Should I move from a local TLD (.co.il) to a generic TLD (.co)?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by jshare, Sep 5, 2016.

  1. #1
    My website is https://jobmob.co.il/. I'm wondering if I should move it to jobmob.co, which I also own.

    Here's the context:
    • jobmob.co.il domain dates to 2006, while jobmob.co dates to 2011
    • less than 5% of traffic is from Israel, while over 50% comes from USA/CAN, and I'm aiming for this to continue
    • since .co.il is the Israeli TLD, GWT forces geotargeting to Israel even though my server is in California
    • most competitor sites are .com/.net/.org, so .co.il stands out as different, although in practice, people just remember the JobMob brand
    Here are the pros and cons of moving that I know of:

    PROS
    • jobmob.co will mean a shorter domain name and urls
    • Matt Cutts said in 2011 that Google basically treats .co as a gTLD, and I could change geotargeting so that it's no longer forced to Israel (which only represents a fraction of my audience) and hopefully leading to a rise in global search traffic
    CONS

    • jobmob.co.il is much older, and domain age is a positive ranking signal
    • people confuse .co with .com, leaking traffic and misdirected email (leading to people wondering why you didn't reply) BUT this already happens to a small extent with .co.il anyway
    • switching domains is a PITA, even if done properly
    So what do you think? Should I make the switch?
     
    jshare, Sep 5, 2016 IP
  2. Rachel Beckett

    Rachel Beckett Greenhorn

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    #2
    You may redirect your .co.il website to the .co website.
     
    Rachel Beckett, Sep 6, 2016 IP
  3. jshare

    jshare Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Are you saying move the site to .co and then 301 redirect all .co.il urls?
     
    jshare, Sep 6, 2016 IP
  4. daica85

    daica85 Well-Known Member

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    #4
    I think he mean that you should use the main site with .co extension, then use 301 redirect all .co.il urls to .co
    I think so.
     
    daica85, Sep 7, 2016 IP