Hi guys
great looking forum, just found it and learning heaps as I read through.
I am curious, how does the rest of the world (outside little old New Zealand) rate the value of .co.nz domains?
eg, what would you think something like shoes.co.nz would be worth?
would it only hold value to a NZ based business or site would others use it?
Dingo
Not sure about the rest of the world, but as a NZer with an internationally focussed site, I recently dumped my .co.nz domain name and went to a .com... with only positive results from the change.
International visit duration and page nos are up, clickthroughs from SERPs are up, enquiries are up.
A remarkable number of people overseas are only marginally aware of who we are and where we are, or that we exist at all... and marginal awareness isn't really a good thing for inspiring trust.
The only disadvantage has been fewer 'easy listings' on NZ only directories. But frankly they didn't produce visitors, let alone paying visitors, and were only of PR benefit. It just means I've had to get off my butt and go for a reciprocal link campaign where previously I had a PR5 on bugger-all work.
I'd say if your focus is international, get a .com... even if it means a less generic domain name.
A huge part of the appeal of a generic domain name like "widgets.com" is the pure simplicity for radio and print advertising, word of mouth and type-ins. BUT because we use .co instead of .com like the rest of the world does, most of that simplicity value is lost before you ever get to the question of whether they'll remember ".nz"
A generic does have a certain amount of appeal, but for the reasons I've noted above re consumer confidence and memory retention, I doubt it has significant value outside NZ.
Appreciate your comments.
Dingo
