Using Top Level Domains for International SEO

Local top level domains are a popular choice for businesses wanting to break into foreign markets. Brands using local TLDs can help their international SEO strategy by increasing their relevance for local search queries. For example a site using the extension .fr is more likely to rank higher in the SERPs within France as search engines will regard it as relevant to locals.

 A new range of top level domains will be introduced later this year, giving organisations the chance to purchase domains with extensions relevant to their business. As well as a set of new generic TLDs like .marketing, city, geographic, cultural and international character TLDs.

These new location based extensions should in theory help companies perform better in the SERPs when targeting certain countries, locations, cultures or languages. However, there has been much debate over whether these new TLDs will be taken up by big brands or whether they will become domains associated with spam, as was the fate of .info sites.

The first set of top level domains were launched in 1984. These included .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov. These have become the most trusted domain extensions. The new TLDs are so generic that they could become harder and harder to remember. From a branding perspective, they could lose traffic generated through word of mouth.

Could an extension in a foreign language could potentially help international SEO efforts or would it cause chaos for sites competing for the rights to extensions like .amazon? Is a .paris TLD anymore likely to help an international search strategy than a .fr one? Or could it help brands target potentially profitable pockets in each country? Google itself pointed out that there is no inherent benefit to using a local TLD if site content is accurately localised.

As a result, it is likely that the most useful TLDs for getting an authority within an industry are one’s like .pro. To register .pro domains you have to qualify your professional status with credible sources. The 3 letter one’s are obviously going to be a lot more memorable. Only time will tell if businesses see the benefit of purchasing new domains in the hopes that they will help their SEO efforts in the future.

A list of the new generic TLDs can be found here:http://www.newgtldsite.com/new-gtld-list/