.com or .net?

Any differnece in PR or results?

[dkla]

Hi,

I've been browsing this forum for a while and I think it's the BEST of its kind. Time for my first post!

I'm working on a site which is about learning how to make widgets. I'm having a little trouble deciding which domain name to use. I have a very relevant .net name (ex. makingwidgets.net) and a completely irrelevant .com (ex. verygeneric.com). Is one of the two better in SE results terms?

When I search G for "making widgets" or other similar terms of interest the first .net page is on the 3rd page of the results but looks as good and complete as the .coms on the first page...

Thanks!

[dkla]

Anyone?

[topr8]

imo no difference between .net and .com

[Angelis]

I prefer .net to .com but I do mostly network or programming sites so .net makes more sense because a. im not a company and b. most of the decent ones are already taken...

From what I can tell there is no difference at all, its just another extension. The only minor difference you may notice is geo location targetting for keywords, obviously a .co.uk would direct search engines a little easier in the right direction.

[SFReader]

Interesting thought.

I have only one .net domain. Although it does well for my KW at Yahoo, it has never doen as wll as my .com & .org domains at Google.

[netmeg]

I don't know that it matters all that much as regards search results, but in general, I always advise my clients to go for .com rather than any other TLD, even if they have to go longer than I'd care to, or slightly off topic. The thing is, the .com is now pretty much embedded into the culture, and no matter how many TLDs they add, people will ALWAYS assume .com, and if they remember your web address at all, they're going to try it first with a .com. And if you're at .net or something else, you'll just be sending your traffic to someone else - and if it's a competitor, so much the worse.

(Speaking as one who has had her own .org for over ten years, but can't wrest the .com version away from a squatter unless I want to pony up $1500 or more)

[dkla]

I agree with you netmeg. People tend to forget the TLD and always assume its a .com. Wouldn't that be a good enough reason for G to include this parameter in their algorithm?

My feeling is they do. I think I'll go with the .com to be on the safe side...

[eddytom]

What about the .info .biz .us .cc extensions, amongst those, which are the best for seo. Or, which should we avoid, simply for seo, not for recognition amongst visitors.

[webman]

I have several .com and .net domains. My most popular domain by far is a .net domain and it ranks very well.

My advice is that if you are getting all of your traffic from search engine referrals then it probably doesn't matter which domain you use. However, if you are getting your traffic from word of mouth and repeat visitors, the .com is much more important.

[walkman]

NO difference. It could .pk as far as Google is concerned.

However, I think people would be more likely to click on the .com, if they're torn between the two

[Johan007]

Why would a company want to rime with con?

[gpmgroup]

However, I think people would be more likely to click on the .com, if they're torn between the two

Google have said they treat all TLDs equally in terms of ranking with the exception of geolocation for ccTLDs which is a seperate issue.

On user behaviour I think it depends on where the user is in the buying cycle.

Before mentally commiting to buy a product a user will search for reference and validation. This gives an .info entry in the SERPS a huge advantage at this point in the cycle.

It is then down to the site itself to persuade the user to convert. ;)

[netmeg]

Before mentally commiting to buy a product a user will search for reference and validation. This gives an .info entry in the SERPS a huge advantage at this point in the cycle.

I dunno that that is true. I see the .info domain, and automatically my spidey senses are on edge - Why doesn't this business/site have a .com? Are they that new to the game?

Granted, I'm more suspicious of them than most; being an ISP, we see the huge amounts of spam that come out of these new TLDs - way out of proportion to the .com, .net and .org domains - and so are perhaps not the most unbiased of users. We've actually considered banning them from our servers altogether, at least the email servers. We haven't done it, but it's a temptation.

[g1smd]

Get both. Choose only one to promote.

Set up a 301 redirect for the other so that:
1. your competition doesn't get it
2. you cater for "domain" type-ins where the user lets the browser add the .com to whatever they typed in.
3. you don't have duplicate content.