Hey guys, I'm not sure about this so I'll ask. I've found two high search volume combinations (600K in total between them) available in the .cc extension. Both of them. Websites that are ranking first are not that strong when it comes to link popularity or page rank. Mainly PR4 or even PR3 so I think I can outrank them fast. I know that an exact match old gTLD is always better but can't really afford to buy it (I've mailed the owners of .com and .net version, both keyword combinations, but I expect some $xxxx or even $xx.xxx requests so that's not possible for me right now) so I think I should get one of the .cc and optimize it for the two combinations I want to rank for. They go perfect together so it's quite easy to combine them in the title tag. 100% natural. Questions are: 1. Should I make something up (websites that are ranking on first page are mostly keyword rich so I guess I can register something like that, maybe a one or two letter prefix) and get the .com version? 2. Should I reg. first combination (.cc) which gets about 200K search volume in total but is shorter than the second one? 3. Should I reg. the second one (.cc again) which is longer but with double search volume? If .cc isn't somehow of a lesser value in the eyes of google I'll get it right now (for the exact match factor), but if it turns out that it's not a good choice, I don't want to spend double time building it up, I'll make a keyword rich .com and build that one instead. All of the sites on page one are keyword rich (not one is an exact match) so I think maybe it's better to build up a .com (also if I decide to sell it I guess I'll get better offers for a high traffic .com instead of .cc). Help me out please
The important question is which regional version of Google are you hoping to rank well in? It is always best, where possible, to go for the TLD of that region (ie. .co.uk for UK, .co.nz for NZ, .com.au for AU, etc.)...however, as most English speaking markets are pretty web savvy these days there is the problem that most keyword focused domains are already taken and most likely being held at ransom by domain squatters. Without knowing which market you want to optimise for I would always advise to go for the .com as its top level everywhere, unlike .cc which would only be top level within its own region...the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Yes, I was afraid of that... .com isn't a problem, I already have few different variations to choose from (I'm really creative and fast with finding meaningful keyword rich availables) and I guess I'll do that. I was thinking later on if I decide to sell it (high traffic website when ranked for those two phrases or even some more additional ones) it would be far easier to sell a .com domain name than .cc I'm targeting mainly US english market, that is people who are searching through google.com not .co.uk or something like that (of course I would like to rank well in those too). What about .us? Do you know some high ranked (competitive keywords) .us sites? Nah, I just checked, even .us three keyword domains are gone, it's better for me to work in the .com version.