I really need a conclusion on .info vs .com

[forwardedlandlines]

From all angles I hear different stories:

.info ranks slower
.info is harder to rank
'I manage fine to rank .info s'
.info is practically as easy to rank if you do a lot of link building, but harder if only a little at most

What is the truth? My plan is to apply solid diverse backlinking, and subtly.

 

[ActionTaker]

I have an info domain that is my primary domain. It is doing absolutely fine

 

[raven123]

It really doesn't matter. Just get the info if it makes for a better EMD for your keyword.

Good luck!

 

[TheMatrix]

.info = cheap, good for very low competition KW's and MNS
.com = relatively costly (10 bucks, duhh).. good for any type of site if you know SEO.

 

[grav6]

Well, .info domains are usually very cheap for the first year. There have even been times when they were $0.99 (USD), which was attractive for buying "throwaway" (spam) domains. So they have a bad reputation from that perspective.

The general public are more familiar with .com, .org and .net, so it's usually a more popular choice when buying a domain.

A choice of domain extension can be about branding, e.g. imo.im, a .co.uk for a UK shop, .com is more memorable, etc, but it's not always the case. Think about your target market and what's going to help encourage a click through. (If it's geo-specific, or the extension helps to give a good brand that's memorable.)

If you're just considering how the search engine sees your site and your rankings, then the extension won't matter (except for local search, but also other factors are important for this).

Don't worry about your domain extension, just focus on content and link building. (This is what Google seems to care about most - what's on page and the backlinks.)

 

[forwardedlandlines]

Alright, I love these responses. I don't care about brand. Purely about becoming #1 on a keyphrase for MNS's. So I will just go for the info then.

 

[emeraldodge]

From my testing .info are getting indexed slower

 

[Gormagor]

Info domains seem to come and go all the time. If I leave a backlink on an info, more often than not, the whole site is gone the following month. People seem to treat them like the domain equivalent of a disposable camera. This is not a trend that will go unnoticed by Google.

 

[MagicMike]

It looks like you're getting an array of answers again...

I think The Matrix is right... .info is fine for low competition keywords. I find that it takes a long time to rank a .info for medium/high competition, much longer than a .com

Over time I'm sure you can gain a good ranking, but I wouldn't use them on a regular basis for my main money sites.

 

[VisualWarrior]

It make no difference for SEO. Google does not favor coms or anything else more than any other domain. It's been proven many times in the past. I've used infos many times and done fine. If you take a look around you can find quite a few infos domains on the front page for high competition keywords.

 

[Gantz]

I rank just fine on my .info domains, but I would never try and build a brand or an authority site with one. For small niche sites though they rank with no issue.

 

[LakeForest]

I'd be much more inclined to purchase .info if they were .inf or .nfo.

The four letter TLD throws me off, and in all seriousness, I have not found many .info sites that provide good content.

If anyone here has developed a .info into an authority, gotten top result, and has sitelinks in google search results...I'm sure we'd all absolutely adore to hear about it (you don't even need to share your url).

 

[cooldude2020]

If this is your 1st site than go with .com

 

[TheMatrix]

It make no difference for SEO. Google does not favor coms or anything else more than any other domain. It's been proven many times in the past. I've used infos many times and done fine. If you take a look around you can find quite a few infos domains on the front page for high competition keywords.

Can you link us to 1 credible source that proves that .info and .com are equivalent from SEO perspective? I would like to be enlightened.

 

[grav6]

This is an old source (2008) and states:

The question came up about whether it matters which TLD (top level domain) you?re using. For example, do .com domains carry more weight than a .net, .us, .info, etc. He said that TLD doesn?t matter?that?s the way Larry and Sergey originally designed the Google algorithm. The algorithm doesn?t care where the page is located, it?s all about pagerank (LINKS) of the particular page. At the end of answering this question he did admit that they might have started to look at particularly cheap (and spammy) TLDs differently than other TLDs?or they might start considering TLD in their algorithm if they?re not already doing so.

http://www.seo.com/blog/conferences/matt-cutts-does-domain-roundtable/

There's nothing to say that they have started devaluing certain TLDs, at least not .info. Or do you have a credible source? Only really Google can answer this. (The only area where TLD really matters is local search.)

 

[lisalpercy]

I dont think its worth it unless com org net are taken and still low comp.
Rather not risk it and look more pro for a few bucks extra.

 

[kengy22]

Good information coz i have been wondering if i should renew my .info

 

[grav6]

Does .com really look that more professional now? Some sources claim it's the most spammed TLD (with .info just behind it). I remember when .biz was almost always in every spam email I received. Any new/cheap TLD is always going to be taken up quickly by spammers. How the snippet and title looks in the SE says more about the professional appearance (in search results).

 

[N1ckG2]

Let me ask you two questions:

1. Can you rank biz domain and over rank emd.net ?
2. Will you believe a story, written on .biz, info, etc domain?

Answers:

1. Yes you can. I did it
2. Most of online visitors, with money in hand, dont care if its con. net, info or what ever.

Good content with proper SEO is want makes sales.

domain extensions has nothing to do with your earnings.

com is easier to rank, if you find a good domain (which in turn is hard to do).

 

[lisalpercy]

Thats nonsense.
TLD matters a lot regarding user trust. The average user thinks a .com is professional and expensive