't matter... why don't we see any .ca or .us or .ly on page 1???

    Anyone have an educated opinion?
    Trust me when I say TLD does not have anything to do with SEO.

    Look around the SERPs for proof.

    Example, car insurance quote , a .net domain is #1 when I search. Don't anyone jump on the EMD in the example, a non-EMD could rank the same keyword phrase.
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    • Profile picture of the author sovereignn
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      Trust me when I say TLD does not have anything to do with SEO.

      Look around the SERPs for proof.

      Example, car insurance quote , a .net domain is #1 when I search. Don't anyone jump on the EMD in the example, a non-EMD could rank the same keyword phrase.
      Agreed, I see .infos everywhere

      I think this falls in with EMD

      A lot of people wont go after a niche if it doesn't have an EMD yet... Almost every top ten lacks exact match domains in some of the spots
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      • Profile picture of the author affiliatecopywriter
        Originally Posted by sovereignn View Post

        Agreed, I see .infos everywhere

        I think this falls in with EMD

        A lot of people wont go after a niche if it doesn't have an EMD yet... Almost every top ten lacks exact match domains in some of the spots
        I owned the domain CarnaubaWax.info. I got the top 10 in Yahoo for those keywords but didn't show up anywhere near the top in Google. That's never happened when I owned the .com.
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