{"id":183,"date":"2013-08-03T11:20:48","date_gmt":"2013-08-03T11:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.above.com\/blog\/?p=183"},"modified":"2013-10-17T20:51:26","modified_gmt":"2013-10-17T09:51:26","slug":"should-you-use-a-cctld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.above.com\/blog\/should-you-use-a-cctld","title":{"rendered":"Should you use a ccTLD?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Although the .com TLD is most buyer’s first choice,
\nespecially in the United States, sometimes it isn’t an option, or actually is
\nnot the best option. So what should you think about when considering a ccTLD
\n(country code Top Level Domain)?<\/p>\n

Your Market<\/b><\/p>\n

Where are your customers? If you are trying to target
\ncustomers in a specific country you may find the ccTLD is actually used more
\nthan .com or .net. This should of course also influence what country codes you
\nconsider. If you’re trying to attract customers in brazil, then it probably
\ndoesn’t make sense to register your domain on .de. Before you register a ccTLD
\nto target customer’s in a country, do some research. You may find they prefer
\nit, or you may find like .us, it’s rarely used and you may be bleeding traffic
\nto other extensions.<\/p>\n

Your Use<\/b><\/p>\n

How are you going to use the domain? Are you parking it? Are
\nyou building it out? Who are you targeting? Although it can be cute and trendy
\nto use a ccTLD as part of a domain hack (when a word or words are split to
\nincorporate the TLD ie Save.me or quick.ly, nurs.es), your customers might find
\nit very confusing and find it difficult to find your site.<\/p>\n

Additionally, you may find yourself with some search engine
\noptimization issues. Google’s head of Search Spam, Matt Cutts recently stated that
\nwhen a site uses a ccTLD, if it is a popular domain in that country and not
\nreally used worldwide or really applicable, Google is going to assume that the
\nsite’s content very much applies to the specified by the domain and when you
\nchange the intent of a ccTLD that site is doing a disservice to that domain.
\n(You can watch his full answer here: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yJqZIH_0Ars<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Risk<\/b><\/p>\n

While the restrictions governing gTLDs (generic Top Level Domains)
\nlike .com and .net are set by ICANN, ccTLDs are governed by the local
\ngovernment. The rules can vary widely and in some cases your domain can easily
\nbe taken away from you because you violated their rules, with your site content
\nor citizenship\/address, or simply because there was a change in regiment and
\nthe new leaders in power don’t think you can have it.  <\/span><\/p>\n

A few years ago, the site vb.ly made headlines because Libya
\nrevoked their domain citing Sharia Law. Libya said that Vb.ly, a url shortner
\nat the time, was being used to distribute porn which violates Libyan law. What
\nimpact would it have on your businesses to suddenly have your entire online
\npresence taken down?<\/p>\n

The other risk of course is bleeding traffic. If you are using
\nsomething that is obscure to your customers, you may be losing them to other
\nsites that have the more obvious use. So for example, quick.ly would probably
\nbleed traffic to quickly.com. How much did that lost traffic cost you?<\/p>\n

Should you register a ccTLD? Unfortunately, there is not an
\neasy answer and the answer won’t apply to every situation. Take the time and do
\na little research. While the .com might cost your thousands in the beginning,
\nusing something more obscure could cost you much more in the long run.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although the .com TLD is most buyer’s first choice, especially in the United States, sometimes it isn’t an option, or actually is not the best … <\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[276,62,277],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bleeding-traffic","tag-cctld","tag-tld-risk","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"yoast_head":"\nShould you use a ccTLD? - Above<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.above.com\/blog\/should-you-use-a-cctld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should you use a ccTLD? - Above\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although the .com TLD is most buyer’s first choice, especially in the United States, sometimes it isn’t an option, or actually is not the best ... 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