Will you buy a .car .cars or .auto extension?

[Alexander Lau]

>> Would this even really be a debate if .car, .cars & .auto were 40 dollars a year instead of 3K?

The whole point of that pricing model, in my opinion, is to make sure domains that are purchased are actually used for live sites and NOT just redirected or squatted on.

That or to make a TON of money. Granted, they are much cheaper than they were. I remember when certain gTLDs were going for like $100K.

 

[WillMcG32]

I am loving reading this thread. One of the things I really want to bolster my knowledge on is SEO/SEM. I want to throw this little nugget out there.

Does anyone actually type URLs anymore?!? I use chrome so I just use it to type in what I'm looking for to bring up a search. Because of that, as a layman, I'm thinking that Jacksonville Attorney or Chicago Used Cars might bring up jacksonville.attorney or ChicagoUsed.cars...

 

[ed.brooks]

I am loving reading this thread. One of the things I really want to bolster my knowledge on is SEO/SEM. I want to throw this little nugget out there.

Does anyone actually type URLs anymore?!? I use chrome so I just use it to type in what I'm looking for to bring up a search. Because of that, as a layman, I'm thinking that Jacksonville Attorney or Chicago Used Cars might bring up jacksonville.attorney or ChicagoUsed.cars...

Have you ever looked at vau.to, Will?

 

[WillMcG32]

I'm nervous...

 

[ed.brooks]

Tonga is the home of the .to TLD

 

[Bill Hartzer]

Alexander, jo changes like that were made. I was referring to the fact that moving to a new domain will change the anchor text of links (naturally).

This site in THIS study did not change anything but the domain name. Period.

 

[emilymoore]

I bet another study done now on http://stl.cars/ could "prove" an even higher session count, just by the traffic increase of using it as an example on DR

 

[joe.pistell]

IMO, This DR forum post help's set the tone of the unique TLD analysis...

• Admit it, we all are flying blind...
  • We have no Internet shopping cart to score our ideas.
• This causes all kinds of wild ass guesses about what works and what doesn't.
  • ...we don't know what a win looks like
• So, what tool do we use to know what a car shopper wants (i.e. "the gut call")?
  • Empathy*.

*Empathy is the ability to experience the feelings of another person. Working in a store does not automatically give you car shopper empathy, you need to see the world thru their shoes.

 

[joe.pistell]

Next, comes Uncle Joe's $0.02

The decision maker sees the unique TLD as a tool for marketing. SEO is only one of the many paths to the dealership, so, the decision can't anchor off the SEO data alone. The decision maker wants a complete picture that'll include how the unique TLD will interplay with human behavior (as seen thru SEM, Social, referrals, & direct traffic (e.g. traditional media, water cooler referrals, dealer be-backs, etc)).

My take away:

• Part 1) This test shows us the unique TLD won't reduce the SEO traffic. So, from a decision makers POV, can the unique TLD help me improve my differentiation message AND improve the other channels too? And... can I find evidence to validate this thesis?
• Part 2) What are the unintended consequences? Can I find evidence of where the TLD's failed and why? Do these failures relate to my unique business and our unique industry?

 

[joe.pistell]

Analysis of a unique TLD outside our space can help clear the mind...

Food for Thought: ta.co

If ta.co causes no negative SEO impact, can it help with other aspects of marketing? Higher CTR on SEM? More Social? More linked referrals? More direct traffic from traditional media, water cooler referrals, repeat visitors (e.g. dealer be-backs, etc).

HTH
-Uncle Joe