Hi guys ... Comparing the exact domain, can a .CC domain compete with a COM domain ? For Google SEO, are there any real differences at all ? Thanks
It all depends on the geo-location factors involved. All of the major search engines give a great deal of weight to geo-location in their ranking methods. Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) are automatically seen as having a geo-location in the respective country. Generic TLDs (.com, .net, .org, .info...) are normally assigned a geo-location based on the physical location of the server that hosts the site. Google allows webmasters to select a target country for generic TLDs, but they're the only ones so far. The search engines tend to show sites that have a geo-location that matches the search engine user. So users will rarely see sites in the search results whose ccTLD or whose geo-location on generic TLDs do not match their location. This is why, for example, US-based users infrequently see ccTLDs in the search results. As I say, geo-location is a major ranking factor and is tough to overcome with other ranking factors. It can be done, but it isn't easy. If your business has an international market, it's often best to create separate domains for the most important target countries. But you have to be careful to make each site as unique as possible to avoid duplicate content issues.
Hi! very good answer. You are really a SEO expert. Have given you positive reputation. Also, I believe that if you are not sure then it's better to choose .com domain as it is a highly respected TLD and search engines give a lot of weightage to it.
rainborick - that was one of the cleanest explanations I've seen so far - in any thread I've looked at. Thank you! You are not only an SEO expert, you're an excellent teacher.
it doesnt metter if it`s ends with cc or com. i know the .info are problematic to the search engines and in the past considered as a spam because everyobe bought them.
I've read at least three threads today on this topic. banana8, I'm not sure if anyone has an indisputable answer for you but I would certainly choose a Generic TLD over ccLTD unless the site catered to a specific reason. Using .us in the US seems pretty redundant to me.