Com Vs Net SEO?

Aaron Haynes
Jun 30, 2021

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Choosing your domain name is one of the most exciting and one of the most nerve-racking times of creating your website.

And in some cases, you might have found the best domain name for your online business website, only to find that the .com domain extension is already taken. So you’re left with either a .net domain extension or perhaps a .org domain.

But what is the real difference between .com, and .net? How does each of these domain extensions affect your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) potential? Which one is best?

This is what we look at in this article. Here, you’ll learn:

  • What .com and .net are
  • The difference between .com and .net domain name extensions
  •  How they can impact your SEO ranking

Com Vs Net Seo

.com, .net, .org, .edu and .gov, are all different domain extensions and denote different types of website. While the extension of a domain doesn’t impact that website’s SEO on a technical level, it can influence user behavior. And as search engines are all about user behavior, the domain extension can therefore have an impact on a website’s SEO.

What is .com?

.com, a domain extension short for .commercial, is the most popular and well-recognized domain extension. By and large, internet users associate the .com domain extension with any web address as a matter of habit because over 50% of all websites hosted online are .com domains.

.com domain names identify a website as being commercial, 

or offering a service or product.

As such, .com domains are perceived with better trust and authority from the majority of web users.

This can influence whether or not an individual clicks on a domain presented to them in search engines, which has a knock-on effect on the SEO potential of that domain.

Furthermore, if a user goes to type in your domain name, they might naturally type xyz.com, when in fact your domain name is xyz.net. This is another reason why having a .com domain name is better for SEO in the long run.

For any business that is starting a website through which they aim to sell a product or service, getting a .com domain extension is the best course of action. However, it isn’t the end-all-and-be-all of SEO.

There are still thousands of incredibly high-performing SEO websites with domain extensions that are not .com, as your on-page SEO elements and the quality of your link building efforts are far more important for SEO than any domain extension tag.

What is .net?

.net, a domain extension that is the abbreviation of .network, was originally created to identify websites that acted as email providers or network connectors.

.net domains generally identify a domain as being involved in networking, 

connectivity or communication

As such, if your business offers internet, networking, database hosting, email hosting, or similar services, then the .net extension is perfect for you and your domain.

But the .net domain extension is far less common than .com, with around 4% of registered domains using the .net extension.

This means that basically, your .net website will likely be perceived with less trust and authority by people who are unfamiliar with your website.

This isn’t to say that if you have your heart set on a particular domain name and the .com extension isn’t available, then your site won’t perform well in SEO. It just means you’ll need to overcome some pre-concieved notions and it might take a bit longer for your website to rank high in the SERPs than it would have had you managed to secure the .com domain extension.

Com Vs Net Seo: What Are The Differences?

Com and net are both domain extensions that help web hosting services and internet users identify the type of website they are dealing with.

The differences lie in what the domain extensions mean: .com means “commercial”, whereas .net means “network”.

.com is generally considered to be better for SEO, as most internet users associate the .com extension with any website, purely out of habit.

There are other extensions for domains, in particular country codes, such as .co.uk, and .co.us. These extensions help users and search engines get an idea of the geographical location that the website serves, and who it is intended for. Websites with multiple languages will also have different country-specific domain names to identify the region and language used on that particular website. This is where nailing your URL structure for SEO becomes essential.

Com and Net SEO FAQ

Is .com or .net better?

Realistically, .com is better for SEO than .net.

This isn’t because Google or other search engines prefer websites with the .com extension on a technical basis.

It is because internet users naturally remember .com websites easier than domains with other extensions, such as .biz, .edu, . net, and also perceive them to be of high-quality.

Getting more of your target audience to click through to your website is the goal of SEO, and any small element that increases the chance that they will do so is good for your SEO. So, with this in mind, .com is better for SEO than .net.

Is it better to have a .com domain?

In an ideal world, having a .com domain name for your website has the best effect on your websites SEO potential. If you can secure yourbusinessname.com, that is the best domain name you can hope for.

Is it bad to have a .net website?

Having a .net website isn’t bad – it just isn’t as good as having a .com website. (Unless, of course, you’re an email or network provider – then .net is the best extension for your website!).

Summary

Hopefully, this article has given you a better understanding of Com and Net SEO.

Getting the right domain extension for your type of website, particularly if you are a new domain, can have an impact on your SEO success and search rankings.

If you search web hosting services like GoDaddy.com, and find out that your dream domain name .com is already taken, don’t fret. Other domain extensions can be just as effective, or you can also tweak your domain name slightly to get that .com domain.

Hand off the toughest tasks in SEO, PPC, and content without compromising quality

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Written by Aaron Haynes on June 30, 2021

CEO and partner at Loganix, I believe in taking what you do best and sharing it with the world in the most transparent and powerful way possible. If I am not running the business, I am neck deep in client SEO.