Registering a domain name is the first thing to do when starting a website. And yet even here we come across a very controversial issue: which TLD to choose? We do not want to make a mistake at the very start, so we should consider each point.
1. Does Google pay any attention to a top level domain when ranking websites?
When talking about regionally specific TLDs, the answer is yes of course. Like we have already agreed, a country code top level domain is the most effective tool for geo targeting.
But what about non-country-specific domains? Do they matter with Google Algorithm? Quite an easy question and yet there is no definitive answer.
Historically, a generic top level domain (a wiki link) shows which type of organization a website belongs to:
- .com = ‘commercial’ (an open TLD)
- .edu = ‘educational’ (limited)
- .gov = ‘governmental’ (limited)
- .mil = ‘military’ (limited)
- .org = ‘(non-profit) organization’ (an open TLD)
- .name = ‘individuals, by name’ (an open TLD)
- .net = ‘network’ (an open TLD)
- .biz = ‘business’ (an open TLD), etc
So ideally a TLD should mean something and it does no matter how much Googlers are trying to persuade us that a link from .gov or .edu link is worth no more than a link from a .com site; in practice we see that this is not completely true. However while webmasters are getting even smarter at manipulating TLD meaning (even that are not open for registering), search engines are forced to reduce to minimum the impact of a top level domain on the algorithm.
Now let’s have a look at what experienced SEOs have to say:
- Google does seem to perceive a top level domain as a separate word: for example, searching for [fishing net] we get more .net domains on the first page than when searching for [fishing netting].
- Google seems to be biased against .info domains and the reason for that is a very low price for .info domains and hence its abuse by spammers.
2. What other points to consider when choosing a TLD?
- Even despite the fact that more and more people search for a brand name in Google instead of typing a domain name in the browser address field, dot-com TLD still remains a traditional choice. (how many times did you attempt to type in ‘problogger.com‘ instead of ‘problogger.net‘?) So no matter what’s your choice it is better to register and redirect a dot-com version in order not to miss the direct traffic.
- Rumors might be true. If you keep hearing that .com TLDs are given more weight but you are perfectly sure this can’t be true, you still should consider this when choosing a domain name. Being on the safe side is never a bad thing to do; so stand your ground but act carefully.
And what’s your golden rule for choosing a TLD? Do you register .net domain if the dot-com version is already taken? Do you prefer any TLD over others?
I still think .com carries a certain authority with it. As a user, I would automatically look to a .com first and a .net second. The former always gives the impression of being the “official” site for that name.
And, I guess like google, I am biased against new TLDs that spring up – they just dont seem to have the same weight.
Rationally none of this should matter – but I think it does to most users!
I think the perceived weight/authority of the ‘dot com’ TLD – both in the minds of people and search engines – is somewhat overrated.
The popularity of the ‘dot com’ extension is substantially lower outside of the United States where country-code TLDs tend to dominate.
Additionally (and more importantly), it is extremely difficult to obtain a genuinely high-quality .com via new registration. That is not to say it never happens, but it is the exception – not the rule.
Much fuss is made over users typing in exampledomain.com when in actuality the site they intended to go to was located at exampledomain.net (or any other non-.com TLD). However, most users eventually reach their intended destination, and very few make the mistake more than twice.
Every bit if not more traffic is lost by the site whose domain is mycoolexampledomain.com (or any other excessively long combination of characters) as would be by the site with the short keyword-domain at a non-.com TLD.
In general, I tend to favor keyword-domains in various TLDs, unless of course the .com has significant strength from a marketing/branding perspective.
I don’t go after just any TLD, though. There are a select few that meet my branding specifications that I will register when the keywords are right. Most notably, I like .net, .us, .info and .cc (I think penalties against .info are a temporary phenomenon). For multimedia sites, acceptable TLDs include .am, .fm and .tv.
I saw this mentioned at http://www.SubliminalMessages.Com and wanted to add one more important point. Without an explanation, if you were to go around a filled auditorium and ask participants to name their favorite URL, I’d bet you a cookie that NOBODY (zero, zip, nada, not even 1!) will mention a URL that does not end in .COM. As such, this will solidify .COM ’s “King of the Hill” stature for years to come.
Location, Location, Location. Same rules, lower taxes.
Class dismissed.
“if you were to go around a filled auditorium and ask participants to name their favorite URL….”
If you were to go around a filled auditorium and ask participants to name their favorite URL, most would give you a blank stare and monotonously ask you “what is a URL?”.
dot com is still the first domain that comes to mind whenever you think about a url. Most people associate any site name with a “dot com”.
This is reason enough to focus on .com only.
Despite the differences probably as much if not more of a hot potato over here in the UK particularly when it comes to focus on a UK vs Pan-European/Global optimisation campaign, and the use of TLD within this strategy (particularly if budget is an issue and wide reaching scope is required.
As somebody mentioned above, it does tend to be less of an issue over here – thats not to say it doesn’t corss our rationalle
When you mention a website’s name people do tend to assume that it’s located at the .com extension. Having said that I’ve often started sites as .co.uk over here in the UK, although I’d never do this unless I also owned the .com version as well.
As far as I can see there aren’t any benefits of .org, .net, .biz etc over the .com option.
I have to afree that you always have to stick with the .com names in any type of domain name registration if you can. However there is also a fine line to look at when you can get a say .net with all the keywords in the name you are looking for. I would go for a .net domain name with all my SEO keywords over a .com with none.
Does anyone know if a .ltd.uk which is a restricted domain would carry a higher weight in the UK than other domains? (They are only issued if you own the company with that exact name). would it have the same effect as say a .co.uk which is the main uk TLD.
I think tradtion of using .com TLD has been changed now…Lot of peoples would like to get .net domains instead of .com.