I am going to develop a site that will get its traffic mostly from search engines. I have the domain "keyword.net" but I wonder if a .net domain will rank worse than a .com domain so I am also considering "thekeyword.com" i.e. with a "the" before the keyword. Which would you choose and why?
I would probably have to say the .net because a shorter domain gets people to return. You must also consider that for a website to be successful. it does not only need a good domain name. To be placed high in google's search ranks, you must have a lot of out-going links and other pages linking to you. You must make the site text and not all graphics, and add as much content as possible.
i ever heard that dot com domain more efective than dot net...... Best TLD for SEO : - .gov - . edu - .com - .net - .org - .info
I have had mixed advice about whether a .org or a .com domain is better for SEO. Please can i get some advice
TLD does not affect SEO per se. Its about brandability, memorability and so on, more generic online marketing factors. For me it would depend on the exact case in piont and whether it makes sense to put the before it.
TLD should not influence search rankings. However, visitors tend to goto .com domains by default as they are the most popular ones around.
As thedufushi said, the .net has as good a chance of ranking as the .com It basically comes down to your personal preference between .net and .com. Assuming you cannot acquire the .com, I'd probably go for the .net, although that decision hinges heavily on what I would plan to do with the site.