Am I better off buying a .com with a stopword or a .net / .org without?
-
I'm trying to decide between three domains:
mydomain.com
domain.net
domain.org- What's the latest word on if there is an actual SEO impact to the stopword or whether it is just ignored entirely?
- Further, does anyone have any insight into whether any of these domains are seen as more credible (from a searcher's standpoint)?
Thanks so much!
-
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, Alan. Have a great weekend.
-
As I've communicated in other Q&A posts here, and elsewhere, it comes down to the cumulative impact of the entire SEO factor evaluation process.
Any single factor is only as impactful as the entire picture paints. So if a site uses a .net or .org or .whatever domain, and/or the domain root is exact match, partial match or even gobbledegook, as long as the entire SEO picture is strong enough across other factors, the domain name and TLD can be whatever you want, within reason.
If it's an exact match root, regardless of TLD type, it will more likely be evaluated with close scrutiny to determine if its a spammy over-optimized site, given that Google has a specific Exact Match Domain algorithmic factor for spam. Yet plenty of sites have EMDs and do perfectly well in search because enough other signals are strong and authoritative.
Having said that, .org was originally meant to be for non-profits, so it's not ideally a best practice to use .org for a commercial business web site. And .net can be a challenge if there's already a .com with that same domain name due to user confusion and marketing challenges. So its ideal for a .com in those cases. Yet there's a similar issue when you're using a non-exact match domain name and an exact match domain name exists where the exact match version is strong in its overall SEO.
Bottom line - I always recommend that site owners not become completely lost in worrying as much about the domain naming factor because it can become paralyzing - and instead, to go with what you're comfortable with enough to move on. Then focus all your energy on making sure the overall SEO signal strength is strong regarding quality, uniqueness, authority, relevance and trust.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Are you ever handicapping yourself in search by using a subfolder over a new domain/website?
Hello Moz Community! We are building a separate hospital related to a single service line that is currently part of our main website. Traditionally all our hospitals are folded into one website with the same brand. Problem: Our organization's leaders want to market the new hospital as "Brand Name X" nationally, and not use our locally strong brand name at all. Therefore is the smarter long-term decision to begin building content on a new website with the new "Brand name X" even though it will take longer and be harder, than building it on our big, established website with a 60+ DA site? What I fear is our current website's DA won't matter much if people nationally are using Brand X, which isn't part of our traditional brand name? And they won't be using the traditional brand name at all. Example Scenario: We create a new hospital just focused on heart-related issues. Do we move the bulk of information for this new hospital from http://www.nebraskamed.com/heart, to a new website that will better rank with the new brand X and for just heart-related keywords? Or is it still better to try and stick with the same domain in a subfolder?
Branding | | Patrick_at_Nebraska_Medicine0 -
The brand drop down doesn't seem to be appearing for any brands in google.com.hk. Is it something which needs to be set up and registered, or automatically rolled out by Google?
In google.com.hk SERPs the brand drop down doesn't seem to be appearing for any brands. Is it something which needs to be set up and registered, or automatically rolled out by Google? And if so is Google just slow rolling out in this part of the world? Thanks
Branding | | seanfhutchinson0 -
In the Google search results, the company name (with the drop down arrow) next to the result URL is incorrect. The company being displayed here is a company we acquired many years back. How do I adjust/fix this?
When I search any term for my organization, we are getting good results BUT the company name, next to the results URL is of an orgnization we acquired many years back and not the name of our company. The URL is correct page JUST the company name next to this URL is incorrect on the Google search results page. How do I go about changing so the company name next to the URL ?
Branding | | DigitalNTT0 -
Rebranding/Url Structure Change
Hi Everyone, First off thanks for taking the time to looking at my question. I was wondering about rebranding and URL structure changes. Right now my company is planning on changing their domain and doing a massive change to their site which includes a url structure change. The idea is in September they will be changing the site to be a combination of wordpress and ruby on rails (currently the site is ruby on rails). The homepage and design on the site will be completely different and parts of the site will be in php and other parts will be in ruby. The URL structure will also be changing completely at the same time. Each page will be completely different in structure, including the homepage (currently now it redirects you to a subfolder page that is your local page [i.e. nyc if you are in new york]). Then, the following month, they will be changing their domain name to a different domain. I have asked them to do this in stages. First the domain, second the rebrand, and third the URL restructuring or we could lose SEO traffic but they asked a freelancer his opinion and the freelancer said that you could do the rebrand change with the URL restructure and then domain later and while you're SEO may disappear, it'll definitely return in 3 to 4 months. Could you tell me who is right and what the correct method is to make this change?
Branding | | MattJD0 -
.land extension or .com extension? Please help!
hi, its me again. I bought 2 domains for my new site I want to build. My keyword is: "BabyHazelGames" babyhazelgames.land ( for me it sounded like "the land of baby hazel" etc ) PlayHazel.com ( short .com domain, still says what the sites about ) If u check first page for this keyword u see most of the sites are EMD-s or filler partial EMD ( on .com-s)Someone told me to buy a EMD since I fight with EMD-s on first page, and its the only way I have a chance! I bought The games license, theme license and all of these. That was alot of money, and I dont want to put all my money and work on the wrong domain name. Please help me decide between these 2; Thanks!
Branding | | Catinas970 -
Will you show a case study/live analytics of Moz before and after name change?
so many people are interested these days in changing domains either for branding purposes like you did or some people believe that having an exact match domain will save the day. I believe posting any knowledge you have gained through your fantastic looking analytics system could shed light on a subject so many people seem to be asking about. Some things I would love to know regarding the amount of people that you have either gained or lost through organic search along with your ranking for the term "seo" And other things you guys must be learning along the way as well. I would also like to know your opinion of having a meter of some sort tell us just how many new people type in Moz vs seomoz I tink it would be a great topic for people to learn about branding from as well as a way to show off your new analytics. Fellow Mozers to you agree or not? ( I now see all the little tricks you guys have been putting in our head by never using seo in branding for a long time aside from of course your name) Great job on the transition. Sincerely, Thomas PS. Did Roger get a new coat of paint or did you just take him to the car wash?
Branding | | BlueprintMarketing0 -
Buying a used domain - redirecting, pluses etc?
Hi, I have a 6 year old domain which has been the basis for my main business website operation. http://www.kent-website-designer.co.uk/ Im in the process of cleaning up some messy sitewide footer kinks that come to the notice of Penguin update. I think I can clear up a lot of links but obviously need to add some better links for the future to improve. Ive gone from #1 to #60. I was thinking of a rebrand as the EMD isnt doing much good anymore in benefits plus the drop in rankings and also Google definately favouring brand links over concentrated anchor texts. So maybe the time is ideal. The design needs a refresh anyway.... I have found a 1999 .co.uk domain which has some non keyword related 1999 links to it...nice. Its a very reasonable price. Its not going to have inbounds from my related markets, not ideal but it has no negative stuff either. Also its a very simple but rememberable name like Google or Yahoo. Great for branding. Its parked but Waybackmachine shows indexing back to `99 and google cache has some content on it. However OSE shows low domain / page authority. Im thinking of redirecting my current domain to the new one, passing some of the positives of age and titles...and replicating the site through 301`s. Is this worth doing in anyones opinion? Only thing with my domain isany branding words are anchor text words too. I cant win.
Branding | | xtopher660 -
Separate social media accounts for 1 biz w/ multiple locations?
I'm managing a hospital that is acquiring several locations. Are there advantages to having a Facebook and Twitter account for each location? Or is it SEO smart to use one account for discussing all properties? Thank you,
Branding | | GravitateMCC0