does domain extension really matter?

.com .info .co.uk and tons of other extensions does anybody really know if they make a difference? Obviously hosting in canada and having a canadian domain name will likely improve your rankings in google canada but in GENERAL terms does it make a difference?

 

Yes, take a look and you will see that .com is the best domain. Always the top sites are from there. IS it a coincidence? Maybe yes maybe no, but still .com is the best domain. IF you have .ca then you will have visitors only from Canada. Use it only if the content is only local for canadians.

 

I think you answered you own question - .co.uk and UK hosting will tend to rank better in the UK search results.

 

Yes, it makes difference . I have read an interview of google staff . (I promise I had read that)
They even say google bot prefers sites with open source technology. (eg. linux , apache server, php and other open source technologies which can be judged by google bot)

 

id go with .com unless your targeting a specific geo location.. like uk or ca ect..

but in all fairness ive had good results with .org and .info they all do great with proper back linking but if u have any doubt just go with the .com

 

go for .com or .net .org unless you want to target a particular country.

If you try to set your location in google webmaster tools with a .co.uk it will tell you it is already set for UK and not let you change it ... or at least it won't let me do so

 

I thought there were limitations on buying .org domains? Or am I completely wrong?

 

There are limitations to .edu and .gov, mil etc
not .org although usually .org is for non profit reasons.

 

But isnt not for profit charity? Can a business acquire a .org address (not from a dropped domain)

 

>org was originally intended for Organizations. But now, you don't have any restrictions.

I have adult sites with .org extension and I don't run them for charity.

-Neo

 

Neo you must be VERY naughty after all! thanks for the info

 

yes, i think it is matter, choose a special domain, and you will get good rank in special place.

 

For example something like blondes.com would be taken but if you're targeting a specific word LIKE blondes simply finding an extension that would be open would be better than going with a blondes1234.com

Obviously blondes is a very broad term and is an example.

 

Technically the domain extension should not matter, i.e. an upstanding .com should rank equally to an upstanding .ws -- but I've never seen it.

I've fought with getting .net's to rank high, and I've done little work on some .com's and have had them rank high. At this point in life, I have been dropping all of my .net and .us domains and have been replacing them with .com's.

Another strange thing is the rumor about .org's ranking high, I've been seeing that quite a bit lately. I just hate .org and would never use it for something commerce related..

 

yeah it really matters... . com is for generally an extension for business related site... .org is non profit like what have discussed above... .gov is for government .net is for a big network .info is for information related site

 

Extension dont make much different on SRP. The only different i know is it might have slightly effect on the niche, so extension is good for certain niche and .com is more general compare to other extension

 

In the case of SE does not matter. All domains are same to them. But for browsers better .com. bcz all will search for .com only

 

i got .com .net .cc domains.. but sad to say my .net domains tops all.. ..so i think it doesn't matter at all..

 

For a specific country, use the proper domain (com.mx for Mexico, pero example or co.uk), for international use .com
Yes it matters

 

It's all based on the content and backlinks quality, however domain extension should help when targeting specific countries...

But in my opinion you could rank any domain in Google.com no matter what it's extension.