undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. Research & Trends
  3. Algorithm Updates
  4. Non .Com or .Co Versus .ca or .fm sites - In terms of SEO value

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Non .Com or .Co Versus .ca or .fm sites - In terms of SEO value

Algorithm Updates
5
8
3.5k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • Chaits
    Chaits last edited by Aug 21, 2012, 2:04 PM

    We are launching a new site with a non traditional top level domain . We were looking at either .ca or .in as we are not able to get the traditional .com or .co or .net etc .

    I was wondering if this has any SEO effect ? Does Google/Bing treat this domain differently .Will it be penalized ?

    Note : My site is a US based site targeting US audience

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • gfiorelli1
      gfiorelli1 @RobertFisher last edited by Sep 14, 2012, 2:38 PM Sep 14, 2012, 2:38 PM

      Mmm.... try to use a termination which is not a country level one. .CA or .IN automatically are targeting they respective countries and you can't avoid the inconviences of that geotargetization if not doing an huge link building in your real target country.

      Try to check out other generic termination (avoind cc.which is banned by Google)

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • topic:timeago_earlier,24 days
      • RobertFisher
        RobertFisher last edited by Aug 21, 2012, 4:47 PM Aug 21, 2012, 4:47 PM

        Chait

        I think there are really two questions you should ask: the one re SEO effect, Google/Bong, etc. and, how they are perceived.

        As to Google others have stated correctly there is no penalty. I am not sure that using a .ca/.in is wise even if you are US based, use US server, and make correct geotarget selections in GWMT.  The reason is not Google/SEO per se, but perception. 
        It is a given that in some countries, having a cc tld that is different is not wise due to bias. A documented one is the French bias in Europe (no hate mail please, my son was born in Paris - yes France, not Texas). In the US, as open minded as half of us seem to be, there will always be a bias if someone knows the .in is India and there may well be one with .ca especially if you are in more northern states that are more likely to see it.

        So, you have to factor all in and then ask: "Why am I going this way?" Is whatever domain name so critical that you are willing to sacrifice for it? Have you considered using hyphens?

        We do a lot with EMD's using hyphens and without. At the same time, I believe many over emphasize EMD and could spend time and energy better elsewhere. Is there a second best EMD and then spend all the energy on something else SEO?

        I cannot imagine, short of a known and, likely, very well known brand where I would risk a .ca or .in in the US for that EMD.

        Good Luck, let us know what direction you take and how it works,

        Robert

        gfiorelli1 1 Reply Last reply Sep 14, 2012, 2:38 PM Reply Quote 1
        • Chaits
          Chaits @YvonneMartin last edited by Aug 21, 2012, 2:40 PM Aug 21, 2012, 2:40 PM

          Thank You for the answers . To extend this discussion further (to help me and others interested)

          http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1347922&topic=2371325&ctx=topic

          Google apparantly treats some ccTLDs (such as .tv, .me, etc.) as gTLD

          .as
          .bz
          .cc
          .cd
          .co
          .dj
          .fm
          .la
          .me
          .ms
          .nu
          .sc
          .sr
          .tv
          .tk
          .ws
          
          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • YvonneMartin
            YvonneMartin last edited by Aug 21, 2012, 2:24 PM Aug 21, 2012, 2:24 PM

            Google should not penalize you for using .in or .ca however  like William said Google may give top priority to the .com version of your site especially because you are targeting the USA and your SEO effort will benefit the.com more than it will benefit you especially with branded names and direct traffic. Hope this helps.

            Chaits 1 Reply Last reply Aug 21, 2012, 2:40 PM Reply Quote 0
            • William.Lau
              William.Lau @Chaits last edited by Aug 21, 2012, 2:23 PM Aug 21, 2012, 2:20 PM

              It won't rank you as well. Penalize too harsh of a word. You will still rank but your rankings increase much more if you have a TLD, .com, .net, .org.

              Of course these statements can be irrelevant if the site is a viral site. But even bit.ly moved to bitly.com(not exact reason why they changed though).

              EDIT: Not to mention that the .ca or .in could be liable for Canada and India laws respectively.

              But hey, if you are looking for business in Canada or India, it would be an awesome domain!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Chaits
                Chaits @William.Lau last edited by Aug 21, 2012, 2:17 PM Aug 21, 2012, 2:17 PM

                So if I understand you correctly .. Google will Penalize me when ranking(in the US) when I have .in or .ca

                Is the above a fair statement

                William.Lau 1 Reply Last reply Aug 21, 2012, 2:20 PM Reply Quote 0
                • William.Lau
                  William.Lau last edited by Aug 21, 2012, 2:07 PM Aug 21, 2012, 2:07 PM

                  .com would be best but .ca and .in will most likely not work well if your target is in US.

                  .ca and .in is used and definitely considered when ranking. I suggest you come up with another variation of the domain and get a .com.

                  One of the main problems I can see off the bat is that the current owners of the sites .com, .net might already have a huge presence and it will hinder majority of your efforts because you will most likely never beat out the .com(unless its nonexistent or spam).

                  Chaits 1 Reply Last reply Aug 21, 2012, 2:17 PM Reply Quote 0
                  • 1 / 1
                  1 out of 8
                  • First post
                    1/8
                    Last post

                  Got a burning SEO question?

                  Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                  Start my free trial


                  Browse Questions

                  Explore more categories

                  • Moz Tools

                    Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                  • SEO Tactics

                    Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                  • Community

                    Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                  • Digital Marketing

                    Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                  • Research & Trends

                    Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                  • Support

                    Connect on product support and feature requests.

