Having a good domain name is not a guarantee for the success of a website , but it is certainly important for attracting traffic to the site, as well as general brand development. If we tell you that the price of the most expensive domain is almost 50 million dollars , then maybe we better see how important a domain name can be. Another question related to this topic is whether the domain extension affects SEO and the site’s position in search engines.

Does domain extension affect SEO?

In the latest installment of the Ask Googlebot series on YouTube , Google ‘s John Mueller answers whether domain extensions affect SEO and some other questions related to the impact of domain choices on search.

Mueller answers questions about how .com compares to other domain extensions, gTLDs vs. ccTLDs , www vs. non-www domains and much more.

Here are all the questions answered in the video.

Are .com domains better?

The first question is one of the most common, especially among people registering a domain for the first time. The person who submitted the question also asks if it is acceptable to use one of the newer extensions, such as the .space extension.

Mueller responds:

“Sure, go ahead.” Newer top-level domains (TLDs) are equivalent to other generic top-level domains such as .com when it comes to SEO. Pick something you like, there are a lot of options now.”

WWW or non-WWW domains?

Is it better to use a www or non-www version of a domain name? Mueller’s response:

“You can use whatever you want. Google’s systems do not give preference in any case. Sometimes there are technical reasons to go one way or another, but often it’s just a matter of your personal preference.”

Rel=canonical on different domain types

Is it possible to use rel=canonical link in different TLDs ? Such as gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domains) and ccTLDs (Country Code Top Level Domains).

“Yes, you can do this. The rel=canonical link element is not limited to the same domain name.”

Country-specific domain extension

Can ccTLDs “work” globally for a website?

“The answer is yes.” While a country code domain name helps our systems geo-target that country, it still provides global visibility.

The only limitation is that you cannot specify other countries for geotargeting. For example, if you have a .fr website for France, you can use it globally. But you wouldn’t be able to explicitly geo-target users in Brazil.”

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Source: Searchenginejournal