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Strength of info domains in SEO

Strength of info domains in SEO
Jul 20, 2009

Websites with the .info domains have, in their relatively short existence, been associated with bogus websites and spam emails (some servers block all email coming from .info addresses!). Despite this, some people are now beginning to argue that with many users becoming more 'internet savvy' and looking for information online, top level domains (TLDs) such as .info will have a surge in popularity and in turn an increase in power in search engines.

As many people know in the world of SEO, a domain name containing the keyword you are targeting is a huge advantage when it comes to competing for high listings in the search engines. However it's also worth noting the type of TLD has a huge influence.

It's well accepted that the .com TLD is the most powerful available to the public (.gov, .edu, .mi and .int are governed by sole entities and simply unavailable for public purchase). Then there is a battle between .net, .org and country specific TLDs such as .co.uk or .de (obviously only relevant for searches done on the corresponding regional search engine). Due to the aforementioned tarnishing of TLDs such as .info and .biz they have never become as popular as first thought and are therefore usually lower down in the pecking order.

However, things may be changing for the .info TLD. Already you will find that many countries and cities use .info for their official website (spain.info and austria.info), building up the reputation of the .info extension. If this continues and .info domains are used to represent large websites with quality content and only white hat SEO techniques, the future looks good for .info sites in getting recognised just as much as a .com. As one WebmasterWorld member quoted in a theoretical conversation between two web users:

'widget.info - there you go', says Joe or Jane Surfer, 'information about widgets finally!'

But as another member replied, and I'm inclined to agree, another later conversation would go as follows:

Joe: 'Oh honey, what was the name of that site again?'
Jane: 'I think it was widget.com.'