.info

**testbot** · 02-18-2010, 02:32 PM

are these things worth anything at all? sometimes i'll get a .info domain and use it to hold junk. like redamp.info is only used to list other domains. i never thought of buying a real .info for profit or real use.

what are your thoughts on this?

**draggar** · 02-18-2010, 02:42 PM

Good for development / seo. There are plenty of good keyword .info domains out there selling for a song.

**Arizal** · 02-18-2010, 02:49 PM

From an SEO point of view .info offers you some, but very limited benefit (such as biz or .cc and stuff). .com, .net, .org domains have a great ability to rank relatively easy for an exact phrase match, .info and .biz do not (there have been other times, but that was a long time ago). For a local search engine like Google.fr or Google.de the local domain extension has the same benefit.

The only benefit of info domains has to do with link spamming algorithms: if you get too fast, too many back links with the same keyword as anchor text your site might get flagged and (partly) penalized by Google for link spamming, as this is an issue, which does not really looks natural. One exception is of course if your domain name is the keyword itself. Hence, there are still some benefits and with good backlinks info domains can get some good ranking: [regular expressions] would be an example, despite the dash in the name (not so good for domain names and seo).
A counterexample is [norway] with the official site and info domain being on page 2.

Personally I think .info sounds great and trustworthy, but Google reality is another story.
My 50 cents.

**testbot** · 02-18-2010, 03:10 PM

what the heck... because of your replies i looked up some keyword .info domains just to take a look at what's out there and i see it's expired in whois db but still can't registered.

This one is crazy:

Expiration Date: 31-Jul-2007 13:21:42 UTC

**katherine** · 02-18-2010, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by testbot

what are your thoughts on this?

They are okay but they don't sell for big money.

**AbsoluteKC** · 02-21-2010, 05:57 AM

I will try to avoid .info whenever possible. However, you can still develop .info domains for good profitability.

Just my personal preference..

**carlton** · 02-21-2010, 06:53 AM

I believe the general comments here about .info are not nearly positive enough. There are a good number of first page .info domains, many high-quality websites, and certainly notable sales public and private in the 5-figure range. That .info cannot rank highly in Google seems odd for someone to say. dotINFO has nearly 5.5 million registrations making it one of the world's most widely registered extensions.

**Dave S** · 02-21-2010, 02:17 PM

I am a big fan of .info.
Pros….

1) I find google ranks .info just fine - no difference with .com all things being equal.
2) People search the internet for information- .info is perfect.
3) .info is becoming more widely known especially here in the UK - and will continue to do so into the future
4) I see one word generics as a potential fab investment - in the internet land analogy - the new industrial estate plots with little interest you can snap up for pennies now- with potential increases in value in the future.

**DomainName** · 02-21-2010, 02:51 PM

if you're going to go after .info then go for the big keywords. Don't buy junk on top of junk.

**floname** · 02-21-2010, 08:10 PM

You have to be selective. Single keyword .infos do sell exceptionally well. Provided its a viable keyword. On namepros the other day, I saw superheroes.info sell in the $1XX range. Just a couple months ago, on Bido.com - GovernmentJobs.info sold well into the $x,xxx range. There is a market for them, so long as they fit the .info extention. Think of them as search queries. The shorter the better! Examples of some valuable .infos:

MortgageRates
TaxLaws
PostalJobs
Healthcare
InsuranceQuotes

These would easily sell well into the 4 figure zone.

Avoid brandables, as those favor the .com extention. If your going to invest, look for premiums. Properly developed, they can rank very well for their keywords. They tend to be a more cost effective way to develop a site w/ a smaller up front cost. You could acquire any one of the aformentioned domains for signifiacantly less than a .com
The money saved on domain acquisition could then be appropriated to site development. .Info is still considered a Top Level Domain.

Hope this helps.

**Aleksandar** · 02-21-2010, 10:08 PM

When it comes to search engine rankings I'm sorry to disappoint you but .com is nothing better than .info

If someone thinks I'm wrong, and that a specific gTLD is better for rankings I would like to see some examples. I think that there are many different things that can trick you into believing in a superior TLD.

I've been researching a lot on this topic and none of the SEO books I've read mention that .com is somehow superior for search engines. Didn't find any specific info via some quality SEO blogs. Nothing. Only few comments from people who I think are tricked somehow to believe that a .com is better or are simply lying to themselves.

**hugegrowth** · 02-21-2010, 11:29 PM

don't know if this was mentioned, but check out www.Spain.info

sure there are quality sites built on .info

it also works for languages other than english, for example in French information is the same word.

.info can sometimes get a bad rap because the reg fee was 99 cents, and a lot of spammers were using them.

**mark** · 02-21-2010, 11:55 PM

Back in the good old days of parking (before 2009) one of my dot .info domains was averaging $35-$50 per month. Not bad for a domain I purchased over at Afternic for $16.

**openforsale.com** · 02-22-2010, 01:35 AM

I love .info names because they have the potential to describe your website very well.
Take a look at some of the .info names I have sold; you can see how highly relevant the .info is to the subject matter

NewsCoverage.info
CPRtraining.info
MacSoftware.info
RapidSearch.info
GenealogySearch.info
DownloadBooks.info
DownloadDVDs.info
AuctionService.info
EggDonors.info
AuctionService.info

**Tim Schoon** · 02-22-2010, 05:10 AM

My domain upload.info receives around 500 daily unique typeins, and some more traffic from backlinks.

typeins also happen for .info

**Bill Roy** · 02-25-2010, 04:03 PM

This debate has been going on for years now, and no matter what you will get those who wish to rubbish the non-.com as somehow being inferior, my advice is simple, let them!

In the meantime look at developing or selling to a developer, there is money to be made in .info. (But I should declare that I am biased - I am currently marketing a portfolio of 420 US geo. .info domains.

)

**amcdonald** · 02-25-2010, 04:09 PM

.info sales have been good to me. there is money to be made with good names.

**Dave S** · 07-15-2010, 07:21 AM

I am averaging a couple of $100/ Month adsence with solicitor.info and that's not even its main business, Its google ranked No 1 for "good solicitors" and a load of other stuff to in just a short time. Purchased it for bottom dollar and solicitors comment on what a great name.
On the face of it why bother with overpriced .com?

**RTM.net** · 07-15-2010, 09:09 AM

Agree with all the comments - especially for the cheap entry point ($1 for the first year for new .infos at GD) ...

But as mentioned, no good trying to sell to a reseller (who can't or does not want to develop a bit)... but if you can do a bit of development it's certainly can be SEOd and monetized.

The .info for information analogy is smack dab on - and I don't think it's been mentioned, but "info" is used as an abbreviation for information in several languages - not just English.

So, I give a solid thumbs up for (decent) .info names.

Rob