DeborahSG
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Domain name - .com versus a local extension. Which is preferred?
Hello,
I will be designing a site for a client in the travel industry. The preferred .com name for the company has been taken of course. Would it be better to choose another as close to the company name as possible with a .com extension or choose a .net or local country (.uk) or some other extension? Would choosing a country extension impair the ability of the site to be found?
Thanks.
D
I will be designing a site for a client in the travel industry. The preferred .com name for the company has been taken of course. Would it be better to choose another as close to the company name as possible with a .com extension or choose a .net or local country (.uk) or some other extension? Would choosing a country extension impair the ability of the site to be found?
Thanks.
D
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ASKER
Hi humeniuk,
Are you telling me in the 2nd paragraph:
"the TLD (and to a lesser degree, the geolocation of the IP of the web server) is a ranking factor in searches on local versions of Google and will likely become increasingly relevant with personalized search on even the .com version of Google."
that a website with extension of .uk or .ca will not be found as easily by users around the world, whereby if this website had been named with a .com extension it would be?
Thanks,
D
Are you telling me in the 2nd paragraph:
"the TLD (and to a lesser degree, the geolocation of the IP of the web server) is a ranking factor in searches on local versions of Google and will likely become increasingly relevant with personalized search on even the .com version of Google."
that a website with extension of .uk or .ca will not be found as easily by users around the world, whereby if this website had been named with a .com extension it would be?
Thanks,
D
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ASKER
Thank you all very much for this enlightening information!
D
D
Glad to be able to help.
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ASKER
Hi fibo,
My client wishes to know now if using .org would make a difference for Google indexing and search engine optimization purposes.
The name she would like no longer exists with .com, so she would like an alternative.
Any advice?
Thanks very much,
Deborah
My client wishes to know now if using .org would make a difference for Google indexing and search engine optimization purposes.
The name she would like no longer exists with .com, so she would like an alternative.
Any advice?
Thanks very much,
Deborah
As far as I know (but others may disagree) I do not think there would be a significant difference between a .org and a *.com.
HOWEVER if you customer wanted product-a.com and since this is taken considers taking product-a.org... you should recommend something safer:
- register product-a.org because you want to grab as many product-a domains as possible (at a cost <10$/yr, this is a no-brainer since it costs less than asking the question to a lawyer!); and maybe you should consider also producta .com .org, again there are costs but they are really low compared to possible troubles.
- BUT do not build your site and your franchise on product-a.org: what would happen if the owner of product-a.com was developping their own site and get some proffit from people targetting product-a and going to the .com instead of the .org?
- I would find some other protected name available in .com and .org, then build my web site there; and put a single page on product-a.org (and all other related domains I own), with some relevant texte and links towards the main pages of the "real" web site, and a http redirect to this web site.
Just to summarize: you have 2 strategic criteria which you should consider related and correlated, but which can be handled separately
- domain names is a "brand strategy" and "brand protection" issue
- choice of the domain on which to run the site is a "web marketing" issue taking into account possible behaviours from prospects and customers, as well as search engines behaviours.
HOWEVER if you customer wanted product-a.com and since this is taken considers taking product-a.org... you should recommend something safer:
- register product-a.org because you want to grab as many product-a domains as possible (at a cost <10$/yr, this is a no-brainer since it costs less than asking the question to a lawyer!); and maybe you should consider also producta .com .org, again there are costs but they are really low compared to possible troubles.
- BUT do not build your site and your franchise on product-a.org: what would happen if the owner of product-a.com was developping their own site and get some proffit from people targetting product-a and going to the .com instead of the .org?
- I would find some other protected name available in .com and .org, then build my web site there; and put a single page on product-a.org (and all other related domains I own), with some relevant texte and links towards the main pages of the "real" web site, and a http redirect to this web site.
Just to summarize: you have 2 strategic criteria which you should consider related and correlated, but which can be handled separately
- domain names is a "brand strategy" and "brand protection" issue
- choice of the domain on which to run the site is a "web marketing" issue taking into account possible behaviours from prospects and customers, as well as search engines behaviours.
I agree with fibo on this one. While .org domains are not necessarily a liability from an indexing standpoint, I would nevertheless recommend going with a .com for the same reasons as above PLUS the fact that if you have the .org domain and someone else has the .com domain, you are inherently going to lose traffic to them - people looking for your website and ending up at theirs - simply because people are used to typing .com and will make that mistake from time to time.
ASKER
I agree. Thanks everyone.
Hi,
Choose a domain name with .COM extension. If your preferred second level domain name is already taken, you may want to have it and add a small prefix like "biz", "soft" or "game" depending on the type of website you plan to host.
Ex: if http://mydomain is already taken you may want to take on http://mydomainbiz.com.
*** link to own site deleted per - https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hi22 ***l
Good Luck,
Server Jockey
*** url sig deleted per - https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hi22 ***
Choose a domain name with .COM extension. If your preferred second level domain name is already taken, you may want to have it and add a small prefix like "biz", "soft" or "game" depending on the type of website you plan to host.
Ex: if http://mydomain is already taken you may want to take on http://mydomainbiz.com.
*** link to own site deleted per - https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hi22 ***l
Good Luck,
Server Jockey
*** url sig deleted per - https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hi22 ***
Hi Server Jockey
Although I am sure this is totally innocent, writing the URL to your own site in every situation and il all your answers does not comply with the common answers guidelines, which say at the end of section " L: Tips To Make You Successful" at
https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hs23
<<Using your business name in a signature
If you post your company name in a manner which appears to be advertising, this is a violation of the Member Agreement. You are, however, permitted to put the information in your profile.
Although a personal web page may not seem like advertising, the difference between commercial promotion and personal promotion is often too close to judge. For this reason, Experts Exchange asks that you do not post your personal web page address as part of your signature.>>
You might consider asking to Community Support at https://www.experts-exchange.com/Other/Community_Support/#browseZones that they edit your answers.
Although I am sure this is totally innocent, writing the URL to your own site in every situation and il all your answers does not comply with the common answers guidelines, which say at the end of section " L: Tips To Make You Successful" at
https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hs23
<<Using your business name in a signature
If you post your company name in a manner which appears to be advertising, this is a violation of the Member Agreement. You are, however, permitted to put the information in your profile.
Although a personal web page may not seem like advertising, the difference between commercial promotion and personal promotion is often too close to judge. For this reason, Experts Exchange asks that you do not post your personal web page address as part of your signature.>>
You might consider asking to Community Support at https://www.experts-exchange.com/Other/Community_Support/#browseZones that they edit your answers.
Deborah,
Remember to close the question and allocate points as you find suitable (you can split points if you want).
Remember to close the question and allocate points as you find suitable (you can split points if you want).
ASKER