It is seldom understood but in the discussion of country codes, .com should be defined as the official code of the United States. Sorry, .us.
Thusly, if the US is to continue to be a beacon of global business, the modern financial mecca, it should work to make sure that .com remains king. And partly because, simply, someone has to be king in a globalized globe to expedite free trade.
With over fifteen years of almost constant exposure, .com is not just an extension but a global brand by itself perhaps better known than even our own country phone code, +1. If someone need be king, .com is the best candidate…by far.
There is little question country codes will continue to thrive and have a role…a regional one. They will become the best option within borders but if one is to expand outward, it must turn to the .com to gain global recognition and presence. Serving ads for a .fr in Spain doesn’t make sense whereas using a .com does.
At the moment, a great .com is not just market share, it is instant entry, credibility, traffic, SEO and cache. It is tapping into every single commercial, billboard, ad, etc, that has or has ever had a .com address in it. Think of the trillions that have likely been spent to market “.com” – likely more than any other commodity, product or service outside the Bible.
If ICANN had wits, it would focus on strengthening country codes and recognition, including .com as the continued realm of global economics and promotion. It should reject inclusion of anything beyond as they have already proven to be mere vehicles of the speculative field. Sorry, .pro.
There has to be a king, a leader, a marketplace for the earth’s consumers to unite and exchange. In other words, for a globalized future, we must provide a definitive address for the planet to organize and socialize and transact.
And thanks to millions of hours of ads and usage, .com is already wearing the crown.
#1 by John A. on March 6, 2010 - 12:12 am
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You’re drinking too much .com cool aid. It is the king today, but tomorrow is another story.
The .com suffix is not the ideal extension worldwide because many abroad see it as an American country code.
You mentioned some .com benefits; SEO is not one of them. Extensions are equal in the eyes of Google. As a matter of fact, the .com extension might suffer a penalty in other countries because Google favors the country code for other countries over .com.
#2 by admin on March 6, 2010 - 1:06 am
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I disagree, in my experience, having the EXACT term in a .com definitely helps in SEO. I did searches for three developed names under their keywords, “happy birthday”, “software” and “aloha.” All three came up first page on Google and there were no country codes.
Should be noted we are talking about real development and not the mini-site variety but again, my experience is the exact term in a .com will likely jump up first page on Google, if not #1. That is part of a .com grabbing market share, it has that ability. Still, this benefit is most likely tied to the ‘age’ of the name in some algorithm and not so much the ‘extension’ itself. Cheers…
#3 by Michael Castello on March 6, 2010 - 7:20 am
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Daycare.com is #1 for the search term daycare in Google, Yahoo and Bing. We don’t really use any SEO logic and don’t care. It is at that #1 spot because it costs to advertise in the #0 spot above us. Search is using us. We also get great direct navigation. Something search giants can’t analyze. Go figure.
#4 by admin on March 6, 2010 - 7:33 am
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Great stuff, Michael, cheers….
#5 by Rashid Mahmood on March 10, 2010 - 9:26 am
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Yes,
Great stuff, Michael, cheers….