Does it HAVE to be a .com TLD?

[Greyhat]

I've got the perfect brand name for a new site but the .com is taken. I can get the .net / .org . Is this a deal breaker? It's a perfect brand but my gut is telling me get a .com. Maybe I could so brand-random word.com...

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

 

[real]

I wouldn't waist my time with a non-com. Is the .com in use - maybe you could buy it?

 

[Michael]

Personally I'd use a .com or .net. I wouldn't even consider a .org.
If you look at the top 20 sites in your niche but I assume 90% of them will be using a .com.

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but for seo, you're good with a TLD and you won't be disadvantaged in any way.

I wouldn't waist my time with a non-com. Is the .com in use - maybe you could buy it?

Care to elaborate mate?

 

[luxer]

The org/net is just as good for being able to rank for keywords, the question is, is it a name that you need customers to remember.

 

[Ryuzaki]

I've used all of the big three and even .me and .info to rank #1 for lucrative terms and tons of long-tails across the inner pages. As long as it's a global TLD and not local then you're fine in terms of SEO for the most part. I'd bet there are minor differences as you stray from the main three.

But if you're building a brand you want to worry more about what the actual users will perceive versus a bunch of robot spiders. Most people are going to default to .com. They won't remember your extension, just the brand name. You could tell someone very important about your brand and make sure you say ".net" and even include it on your business card. Then they'll go sit down at the computer later and immediately type in the .com version. You just helped out your competition.

Branding and sending brand signals will help your SEO far more than having "just the right" domain with the "wrong" extension.

 

[mikeshinobi]

Personally I go for a .com 100% of the time these days purely because I like how it looks. I think it looks/feels more legit. I also don't like the idea that there would be someone floating out there with the .com version of my name.

Anyways I don't think Google cares though, except for maybe in the case that the owner of the .com actually has a site on the domain. They might give preference to the .com over the .net/.org, especially if the .net/.org were registered later than the .com. But that's purely speculation from me. Maybe they would also give the same preference to a .net/.org in the highly unlikely situation that the .com was the one that was registered later.

Personally I'd use a .com or .net. I wouldn't even consider a .org.

Strangely enough, in the past when I was more into EMDs, I found that .nets were harder to rank than .orgs. But my sample size was small so it may have just been coincidence.

 

[knownerror]

Nothing wrong with .org / .net. Been seeing great success with .org recently.

 

[Greyhat]

I'm torn I love the brand but the .com is gone AND the site on it is in a similar niche.

Thanks guys...

 

[Zevoltai]

You could always buy the .com from the person sitting on it, if you actually get big. One of my clients just splurged 20k on getting the .com for its brand.

 

[CCarter]

Back in June 2015 I did a query of the top 30 results of the SERPs Worldwide and divided them up by countries for TLDs. Here is the main page results: Global TLD distribution stats of the SERPs w/ Country Breakdowns

The take away, if you want to target a specific country, having a domain with a TLD that is normally linked to within that region is a huge plus in your content marketing and SEO strategy.​

Here are some screenshots.

Everything (Global):

--

USA:

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United Kingdom:

--

Australia:

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Canada:

---

Basically my conclusion is go with the TLD that's most common in your SERPs - the main reason is not really because Google ranks them higher, it's because the TLD ranks higher due to people backlinking those TLDs in that region. So if you are targeting USA audience, having a com.au TLD is probably not going to get a lot of backlink love from people that are looking to to link to sites in their industry just due to the nature of what people in the USA link to. THAT is why those TLDs rank high in their particular locations.

".COM" pretty much is rankable in every country, and even out ranks ".CA" within CANADA!

I'll probably do an updated version this month or next month to see what the latest results are in the top 30 positions, maybe even break it down by top 1, 2-3, 4-5, and 10, etc.

 

[yuckystuff]

Personally I'd use a .com or .net. I wouldn't even consider a .org.

I would disagree, I've had success with .org in educational and medical niches. People still trust .org so in a niche that relies on authenticity it can help. That being said, for branding purposes you always want to go .com.

 

[knownerror]

".COM" pretty much is rankable in every country, and even out ranks ".CA" within CANADA!

Most likely due to how close Canada and the US are. Even some of our news websites prefer .com over .ca. Very much intertwined.

I would disagree, I've had success with .org in educational and medical niches. People still trust .org so in a niche that relies on authenticity it can help. That being said, for branding purposes you always want to go .com.

Can't say the sole reason is the .org, but I've had new pages sweep into new keywords with relative ease with a .org. Not a TLD you should toss to the side by any mean.

 

[Potatoe]

I'm curious how .ca compares to other country TLDs where you also have to live in that country in order to register them, and what kind of influence that has on the results.

I strongly favor .com when starting a new site, I'd take a slightly worse name if it's a .com over a .net or .org, but if the .net or .org means a much better brand name it's definitely something I'd consider. It depends on the site and the goals for it, too. If it's going to be a large brand that gets flipped, I couldn't see myself doing .net or .org unless the names are absolutely irresistible.

 

[dannyhw]

Is your strategy to realistically build a recognizable brand or just to have a nice name for visitors you're getting through the common methods? For a real strong brand I say hard pass on another TLD, but if the name is basically added value to give existing visitors more trust it's not a bad option.

And are you in direct competition with the .com or is it a different market? If you're in direct competition that's a hard pass too.

 

[coopreme]

I used to have the same worries about keywords in the domain. But I'm not sure going for exact keyword (or [term][keyword]) is necessary anymore. I know 6-8 years ago that and a few good links and a kw domain could have you on the top of the serps, but a lot of what i'm seeing with my peers suggests targeting keywords deeper on the site and focusing on brand identity on the main site. If you have the perfect brand name but not the perfect domain, your in a hard place... I would find something that has the social platforms you want to target and the .com available. Of course there are .us, .co, .io etc that are killing it. Go with you gut - work hard.

 

[Magnus]

I also don't like the idea that there would be someone floating out there with the .com version of my name.

the thing that has been pissing me off, is that when i'm wasting hours trying to lock down a domain for an idea or a brand it's not taken by a "competitor" or someone already working on something. just some jerkoff buying up domains to sell later. rustles my jimmies so hard.