                  • See all categories

                  Related Questions

                  • fabx

                    About porn sites and ranking

                    Hello, I'm thinking to extend my website into porn. At the moment there is no pornography on it, although we do talk about sex related topics and products (from dating to tutorials, to toys etc.) Would it be dangerous to keep the porn section on the same domain as the rest? Would this negatively affect my non-porn content as Googlebot would "flag" my website as being pornographic (although only a few pages would be)? Or simply Googlebot would leave the current non-porn pages ranking as they are now, just fine, and plus it would rank the porn pages if they "deserve" to? I hope my question is clear. I don't want to create a subdomain.

                    Algorithm Updates | Dec 6, 2019, 5:31 AM | fabx
                    0
                  • SallieJ

                    How important are author bios to SEO?

                    I'm trying to understand the importance of author bios to Google and its latest algorithms. Some say author bios affect rankings, but others say that has not been specifically stated by Google — but it does affect the user experience. Anyone have input on this? Thanks!

                    Algorithm Updates | Jul 30, 2019, 10:27 AM | SallieJ
                    0
                  • NBJ_SM

                    Our Sites Organic Traffic Went Down Significantly After The June Core Algorithm Update, What Can I Do?

                    After the June Core Algorithim Update, the site suffered a loss of about 30-35% of traffic. My suggestions to try to get traffic back up have been to add metadata (since the majority of our content is lacking it), as well ask linking if possible, adding keywords to alt images, expanding and adding content as it's thin content wise. I know that from a technical standpoint there are a lot of fixes we can implement, but I do not want to suggest anything as we are onboarding an SEO agency soon. Last week, I saw that traffic for the site went back to "normal" for one day and then saw a dip of 30% the next day. Despite my efforts, traffic has been up and down, but the majority of organic traffic has dipped overall this month. I have been told by my company that I am not doing a good job of getting numbers back up, and have been given a warning stating that I need to increase traffic by 25% by the end of the month and keep it steady,  or else. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it realistic and/or possible to reach that goal?

                    Algorithm Updates | Jul 5, 2024, 7:47 AM | NBJ_SM
                    2
                  • FPK

                    Dramatic drop in SEO rankings after recovering from hacking

                    A few months ago my client's website was hacked which created over 20,000+ spammy links on the site. I dealt with removing the malware and got google to remove the malware warning shortly within a week of the hacking. Then started the long process to do 301 redirects and disavowing links under Webmaster tools over these few months. The hacking only caused a slight drop in rankings at the time. Now just as of last week the site had a dramatic drop in rankings. When doing a keyword search I noticed the homepage doesn't even get listed on Google Maps and for Google Search instead the inner pages like the Contact Us page show up instead of the homepage. Does anyone have any insight to the sudden drop happening now and why the inner pages are ranking higher than the homepage now?

                    Algorithm Updates | Feb 15, 2017, 2:39 PM | FPK
                    0
                  • RizwanAkbar

                    Is it a good idea to 301 redirect one same niche site towards another site for seo benefit

                    Hello friends, I have 2 android niche sites, one site is running on a technology dropped domain i catch 1 year ago it has, almost 400+ domains linking to different parts of the site, the other one i established from scratch and both are running from jan 2015. Now i want to redirect first site which already has 400 links pointing towards it to the home page of my 2nd android site. Is it a good idea to do so and does it give any boost in terms of seo?

                    Algorithm Updates | Feb 8, 2016, 2:29 PM | RizwanAkbar
                    0
                  • JordanRussell

                    Does adding lots of new content on a site at one time actually hurt you?

                    When speaking with a client today, he made the comment that he didn't want all of the new content we'd been working to be added to the site all at once for fear that he would get penalized for flooding the site with new content. I don't have any strong data to confirm or refute the claim, is there any truth to it?

                    Algorithm Updates | Jul 31, 2013, 7:55 AM | JordanRussell
                    0
                  • DGM

                    Is .co worth the time?

                    Is it worth the time and money to invest in .co?

                    Algorithm Updates | Apr 10, 2013, 11:38 AM | DGM
                    0
                  • HelpingHandNetwork

                    How do you block incoming links to your site?

                    With the new update to google focusing on link spam and multiple anchor text ? If you have incoming links that you would like to block or make no follow?

                    Algorithm Updates | May 2, 2012, 5:33 PM | HelpingHandNetwork
                    1

                  Get started with Moz Pro!

                  Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                  Start my free trial
                  Products
                  • Moz Pro
                  • Moz Local
                  • Moz API
                  • Moz Data
                  • STAT
                  • Product Updates
                  Moz Solutions
                  • SMB Solutions
                  • Agency Solutions
                  • Enterprise Solutions
                  Free SEO Tools
                  • Domain Authority Checker
                  • Link Explorer
                  • Keyword Explorer
                  • Competitive Research
                  • Brand Authority Checker
                  • Local Citation Checker
                  • MozBar Extension
                  • MozCast
                  Resources
                  • Blog
                  • SEO Learning Center
                  • Help Hub
                  • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                  • How-to Guides
                  • Moz Academy
                  • API Docs
                  About Moz
                  • About
                  • Team
                  • Careers
                  • Contact
                  Why Moz
                  • Case Studies
                  • Testimonials
                  Get Involved
                  • Become an Affiliate
                  • MozCon
                  • Webinars
                  • Practical Marketer Series
                  • MozPod
                  Connect with us

                  Contact the Help team

                  Join our newsletter
                  Moz logo
                  © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                  • Accessibility
                  • Terms of Use
                  • Privacy

                  Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.