Changing Domain from .COM to .US - Negative Effects on Traffic from Google?

Discussion in 'Google' started by EGS, Aug 30, 2010.

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  1. #1
    Hello, I have a really bizarre question.

    Will changing my site's domain from a .COM to a .US domain name negatively affect my site's traffic from Google? I've heard that gTLDs - and .US being a gTLD - can negatively impact your site's rankings in major search engines particularly Google, and my site is my eBusiness and I get thousands of unique visitors per day and I rely on that traffic for my business.

    I don't want to have any problems and I still want to serve my international customers by having my international traffic inaffected. The majority of my traffic does come from Google, so can anyone please tell me if it will have negative effects on my site changing from a .COM to a .US domain in Google? :confused:

    I hope a someone here had a big .com or major TLD site (good amount of traffic) that did this or something similar and can tell me their experience. Any & all knowledge - experience or not - would greatly help & be appreciated! :eek:
     
    EGS, Aug 30, 2010 IP
  2. RightMan

    RightMan Notable Member

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    #2
    I would not dare to change .com to .us as it would surely affect my serp position for international search. I would instead look to build a similar but another site on .us extension... keeping the .com site intact! :)

    Why take such a risk... particularly when an easy alternative is available! :)

    Regards,

    RightMan
     
    RightMan, Aug 30, 2010 IP
  3. besho2222

    besho2222 Peon

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    #3
    Totally with RightMan keep your .com intact and make another .us specialized, if you changed your .com your ranking on google.com will still the same but on google.com.xx will be affected , so when you make another .us, and make a small redirect (for example from a section on your website) to this .us, you're gonna be in great SERP position on Google.com, and Google.com.xx :D
     
    besho2222, Aug 30, 2010 IP
  4. raid

    raid Peon

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    #4
    I agree with the above 2..

    I would NOT risk losing a lot of traffic. Also, besho's idea is pretty good.
     
    raid, Aug 30, 2010 IP
  5. zhouleiaill

    zhouleiaill Peon

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    #5
    The 303 aliases (cname.
     
    zhouleiaill, Aug 30, 2010 IP
  6. DoDo Me

    DoDo Me Peon

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    #6
    DO NOT CHANGE.

    if .com change to .uk for UK market, then ok, but for US market, .com is the best
     
    DoDo Me, Aug 31, 2010 IP
  7. blings

    blings Peon

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    #7
    Correct, but if you are obsessed with the .us extension, you can still have the domain under the extension and just redirect it to the .com version. Use permanent 301 redirect if you'll gonna take this suggestion. This way, you will not be in any trouble with your visitors and most especially with your rankings and to search engines.
     
    blings, Aug 31, 2010 IP