Top-Level-Domain and Ranking

[pothound]

Hi Everybody
What influence has the TLD on google ranking?
I am just about to start a new business and need an appropriate domain name. Unfortunately all the 'good' names for '.com' domains are gone and I was thinking to use one from the caribbean, as my office is located in the caribbean.
Thanks for any input!
Pothound

[metasynman]

The only domains that get any more credibility than others in terms of ranking are .gov, .mil & .edu. All of the others are on the same playing field in terms of SEO.

However, the TLD you choose could play heavily into your end-user credibility. Surfers tend to have more trust for .com's, .net's and .org's, and the URL's are generally easier to remember. So I tend to stay away from the .info's, .biz's, etc.

In terms of localized TLD's, using the one designated for your country / region (like the Carribbean) are great for local traffic, if that's what you're going for. But if your main customer base is going to be in the US, having a Carribbean domain "may" hurt you branding-wise. But the only thing affecting your search rankings will be the URL itself along with the rest of the site content.

[Chris Boggs]

actually this is an often confused subject. IMO Debra Mastaler said it best at SES in 2006 or 2007 when she explained as an answer to this question during a panel that I attended that the .edu and .gov TLDs only appear to be favored within the algo because they themselves have many more trusted links pointed to them. There is no conclusive evidence that a .edu domain has any more power than a .com, except the usual case that those domains as a whole have many more inbound links.

Of course, this subject is up to debate so please feel free to disagree. :)

[BasicECommerce]

In my experience, the domain name plays little importance in SEO. More than anything, the domain name plays a role in branding. You should choose a name that fits the personality of your business and one that you can brand easily.

[Chris Boggs]

good point basic but we are talking about the domain extension not the actual domain here. :)

[pothound]

Hi Everybody
Thanks a lot for your answers. Helped a lot!
I will see now if I can find a '.com' domain that reflects my business best. Because I am not sure how the users would react to a 'country' TLD.
Thanks again!
Pothound

[metasynman]

actually this is an often confused subject. IMO Debra Mastaler said it best at SES in 2006 or 2007 when she explained as an answer to this question during a panel that I attended that the .edu and .gov TLDs only appear to be favored within the algo because they themselves have many more trusted links pointed to them. There is no conclusive evidence that a .edu domain has any more power than a .com, except the usual case that those domains as a whole have many more inbound links.

Of course, this subject is up to debate so please feel free to disagree. :)

While it's true they tend to have more organic links due to being "official" sources of information, SE's can feel comfortable listing them in higher positions due to the restricted nature of the extensions as well. For example, I cannot create a personal site with a .mil or .gov domain, because I do not meet the requirements as a government agency.

On the flip side, it may very well be simply a canonical source issue. Every tax or legal web site, for example, may have specific legal records or documents on their commercial sites, but when it comes to determining content originators the SE's know that if the same document appears on a .gov site that it's the original content source.

Basically, it's down to a chicken/egg theory on whether the rankings go up because the content is on a specific domain, or if it's due to the domain's content being SEO-friendly with lots of backlinks. In either respect, those domains do tend to rank higher as canonical source sites because of their nature, whether it's strictly domain extension dependent or not. In terms of this discussion, these are not even options for the OP so saying that all domains are created equal from an SEO perspective would be fairly valid.

All things being equal, if the exact same site on a .com domain were instead on a .co.uk domain, they would be ranked the same in the algorithm unless the domain locality were taken into account. I just know I don't see very many country TLD's in most US SERP's whether it's simply the domain difference, or a general lack of foreign SEO efforts.