The suffix algorithm

So, over the last few weeks a number of new domain suffixes have been released. These include some really weird and wonderful options. Here are a few examples:

.lighting
.equipment
.tips
.photos
.graphics
.gallery
.photography
.today
.technology
.directory
.sexy

There are many more but you get the picture. So, is there any SEO advantage or disadvantage of using one of these domains and is there generally an advantage to using one suffix ahead of another?

At Click Submit we have over 3,500 live SEO campaigns and this puts us in a fairly unique position. It allows us to monitor ranking trends more than any other SEO company and therefore we can draw a fairly informed conclusion.

In our opinion the answer is a resounding yes! The suffix does have an impact. We definitely see a benefit in using a .co.uk if you're operating in the UK and we certainly see that the best all round performer is the .com. Google holds historical importance to a suffix and because these suffixes have been around for longer, they prefer sites that have them over ones that do not.

The obvious pit fall to this data was that in general .com and .co.uk domains have sites on them that have been around for longer. So, in order to confirm our suspicion we looked for campaigns that were similar in age, market sector and backlink profile. The results were always the same. The older suffixes outperformed the new ones.

In our opinion if you can, try to find a domain with a .co.uk suffix within the UK and a .com or .net within the USA and go for the newer suffixes as a last resort. If you're operating in any other country then always go for the most historical geographical suffix for that location.

I hope you found this useful and whether you are an existing or potential Click Submit client please don’t be afraid to get in touch if you have any questions about this or anything else!