.info Question about validity of .info names

[markfromslo]

I have a city name with a .info TLD, that is very highly searched. I'd like to build an informational site with it, but I keep banging up against people that tell me that it's a hugely bad idea to use .info. Assume it's Denver.info for this conversation (it's not); people are saying I should instead use DenverInformation.com or something to that effect.

What I don't get is that there are some great .info sites and seem to not have any problems. Take a look at the premiere tourism site for Spain, Spain.info, a PR8 site.

It seems to me that if someone were searching for my city name, assuming both (assume Denver again, for an example) Denver.info and DenverInformation.com came up on the same page I'd be more attracted to Denver.info. I guess it's because it seems more difficult to acquire Denver.info than Denver(anything else).com, and so feels more "official."

 

[gazzip]

I don't see what the problem is with developing a pure city/country .info, like you said it works just fine for Spain :tu:.

There's probably not much chance its ever going to earn much if you don't develop it....being a .info

At the moment search engines don't care what extension it is, as far as I can tell.

I'd just go ahead and develop it TBH



.

 

[gpmgroup]

.info is beginning to get some nice unique sites.

http://www.webometrics.info/ is a PR8 too
http://www.godaddygirls.com/ is being used as a redirect by Bob Parsons
http://www.virtualization.info/ Technology site
http://www.oscommerce.info/ Open Source Reference
http://www.davidmiliband.info/ UK Foreign Secretary
http://www.cdnn.info/ News site for diving
http://www.sapling.info/ Architecture, Planning & Landscape

Lots of places now

http://www.peru.info/
http://www.germany.info/
http://www.moscow.info/
http://www.falklands.info/

right down to small towns

http://www.visitcheltenham.info/
http://www.visitkintyre.info/

There are 10s of denversomethingelses.com that make sense there is only 1 denver.info

 

[VisionEdger]

a .info is my biggest traffic domain.

 

[markfromslo]

Thanks, all very encouraging. I'm interested in doing something with the [city name].info name I have. It's a tourist destination with OVT of around 100K/month. Seems like there must be some money in it if I worked on it.

(Also have telescope.info among others)

 

[dbtbandit67]

it depends how far you plan on going with development, and how serious you are about the site. because any domain in any extension has potential. nobody thought that when google and ebay were sold as domains they'd eventually turn out the way that they did.

but the reason why people are telling you not to go with .info is maybe their assuming (and i wouldn't know the answer, you tell me) that you are a domainer/developer. which means that you wouldn't exert the kind of energy into your site as you would be if you were running a business. like it would be a passive site, with ok articles, that you want to get up and running but you'd eventually leave alone.

and if that's the case, the .info extension hurts you greatly. .com's benefit the most in giving domains indexing advantages on static content. especially if the term is an unabridged direct-match of the search term. .net/org enjoy similar benefits

but your .info site, you'd very much have to be passionate about the site, and keep it updated, lots of terrific info, for that extension to work out to your favor (after all, .info domains are way cheaper than dot com domains)

so it depends where you want to go

 

[Corey]

slobizman there are many arm chair critics here...
unfortunately there seems to be a negative vibe throughout the forum at the moment

end users of your site are not considered with what extension it is
it is your domain name your decision.

My 2cents worth....is go for it
I have many .info's and an information site on Washington DC
www.20001.info

Hope that helps

Cheers
Corey

 

[markfromslo]

Thanks dbtbandit for your thoughts. Yes, this is a site that I would put a huge amount of effort into. I would think that with that said, with high quality pages, it would not matter if the name were dfdjfkdjdjfkdjf.info or whatever to the search engines (I think). So it comes down to 1) does .info hurt me at all if the site is very, very good and authoritative? If it does not, I would think that cityname.info would "sound" and "look" better than any other .com name I would come up with because it is so obvious as to what the site would be about, and might have that official sound to it.

On another note, I'm wondering if in the future, there will be a .info name for most citys, states, countries. It just kind of sounds logical. If so, it could be a valuable name in itself. But this is probably wishful thinking.

 

[bluearrow]

Check the http://www.spain.info/ Its a site about tourism I think. TLD wouldn't be a problem if you have a good plan and willing to complete it.

 

[Michael]

Go for it, don't listen to .info haters. Having the exact keyword is a major plus when developing. Search engines sometimes see inexpensive tlds as spammer havens, so I would recommend renewing the domain several years into the future if you haven't already.

Make sure when you create the site to use other related searches in the url. Some common ones for cities would look like:

www.denver.info/jobs
www.denver.info/hotels
www.denver.info/real-estate
www.denver.info/news
www.denver.info/travel
www.denver.info/restaurants

That'll help you dominate the serps. Then throw up a hotel affiliate, an airline affiliate, and some directory software. Sell ad space and directory listings to local businesses once you're getting solid traffic, and you're good to go.

 

[markfromslo]

Thanks Michael. I've heard people tell me that having the exact keyword as the domain name does not help in SEO at all--it's just what's no the page. I wish I knew the real answer for certain.

By the way, the .com version of the city name is the local newspaper, so it will never be a real travel-oriented, SEO-optimized site to compete with me. The .org is for sale. The .net and .us are just parked. Seems like a good time to strike.

