.NET VS .COM VS Keyword Density in the URL, What do you suggest?

[mgordon]

I am about to launch an eCom project for a new company. The client has three URL's available.

I recognize keyword density is slowly becoming less and less of a factor, but still has significant relevance.

I haven't had much experience working on .NET URL's and would like to know anything related to the effects of .NET url's vs. .COM url's.  Also, just what you would go with and why?

Option 1

"EXACTMATCHKEYWORD.net"

(17 total characters)

Option 2

"MOSTLYMATCHINGKEYWORDcompany.com"

(21 total characters, with company)

Option 3

"ABEXACTMATCHKEYWORD.com" -AB represents the company's initials/logo.

(19 total characters)

USEFUL POINTS

1. 95% of purchases will be one time purchases (so I'm not focused as much on company branding as usual).

2. The company name is actually "exact matching keyword Company"

3. We will be targeting 100's of terms, but the "exact match keyword" represents 1/4 of total search volumes and thus is extremely important.

[GoodAtMarketing]

HI mGordon,

I would use the Company name which happens to be exact. During a recent update many sites were affected by what Google called a Exact Match Domain Devaluation, however I recall reading something from Dr.Pete (seomoz staff guru)  that this was not the case, and more sites that had Part Match Domains were hit by the algo change. I know of a site that fell with a domain that had Company[Exact Keyword].

As long as your company name and your keyword are exact I don't think Google will not punish your site. Also if you focus primarily on earning relevant links with your contents you will indicate to Google that your site has trustworthy documents in its index.

[JamesNorquay]

To be honest I would probably go with the option: "MOSTLYMATCHINGKEYWORDcompany.com"

In my eyes .com is still king in the domain world on a global level,

.com means commercial and for business.

I have had some decent success with .net over the years, but in the end of the day the best success I have seen is from .com domains and .com.au (my market)

Most big business go with the .com domain too, that is why they are still so expensive.

[AlanBleiweiss]

The ultimate truth here is much more important a consideration than which version you go with.  IF you intend to build a highly trusted site with highly trusted off-site signals, and truly unique content that's highly focused and deep enough, either domain variation will work just fine.

If you are stuck on the belief that an exact match or exact match variations are a golden ticket, you are just as likely to see the site suffer Google's recent Exact Match Domain (EMD) devaluation regardless of the domain you choose, because no matter what, SEO best practices need to be implemented.

I will, however, agree with James in regard to the "perceived" value of a ".com" domain vs. a ".net" domain as well. There is a certain value in a ".com" from a user perspective in general, and that needs to be considered.