Does the "big G" have a hatred for dot info (.info) TLD web sites?
This was an old thread on bhw, but I still don't know, definitively. What is myth and what is truth??
My own limited past experience testing (merely) suggests, does not prove, that dot info sites are not treated as well.
Of course, there are many factors when considering what makes a site rank in the SERPs, besides the content and backlinks, many little pluses or minuses, it seems.
Mack Cuffs, or whatever the guy's name is, from that company, claimed there is no bias, in a Q&A video years back.
However, dot info sites are operated by Afilias.
How could he publicly state that a company's e-products are not treated fairly in the marketplace? He couldn't possibly, even if it WERE true. They'd have been sued!!!
And, .mil, .edu and .gov are treated differently, certainly. No? So why not dot info sites?
I always thought the .com, .net, and .org were best.
Now there's dot everything!! lol
Does anyone have any accurate testing results on the dot info thing? I have scant data that suggests dot info sites take more effort to climb, and fall faster, not that they "can't rank."
Any ideas or experiences would be much-appreciated!
And, of course, there are tons of other factors as to why a dot com might be better, such as easier recognition for users, so limit this to ranking comparisons ONLY, just so we stay in one space.
My own limited past experience testing (merely) suggests, does not prove, that dot info sites are not treated as well.
Of course, there are many factors when considering what makes a site rank in the SERPs, besides the content and backlinks, many little pluses or minuses, it seems.
Mack Cuffs, or whatever the guy's name is, from that company, claimed there is no bias, in a Q&A video years back.
However, dot info sites are operated by Afilias.
How could he publicly state that a company's e-products are not treated fairly in the marketplace? He couldn't possibly, even if it WERE true. They'd have been sued!!!
And, .mil, .edu and .gov are treated differently, certainly. No? So why not dot info sites?
I always thought the .com, .net, and .org were best.
Now there's dot everything!! lol
Does anyone have any accurate testing results on the dot info thing? I have scant data that suggests dot info sites take more effort to climb, and fall faster, not that they "can't rank."
Any ideas or experiences would be much-appreciated!
And, of course, there are tons of other factors as to why a dot com might be better, such as easier recognition for users, so limit this to ranking comparisons ONLY, just so we stay in one space.
Comments
My take on this topic is that Google is smart - and uses AI to learn. That being said,. .info domains were hammered in the past, just like .xyz domains are today.
I dont think that there is any hatred per say, but i wouldnt be surprised if there was an extra layer of suspicion or an increased "sandbox" period for cheaper TLDs
"Google is smart - and uses AI to learn."
And by now it's learned that most .info sites aren't taken quite so seriously by the owners, maybe? This could be based on so many factors, but I agree with you that by now there must be wariness about such domains.
Further, I wonder if dot info sites suffer because semantically, such sites should be purely informational, even though this is by no means a requirement for registration.
I only state this because I've seen sites that provide information ranking very well as .info, but not so much .info sites that are NOT informational in nature.
Still, these are all just guesses...not real conclusions.
My experience, which happened just today(!!), AFTER I posted this question days ago was this:
I still have a .info site from way back. (I'd never use one now to host a "money" site! ugh)
It's had a lot of work put into it. The content is A+. The socials are amazing. It's an aged domain.
I have another site that's a .com. It's had almost no SEO work done. The content is very thin. The socials are barely there.The domain is almost new.
Today, manually checking SERPs for fun, I found the .com outranking the .info for a long tail keyword, one that the .info should wayyyy outrank the .com for, if all else were equal and life made sense.
My experience is that ranking dot info sites is an uphill battle. I only have a couple of .info sites left, and they are always lagging, it seems.
Now, I have the comparison I'm looking for.
I *know* everything done for each of the sites. And I know the dot info takes a ton more work to rank, then seems to slip faster.
Is it the dot info TLD? Something else?
I am actually thinking it's just the .info and nothing more.
Tbh there are so many variables that are at play it's hard to compare site 1 vs site 2 and draw single variant conclusions.
I'd argue that .com domains are less suspected than cheaper domains but only for a temporary timeframe until a site becomes established. I agree with you that cheaper domains probably walk a thinner tight rope throughout their lifespan. Lower barrier to entry yeilds higher risk for G.
But is it really just in the past? And what if, statistically, it was more than a *few* sites?
Even still, in my experience, .info's still come up lacking, in terms of content and well...everything, a lot of the time! lol
I know I say this and people give me some .info sites that rank well and are well constructed and content-filled, but what about the rest? These few are anomalies! lol
"Tbh there are so many variables that are at play it's hard to compare site 1 vs site 2 and draw single variant conclusions. "
lol I totally agree. I'll never get an answer.
Even so, I think I'm going to take that dot info that was lagging and move it over to a dot com and draw some more false conclusions.
I think you have the most likely scenario outlined here:
"I'd argue that .com domains are less suspected than cheaper domains but only for a temporary timeframe until a site becomes established. I agree with you that cheaper domains probably walk a thinner tight rope throughout their lifespan. Lower barrier to entry yeilds higher risk for G. " -@purehustle GoliathSER.com
I have a few of the new TLDs that I'm using as money sites. I have a few .co (Columbia..what a joke everyone jumped on those a few years ago as a choice if .com wasn't available) and as long as you target the right countries it doesn't rank in Columbia only.
A domain is a very small portion of the whole game. Something I had a big arguement with a domain sitting company the other day. They have had a domain I want, a brand I'm making, and wanted £14k for it. No history, no link profile, just a .co.uk that could be a brand. I told them there was no value in it as they'd sat on it since 2004, unhosted, just re-registered every year. They got a bit angry, I took the piss out of them, and then I bought a very similar domain for £8 and the site is starting to rank for the brand and all I've done is register and host the site. And I bought the trademark which is the same as his domain.....I'll be taking that in a few months once all the checks are done
So, long-winded but yeah don't look too much into domains. I have .blue, .marketing and others and the other 99% of what makes a site rank are the most important. I once had a site in the payday niche and the domain was two numbers and then a japanese word or Chinese, no idea, made no sense and a .info and got a few sales then it got neg'd and I gave up in that industry - it's far too stressful hah.
I appreciate your accounting of your experience. Yeah; those domain hoarders are unrealistic and would rather keep their domains forever, rather than sell at what would be a realistic price. haha
Good job with getting something cheap! Screw them!! lol
I hope you have fun and success with your new venture, and that you get that domain, easily and cheaply!!
I just don't know what to think, anymore, about the whole dot info thing.
I have experimented before with changing over. I had a bunch of these, once. I *think* they do seem worse, all other factors aside. I tired to isolate other factors at the time, but still, you can never really know.
Recent experiments show...nothing conclusive. lol
But would a person ever consider going BACK to their .info??? lol
Do the SEs see it as a "step up" for a business of web site to go from a .biz or .info to a "real" TLD like a .com or .org? lol Like getting a TOLL-FREE 800 number back in the day when everything was toll calls.
The world may never know....