Does dot.com hold a ranking advantage over dot.net in the search results?
 by Casey Markee

Q&A - Does dot.com hold a ranking advantage over dot.net in the search results?

  • Is there an advantage in terms of search engine results if your domain name ends in .com versus .net?

Answer: A .com domain holds absolutely no ranking advantage over a .net domain. Each are on equal footing with all of the engines.

However, the advantage that .com holds over all other domain name suffixes is one of visitor usability. People tend to assume that a site's URL will end in .com and need to be carefully directed to a site whenever any other suffix is used.

This reality was poignantly illustrated in the vice presidential debate when Cheney mistakenly referenced factcheck.com instead of the correct site, factcheck.org. His gaffe caused the actual .com site to crash under the weight of the suddenly increased traffic load. The sudden and unexpected traffic onslaught prompted the site owner to temporarily redirect the misinformed visitors to another site that was, uh, less than complimentary to the President's reelection efforts.

The lesson, of course, is that people tend to assume a .com domain name regardless of the fact that search engine spiders don't care one way or the other.

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