Google’s Search Advocate, John Mueller, has dispelled certain popular myths surrounding the use of domain names and their impact on website SEO in the latest episode of “Ask Googlebot” video series on YouTube.
Are .Com domains better for site SEO?
People have long believed the myth that .com domains are better for site SEO. Well, Muller doesn’t think so! He confirmed that Google does not care whether you use a .com domain for your site or any other domain for that matter. Muller further said that the choice of domain extension has no bearing whatsoever on your website SEO.
The question was: “Does Google care if I have a .space domain?” Muller said:
Sure, go for it. The newer Top Level Domain are equivalent to other generic top level domains, like .com when it comes to SEO. Pick something you like. There are lots of options out there now.
Domains lightning round #AskGooglebot
At Rocket Domains we have said it for years – encouraging our users to ditch lengthy and meaningless .com domains for more memorable, brandable and meaningful modern domain name extensions like .shop, .blog, .service etc.
Take that .com!
Should I use WWW Or root versions of my domain?
In answering another question about the use of “www” prefix, Muller confirmed that it does not matter whether a website uses the root domain, like spacesuite.com, or the domain with “www” prefix (like www.spacesuite.com). Muller said: “You can use whichever you prefer. Google’s systems have no preference either way.”
Can I use rel=canonical across different domains like gTLDs and ccTLDs?
Mueller says you can use rel=canonical element across different domains like gTLDs (generic top-level domains) and ccTLDs (country code top-level domains) and that rel=canonical link element is not limited to the same domain name.
Can I use a country specific domain (ccTLD) for a global audience?
Mueller says:
“The answer is yes. While a country code domain name helps our systems to geotarget for that country, it still allows for global visibility.
The only limitation is that you can’t specify other countries for geotargeting. For example, if you have a .fr website for France, you could use that globally. But you wouldn’t be able to explicitly geotarget users in Brazil.”
Domains lightning round #AskGooglebot
Check out the video in which Muller busted the domain name myths:
