Comments on: How Much Is a Top Level Domain SEO Worth?

By: Free Fab Games

Free Fab Games — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:26:53 +0000

I think tradtion of using .com TLD has been changed now…Lot of peoples would like to get .net domains instead of .com.

By: Bonds Rate

Bonds Rate — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:45:42 +0000

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.

By: Domain Name Appraisal

Domain Name Appraisal — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:37:37 +0000

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.

By: Charles

Charles — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:00:59 +0000

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.

By: Peter Young

Peter Young — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:48:59 +0000

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

By: Mayank - Start Internet Business

Mayank - Start Internet Business — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:33:40 +0000

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.

By: Peanut Gallery

Peanut Gallery — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:37:01 +0000

“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?”.

By: Sam I Am

Sam I Am — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:22:39 +0000

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.

By: Go Dot Yourself

Go Dot Yourself — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:22:18 +0000

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.

By: jim

jim — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:46:23 +0000

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!