NEw domain extensions, are they worth it seo wise?

[Berner]

Hello I am curious if all of these new extensions for domains are worth it?

So say you are a home builder and you bought homebuilder.construction - where as construction is a new extension, does this help seo? Or is it all just a big sales gimmick?

Thank you for your thoughts

[BlueprintMarketing]

Hey Dr. Pete,

Sorry for the late reply.

I will see you in July. I just did SerchLove Boston and immediately after that purchased tickets for SerchLove San Diego in September.

The ROI on going to those events is  fantastic and  they are awesome to attend.

I  have to wait have to purchase my MozCon tickets on Wednesday because might have a second person coming with me.

I will see you in Seattle at MozCon.

All the best,

Thomas

[Dr-Pete]

Unfortunately, no - still pretty limited on travel - if I take a trip, it's usually to the Moz office. Speaking at MozCon in July and then in the Czech Republic in November.

[BlueprintMarketing]

Hi Dr Pete,

Thank you for the list of universal TLDs they are getting more popular every day.

Will you be at search love San Diego?

Sincerely,

Thomas

[Dr-Pete]

Google has been non-committal on this, other than to say the new TLDs won't get any special preference (which is a bit vague). We don't really know yet if those domain keywords will provide SEO benefit. I think most of these will be treated generically, and the keyword in the domain may carry limited benefits.

Personally, if you have a choice between a lousy domain on a traditional extension and a really memorable domain on a new extension, I might lean toward the new extension. I'm talking about homebuilder.construction vs. great-homebuilder-construction-company.org or something like that.

There's the usability aspect, too - I think it's going to take people a while to adjust. If you owned chicago.attorney, people might pick up on that, but they're still used to thinking in terms of .com, etc. There's going to be an adjustment period.

If the price is right and there's a good one out there, it may be worth buying, but I don't think there's going to be much of a gold rush on these new domains.

[Dr-Pete]

Thomas is generally correct here, although Google has since begun treating .co as a "generic" TLD, which is to say they no longer geo-locate it to Colombia. See this reference:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922?hl=en

So, the Colombia association won't hurt, but it won't be geographically connected to Colorado, either. There is some chance that you could pick up the "Co" on a keyword match, if someone searched "Denver, Co" and you owned "denver.co", for example. That's speculation on my part, though. I certainly wouldn't count on any benefit.

[BlueprintMarketing]

HI Berner,

thank you for the kind words.

I agree with Jimmy on what he said about .net & .org

remember there are many powerful .net's .org's out there for instance SEOmoz.org was the old URL for Moz.com sum of the best marketing companies in the world like distilled.net uses .net

it really comes down to the website itself being better but why would think about is how many phones have .com built-in to the handset. If you are giving someone your URL and you tell them the  name they are going to assume most likely that it is .com and less you had to constantly correct them which would not help in the long run because one day you and be there to remind them.

however if you cannot get the .com for your brand I would strongly recommend either looking for a new name depending on how attached or powerful name is or using a.net/.org

Remember if you are going to go up against a existing website with a .com you have the possibility of serious competition in order to rank for your own name. You should always audit the company containing the domain with .com you wish you use the exact same domain name except for the TLD watch out for trademarks as well.

My best advice is taken a look at all the places where you can purchase a domain if you cannot find the one that you want. You can most likely find it on places like https://flippa.com/ , http://www.namejet.com/ & https://www.sedo.com/us/home/getting-started/ to name a very few.

Definitely do a back link check and run them through http://www.removeem.com/ just to be certain that they have not been hit by a penalty. Which unfortunately if the domain is not new would be passed on to you.   Some more information.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/02/27/how-to-buy-domain-names-like-a-pro-10-tips-from-the-founder-of-phonetagcom/

Sincerely,

Thomas

[BlueprintMarketing]

Hi Jimmy,

just so you are aware.co originally was Columbia and still is the country code for Columbia Neustar the second largest domain registrar to VeriSign purchased .co to use as an abbreviation for company it was simply a collaboration between the Columbia and Neustar

Here is Matt Cutts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k0sCnzzVtNs

SEO & .co

http://www.go.co/about/seo/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.co

"Neustar has always been a partner with .CO Internet, providing registry services and infrastructure support for .co extensions, the top-level domain assigned to Colombia."

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/21/4009212/miami-tech-company-co-internet.html

Just wanted to make sure that you knew and actually was a country based TLD and they went for the money.

Sincerely,

Thomas

[Atlanta-SMO]

.com is the best by far, followed by .net and .org... I would get the .com if possible and if not, get the .net or .org... I wouldn't write them off.

[Atlanta-SMO]

You are correct in regards to the .co not helping rank for Colorado.  However .co is not for the country Columbia and made to work for everyone.  The .co extension is for company names and branding your name.  It is a global extension. .co = company

[Berner]

So last question I promise

As a rule of thumb, although .com is king, would you shy away from a .org? or .net?

Or basically its .com or nothing type of thing?

[Berner]

Great read, thank you for the suggestion

[BlueprintMarketing]

No .co will not help you rank in the state of CO

its Columba but was made to work for everyone.

Hope  that helps,

tom

[BlueprintMarketing]

Read this as well

http://moz.com/blog/next-domain-gold-rush

[Berner]

ok thank you.

On a weird note if I may ask.

I live in Colorado. many times people use the words CO to represent a city, like Colorado Springs, CO

Would a domain like example.co be worth it if the search engine look at CO possibly as a abbreviation for Colorado?

Or is this just stupid to think that way?

Thank you

[BlueprintMarketing]

The TLD you use can be worth money as far as SEO I would take .com homebuilder.com over a homebuilder.construction every day.

the power to point a .com .net .org at the country of your choice is a big SEO plus

if you can get the .com it is still #1 in the US at least.

Tom