Do TLDs Matter for SEO?
I’ve seen too many debates drop up over the potency of TLDs to affect your ranking in the SERPs. When SEOmoz.org conducted research on the factors affecting Google PageRank, one of the most controversial factors was the Top Level Domain or TLD. The question of whether TLDs affect rankings in the SERPs have asked and tackled numerous times. Every time, an amalgamation of answers would be given. Here’s what I had been able to gather so far:
1. No, TLDs Don’t Matter
Majority of people consider the connection of TLDs to rankings utter nonsense. For many people, it’s nothing but SEO myth. They said that as long as a web site is properly optimized, there’s no reason why a .com would not rank higher than a supposedly trusted .gov or .edu web site. I do agree, of course. Try it out yourself, search Google for a keyword.
2. Sometimes, It Matters
There are those who believe that yes, sometimes it matters. After all, you don’t exactly see .info or .jobs TLDs at the top of the SERPs in their niche. I hate to make broad sweeping generalizations, but I haven’t seen such instances too.
3. It Matters When You’re Getting Backlinks From Them
Would you rather get a backlink from a .edu or a .info web site? If, for example, one has a .edu (though you can’t get one unless it’s for school), then people are most likely to request links from his web site. And other web sites will most likely like to that web site since they consider .edu authoritative. And of course, we all know backlinks are great for SEO.
4. Country Specific TLDs are Only Good For Their Own Country’s SERPs
When you get ccTLD domains or domains specific to your country, you’re basically telling Google that you’re gearing your web site towards your country’s SERPs. Therefore, your web site might not rank as well for Google.com or other country’s Google pages. Of course, this is not the universal truth. If your web site is undeniably popular, ccTLDs won’t matter at all.
