What do people think?

[harryboon]

I just want people opinions on this one and any advice - what does everyone thing about the new .co domains? Will they work well if hosted in the UK? or are they more for the US market, or does it not matter?

Anyway fire away! :D

[SteveHolmes]

Originally they were for Columbia.

If you want to target the uk then you really want a .co.uk domain followed by a .org.uk.

Recently Google gave the .co domain "international" authority.

[seo next]

co is a must have if you already have a good site doing well in .co.uk ..

[fisicx]

co is a must have if you already have a good site doing well in .co.uk ..
Why?

If your site is already ranking well what advantage is there in buying the co except to redirect. Does this means you also need the info, net, me, com und so weiter?

[seo next]

Why?

If your site is already ranking well what advantage is there in buying the co except to redirect. Does this means you also need the info, net, me, com und so weiter?

If you care about your brand they i would say so because otherwise you can have some random guy ranking on your company name just below you...

[harryboon]

Ok so if you have a .co domain for a uk business will it still work as well as a .co.uk or .com? It's always good to protect your brand but people don't hence why I have some great names now lol

[SteveHolmes]

Google said they will give it international status, that's all they have said. I think it will be similar quality to a .net or .org.

I fi was trying to rank locally I would want domains in this order.

1.co.uk
2.org.uk
3.com
4.net
5.org

Next perhaps .co - I have friends who have spent fortunes buying .co's and they are the best in the business so, must be a reason.

[harryboon]

Same here many clients of mine have spend a fortune as well. I think I will do some test sites

[fisicx]

If you care about your brand they i would say so because otherwise you can have some random guy ranking on your company name just below you...
So what? The can't pass off so it doesn't it really matter. If someone is searching for your company name then all sorts of weird stuff turns up in the SERPs, you can't control it. If you begin to get paranoic about brand identity then you will become obsessed with buying every possible tld instead of the more important activitiy of making money.

[zookx]

Unless the general public become aware of .co domains they aren't going to become worth much.

For the cost I guess they might be worth owning in 5 years or so, As it is if you stick with your main domains and make sure your site is of value and well optimised I can't see the point.

[I, Brian]

Don't care about .co domains anymore than I cared about .info, .tel, .mobi. Does anyone really care except a few domainers?

[bobagump]

Over the last 10 years there came so many domain endings, and there will be a massive load more to come...Who cares. As long as users and Googlebot can access your domainname/content fast...its all cool.

[NellyUK]

.co doesnt account for much - imoa.

TLD's (top level domains) in my experience the listing order would look like this



.com
.org
.net
.co.uk (or you country extension)

But above all well structured sites with Quality, Relevant, Content is key irrespective of your extension (although it does help) and that's where a lot of folks go wrong.

There are a lot of other governing factors but research and a marketing budget / plan is THE KEY to online succcess and THE most crucial element you must have covered before you've even built a site and any one or web design company that tells you different you need to walk away - well imoa

[Codefixer]

I'd be more interested in creating sites with good information and good services that people are interested.

Buying every new extension that comes onto the market just leaves you with a host of domains names with thin content to put on and recurring bills.

Provided you're targetting the right market with the right tld, Google isn't interested in the extension as much as the quality of the site.

[sirearl]

Google said they will give it international status, that's all they have said. I think it will be similar quality to a .net or .org.

I fi was trying to rank locally I would want domains in this order.

1.co.uk
2.org.uk
3.com
4.net
5.org

Next perhaps .co - I have friends who have spent fortunes buying .co's and they are the best in the business so, must be a reason.

Try

co,uk
com
net
org
org.uk

Earl

[NellyUK]

I'd be more interested in creating sites with good information and good services that people are interested.

Spot on

Buying every new extension that comes onto the market just leaves you with a host of domains names with thin content to put on and recurring bills.

Ah - but restricts the competition from having a domain as your kw & besides Id pay $7 a year to keep the competition at bay! Then redirect those domains to my main domain - no need for "thin content" put content on your main site, makes sense - then look at a very competitive market, you will often find that if you conduct a little research - "whois" search for eg that the smart marketeers have acquired the .com .org etc etc extensions - because at this moment in time google does place more weight on exact match domains - think about it - if i search for "red shoes" and in the results you have a choice of


redshoes.com
blueshoes.com
shoes.com

the domain tells us that they all sells shoes - but which would you say has more relevancy in my quest to find red shoes? which are you most likely to click on?

Which leads me on to Niche & micro niche sites - you can look in very competitive markets and you will find in (most cases) that the top 5 kw's its a dog fight, the competition is tough, they are spending thousands to stay at the top but just under the radar you will find a host of kw's that no one is bothering about, takes less effort and little money to rank for and is very profitable - but it all boils down to RESEARCH!

Provided you're targetting the right market with the right tld, Google isn't interested in the extension as much as the quality of the site.

agree

[DanHaynes]

I looked at our .co domain. It will cost £18 for a year. Not a lot, but really it's a complete waste of money, and the domain has no value. Effectively we would just be donating money to the Columbian government, and to the domain registrar etc. I would rather just give that money straight to some charity.