Yeah, I guess to put a site like this together I simply need to get a platform up and just start writing. I've looked and looked for a good platform for something like this in the past, something that is built for this, and have not been able to find anything of quality. I'm willing to pay good money for such a platform. I know I can get a Drupal designer and have it done but man, these guys are hard to find available even in this economy. I know Wordpress, but it's probably too limited (although I've thought about simply doing a WP magazine with this name, tons and tons of articles that can get searched). I did see eDirectory.com, which I guess is the absolute best directory. I can pay for them to load the directory with business listings ready to go. The software is pricey, but I'd pay for it, but I'm not sure how flexible it is beyond the directory. How easy to add lots of other information?

I could probably use a consultant that knows city sites.

 

[Work In Progress]

Thanks Michael. I've heard people tell me that having the exact keyword as the domain name does not help in SEO at all--it's just what's no the page. I wish I knew the real answer for certain.

Well, if you google:

new hairstyles,

you'll see what many here consider a "lowly" , "worthless" mobi page 1, #2 in results for something that's searched for pretty often

Yahoo also has it page 1, a little further down

I've found this to be holding true with many of my developed names. Go for it. You'll be glad you did!

 

[gpmgroup]

and if that's the case, the .info extension hurts you greatly. .com's benefit the most in giving domains indexing advantages on static content. especially if the term is an unabridged direct-match of the search term. .net/org enjoy similar benefits

This is so wrong on many levels. Google at al. have stated several times publicly that they do not give advantage to .com or any other extension.

Can you seriously imagine that with all of Google's Phd's, processing power and computational analysis that they would say hey lets blanket rank xyz.com above xyz.info? It's just an urban myth

 

[gazzip]

Thanks Michael. I've heard people tell me that having the exact keyword as the domain name does not help in SEO at all--it's just what's no the page. I wish I knew the real answer for certain.
.

I don't buy that one TBH, type into Google d u b a i t i m e s h a r e s without the spaces between the letters but a space between the two words...like a human would :hehe:

I'm seeing my page/domain as number one in Google (here in the UK) and its just one crappy page with links to other news articles, if you type in the non-plural which is probably more common I am at about number 6

Another similar one I own has been number one in Google for well over a year and I have'nt touched it for ages.

My personal feeling is that the benefits of a keyword domain for SEO is a bigger bonus than the type in traffic it "may recieve" (other than one word and a few two word domains).

Google likes good page titles and a sitemap too !

I'v had a similar experience with a spanky new .eu in MSN (not Google) that stayed at number one for over a year (and earned many many times its reg fee) but it dropped off the scale after that and now only earns about 4 x reg fee each month with affilate links.


Don't listen to too many nay sayers, test it out yourself :tu:


.

 

[soggyindo]

i say go for it, too. remember algorithms aren't set in stone. having an exact match for the city - in a sensible extension - is a great asset. if any algorithm bias exists, you'll just wish you started earlier when it changes.

even if you put a quick site up while you think about it, you won't regret it.

:tu:

 

[markfromslo]

I guess a big question is also, what do people tink the future of .info is? I think it's going to be getting better. I'm getting lots of offers on ino names of mine, and not low ball offers either.

(Anyone know anyone that might be a consultant for building a city site? A real expert"

 

[gazzip]

..a couple more country ones developed, they may not get nowhere near as much type in traffic as a .com but they don't cost millions either !

www.austria.info

www.slovenia.info



.

 

[markfromslo]

Thanks for those. I'm thinking that in the future, people will almost expect that there be an .info site like these for each city, state and country.

I'd like to build a site like either of those two you mentioned. I've tried in the past to find a script that is developed with this in mind, but have yet to find one. Anyone have any ideas? I'm steered to Drupal often, but it seems nearly impossible to ever find anyone that is any good that is available for a price that is not outrageous.

..a couple more country ones developed, they may not get nowhere near as much type in traffic as a .com but they don't cost millions either !

www.austria.info

www.slovenia.info



.

Anyone have any idea of how much the owner of a site like those could make? The city I am thinking of doing this with has an OVT of 100K and it s tourist town. I could devote nearly full time to it if it was a moneymaker.

..a couple more country ones developed, they may not get nowhere near as much type in traffic as a .com but they don't cost millions either !

www.austria.info

www.slovenia.info

.

 

[gpmgroup]

You may be able to learn a lot from these guys
www,associatedcities.com

Once a good site appears there are lots of developments around it just like .com

http://www.in-spain.info/
http://www.thisisspain.info/
http://www.tastespain.info/
http://www.sansebastianspain.info/
http://www.bikespain.info/
http://www.study-spanish-in-spain.info/
http://www.murciaspain.info/
http://www.buypropertyspain.info/
http://www.costabravaspain.info/
http://www.ibizaspain.info/

With regards the future quite a few really nice Geo names were tied up with people claiming trademarks the were unable to prove. Afiilias has applied to be allowed to redistribute these names. Some of which are quite valuable so that process should generate quite a bit of buzz when it gets approval. Hopefully it should lead to some prime .info real estate being developed.

 

[Domagon]

If you're going to be relying mostly on search engine traffic, then go for it.

Furthermore, geographic names / destinations are especially well suited to .info.

Ron