Which domain name is better for SEO? .com .net or .org ?
Planning to buy a new domain or migrate from blogspot to your own domain ? Then you’re sure to come across this question. Let’s see what is best for us.
SEO and Domain names
Search Engine Optimization and domain names have a long friendship to share. Though, sometimes I feel that people take it too seriously. So the question everyone asks is – Does domain name extensions have any effect on SEO ?
That’s a fair question. Its like you are building your new house and you want to select the best plot, so you would definitely want to go through the best choices.
Normally, we have three choices. .com, .net and .org
From what we have seen, out of the three domain name extensions, .com and .net TLDs do well on the SERPs.
Now, don’t take it as a statement. Normally, I think Google wouldn’t think twice if it spots a .com or .net domain name, provided it has the authority and backlinks.
But when it spots an .org or regional domain name (like .in or .nl) then it might think about more variables to decide whom this website will best fit. Although, I’m not sure what exactly these variables are. We have clues though.
An Example to illustrate which might be a preferred domain name
Let’s say the query on Google is “Indian culture” (Assumption)
And we have more than two sites with a possible match.
Site A – www.red-indians-community.us
Site B – www.indian-culture-stories.in
Site C – www.indian-culture.com
Lets also assume that all sites have the same number of backlinks, from the same sites, same page rank, same authority etc. (That would make things tough, yet an example is an example)
Now, which site would show up on the SERPs ? Before generalizing it, also think about from where the search is made. Let’s take three options here.
Guy A – Searching from the US
Guy B – Searching from India
Guy C – Searching from the Middle East
Now, Guy A would get a SERPs similar to -
Rank No.1 – Site A
Rank No.2 – Site B or C
Now, Guy B would get a SERPs similar to -
Rank No.1 – Site B
Rank No.2 – Site A or C
Now, Guy C would get a SERPs similar to -
Rank No.1 – Site C
Rank No.2 – Site A or B
This is just a pure sample, and all I want to explain is how the SERPs might change according to where the search is made from.
Typically, .coms tend to be popular among users, so more backlinks and traffic tend to associate with them rather than the regional ones. And Google I suppose should think about a lot more variables before ranking a site over another based on TLDs.
So essentially,
- If your content is intended for all and you want a worldwide audience go for .COMs
(In the preferential order of .com > .net > .org > others)
- If you want to focus on regions, go for regional domains like .ins
Apart from this, a lot more factors go into considering what is a preferred domain on the SERPs. Like the number of backlinks, which TLD’s link to them, your server co location advantage and the n number of other variables.
So rather than asking which is better, you’d rather ask – What do you want to be ?
I think most people think that a domain name ends with .com. As if a website can have only dot coms at the end.
For instance, if you say that your blog is named DailySEOBlog to 10 people, atleast 5 of them would get the impression that its DailySEOBlog.com.
Hello,
I am creating an e-commerce site with my friend through weebly http://www.villha.weebly.om (vill ha means want to have). Anyway now weebly are offering us to purchase a .net or a .org. We are intending to sell our goods mostly in Sweden (.se) but would it be ok to choose a .net then? Please we are glad for all support. Best Regards,
Sara
The TLD doesnt have much effect on the google rankings, dont we see country specific domains in search results?
IMO, choosing .net is better than .se. easier to remember and scope for expansion in future.
.Com is and will always be King.
Most websites use the .com extention (TLD) as it is the most recognisable and universally accepted.
Content is also king. So it is all about the content on your website and the relevance it has to the user doing the search.
The search engines will always try to deliver the right search results. It does not necessarily have anything to do with domain extensions.
However, Google.co.uk for example will return UK websites where appropriate, and most of these websites may use the .co.uk domain extension.
Anyway, the article has been food for thought.
The dot .com will always be at the top of the tree.
@Kevin, quite right, it is content that attracts traffic.
wel…after having many researches done I can tell that:
1. dash in URL is not good for SEO (though it is not vitally important…with properly made seo campaign and lots of backlinks you can get your site in top 10 even with dash)
2. dot com is obvious for 90% of this planet population that pays online (all the rest use dot CN =) also it is not that hard to run a simple experiment – type whatever you want in google and press “search” button. dot coms will be like 90% or even more. so I do beliebe Google favours dot com…really…even though you can see other results also (dot NET or even some local ones)
Greetings from Toronto,
Alex / Toronto Web Design & SEO
Dot Com is great !!!
.org are in front of everything, but as long as you don’t post any comercial links.
Matt said .org has some “magic” on it.
anyway, i would go for the usual .mycountrycode
Interesting post as I am considering my new domain’s TLD recently..
I personally own a .co.za Domain that is #1 all over New-Zealand search results, while in others (Co.uk.. etc.), it is missing.
You should write a post about using dashes or not in the domain names…
You are ALL WRONG.
.gov is most powerful
.edu is second most
.org is third
.net is fourth
DEPENDING on YOU HOSTS LOCATION .US (for USA) is better then .Org –
Then .com comes.
.com is best according to SEO
for Google
.gov is most powerful
.edu is second most
.com is third
.org is fourth
.net is fifth
for bing and Yahoo all the same
domain with hyphen less powerful.
but I think org is sometime better than com .
Good explain thanks for it
but if i want to choose between .in and .com ( all content about indian market based)
which is batter for – 1. seo 2. search engine 3. compare with other site which have same content with .com ,
while i have both domain extension .in and .com
Thanks
Aco
I agree that .com’s will always remain king, however, it makes sense that regional search variables would take place as well as the search term. If someone is searching for “information on child abuse”, I imagine that a .org is more valuable to the person searching than a .com; which would probably be a company that offers help with “child abuse” rather than “information on child abuse”
.com is the most common but other extensions are made for a reason, if you are not company but an organization you should use .org etc.
hey man i bought learnjavawith.us and its not showing in Google India search results!
some suggestions brother?
should i revert back to .net domain?
Identified you weblog by way of digg I have to admit I m amazed with all your content!
no need to talk much
ranks show all
if we check top 12 website of the world
only wikipedia is org
all are “com ”
until top 28 all are com for int. domains to 28. domain is T.co
so com is winner very clear .
for more info visit Alexa.com
and please visit me
storecx.com
if you like ranked domain sian025.com i sell with 250 000 alexa rank
good content !
I got some valuable information from articles and comments too.
thanks
Gyanendra
I agree with @Jon:
You are ALL WRONG.
.gov is most powerful
.edu is second most
.org is third
.com (depend on the keyword)
.net is fourth
I have a newly formed blog which speaks about technology. Which domain you think will be better?
1) .co.in OR
2) .org
From My experience better is co.uk domains.I don’t now way but for me i have superb result ranking this domain in google.
It stays in a grey zone. Especially after the Panda an Penguin updates, that are constantly evolving. the exensions does not put that extra heavy weight as it use to be in the past.
Then again, everythin depends of the type of website you want to exploit and the region.
For me, in belgium its all about .be, and obv you take the BE names,
Domain like .com means world wide searches while .us or .in is for local searches.