Is .net Bad?

[scagnt83]

So is a .net address that bad vs. having a .com?

I want a certain web address and the .com version is taken. Its inactive and for sale, but the owners value it a bit more than I do at the moment... lol.

Will .net affect my seo at all?

Im currently thinking that if the .net site does well I might decide to pony up the money for the .com address and have the .net just link to it...

Any thoughts about this?

 

[Josh]

I'd pick another .com over a .net. Depending on how much they're looking for it might be worth it, but I doubt it. The biggest problem with a .net is that if someone knows yoursite.net, most of the time they'll type in yoursite.com. Unless it's purely for SEO in which case they claim .net vs .com doesn't matter, but I'd still lean towards the .com.

The current owners probably do want more for it than it's really worth.

 

[Larry Tew]

I have .net and .org so no one else could get them, and they all go to my site.

 

[scagnt83]

I have .net and .org so no one else could get them, and they all go to my site.

This is ideally what I want to do.
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I'd pick another .com over a .net. Depending on how much they're looking for it might be worth it, but I doubt it. The biggest problem with a .net is that if someone knows yoursite.net, most of the time they'll type in yoursite.com. Unless it's purely for SEO in which case they claim .net vs .com doesn't matter, but I'd still lean towards the .com.

The current owners probably do want more for it than it's really worth.

So how much does a "Premium" (their words) Domain go for???

 

[Josh]

So how much does a "Premium" (their words) Domain go for???

I'm going to facetiously say as much as an *** is willing to pay for it. That's probably unduly harsh, but there are still plenty of good .coms available. A year or two ago the value of an EMD (exact match domain) dropped significantly. It used to be that if you bought "cheaplifeinsurance.com", then you would almost be guaranteed page 1 position one of all "cheap life insurance" searches. If you search for "life insurance" or "car insurance" you're not going to see the .com listed. You'll see the .org on car insurance, but that's had a TON of work done to it, it's not by virtue of just having an EMD. It's a PR5 site with tons of other things going for it.

For just a domain with no backlinks, no site, no existing traffic, I wouldn't pay more than $50 for a domain and even that is a stretch. I mean, if someone wanted to literally sell lifeinsurance.com or something like that I would definitely pony up more, but even utahlifeinsurance.com or something like that I wouldn't pay more than the actual registration fee on, all other things being equal.

Does that help?

 

[scagnt83]

I'm going to facetiously say as much as an *** is willing to pay for it. That's probably unduly harsh, but there are still plenty of good .coms available. A year or two ago the value of an EMD (exact match domain) dropped significantly. It used to be that if you bought "cheaplifeinsurance.com", then you would almost be guaranteed page 1 position one of all "cheap life insurance" searches. If you search for "life insurance" or "car insurance" you're not going to see the .com listed. You'll see the .org on car insurance, but that's had a TON of work done to it, it's not by virtue of just having an EMD. It's a PR5 site with tons of other things going for it.

For just a domain with no backlinks, no site, no existing traffic, I wouldn't pay more than $50 for a domain and even that is a stretch. I mean, if someone wanted to literally sell lifeinsurance.com or something like that I would definitely pony up more, but even utahlifeinsurance.com or something like that I wouldn't pay more than the actual registration fee on, all other things being equal.

Does that help?

That does help. Thank you.

I was under the impression that an EMD was still a bigger deal with search results; but Im just starting to learn all of this.

$50 is exactly what I offered the people, but never heard back from them... maybe they felt insulted... lol.

 

[Josh]

That does help. Thank you.

I was under the impression that an EMD was still a bigger deal with search results; but Im just starting to learn all of this.

$50 is exactly what I offered the people, but never heard back from them... maybe they felt insulted... lol.

EMD really did used to matter. It still matters a bit, but not on anything highly competitive. Again, it helps, but not a huge value.

Feel free to PM me the details on the domain if you'd like, I can probably find you an available .com that's a good deal.

An alternative to paying too much for a "good" .com is to take the money and invest it in another site. Let's say they wanted $1,000 for the domain. Why not pay $10 for a new domain (ExpertSRS - Advanced Domain Management Solutions) and website hosting for cheap (Website Hosting <~affiliate link) you're good to go. Even if you pay a few hundred bucks for a site and another few hundred for some basic backlinking and such, you're well under the $1k mark. Maybe they only wanted $100 and just have been too busy to get back to you, but that's another way to look at the situation.

 

[Cenla Agent]

I'm no SEO expert but I think some would say .net is #3 behind .com and .org. But having a .net domain hasn't seemed to have hurt this site.

Josh is right about people defaulting to putting in .com and one needing to take that into account. Having the dash like this site does is arguably a no-no too if people are going to type it in by memory. To me that's what bookmarks are for but everybody ain't me.

 

[scagnt83]

I'm no SEO expert but I think some would say .net is #3 behind .com and .org. But having a .net domain hasn't seemed to have hurt this site.

Josh is right about people defaulting to putting in .com and one needing to take that into account. Having the dash like this site does is arguably a no-no too if people are going to type it in by memory. To me that's what bookmarks are for but everybody ain't me.

Good point about this site.

I have thought about the dash thing... but I am leaning against it for the same reasons you have given.

 

[iiinycboi]

also the browser shortcuts auto fills in .com for me! i can type in company then ctrl enter and it will auto add .com and go!

so i think there is a slight difference in preference