How Do Domain Extensions Affect SEO?

Noticing any strange domain extensions recently? Perhaps some like .photography or .guru instead of the usual .com and .net that you’re used to? It seems like the .com domain extension has some competition, over 500 new domain extensions to be exact. But how do domain extensions affect SEO? And what do you need to do about it?

How Do Domain Extensions Affect SEO?

Do these new domain extensions translate to an advantage in the SERPs? Well, it’s too soon to tell. We know, it’s not the definitive response you were hoping for, but it’s the best we have for now. Here are a few things we do know:

• Through Google’s new domain service, the domain extensions available are vast and range from industry types (like .attorney and .architect) to catch phrases (like .wtf and .blackfriday).
• Matt Cutts has gone on record saying that these new extensions will not be given an advantage when considering rankings—it’s still the quality of the site that counts.
• If you are considering one of the country domain extensions (like .ca for Canada), and you are looking to only do business in the designated country, then the specialized domain will help with your SEO efforts.

Do Domain Extensions Affect Conversions?

There’s more to the equation than just SERPs. The public perception should never be underestimated. Because people are so used to .com domain extensions, are they going to view anything different as spam? Or will a site with a more concise domain be easier for the average Joe to remember? And then there’s the possibility—according to Moz—that people will be more likely to link to your site if you have a specialty extension because it will look cleaner when written out. It’s all quite interesting, isn’t it?

What Do I Need to Do Today About These New Domain Extensions?

Since there is so much up in the air, and these targeted domain extensions are so new (many of them aren’t even available yet), your best bet is to just be aware of what is going on. That being said, if there is the perfect extension available that just happens to be the last word in your company’s name (zerogravity.marketing, for example), then by all means, reserve that domain before someone else does. You might end up regretting it if you don’t, because there’s no saying how popular these new domain extensions are going to get.

Whether or not you change it up, you still need to focus on your website’s content, because if you don’t have that aspect of SEO covered, it matters less what your domain is.

Are you curious what your company should do about these new domain extensions? Or are you simply wondering how you can improve your SEO in any capacity? At Zero Gravity Marketing, we will answer all of your questions and help your site reach its full potential.