.org versus .com

[dschreib_greenpeace.org]

I work at a non-profit that has always used the .org URL for any sites they create. I am designing a site right now with a heavy weight on SEO as part of the strategy and I have both the .org and .com versions of the URL. Am I right in thinking that I should use the .com?

[RyanKent]

There is absolutely no SEO ranking difference on using a .org vs a .com. You can use a .info and it would not matter.

The difference comes in with public perception. Many people view .org sites as non-profits and .com sites as more commercial. That's not a bad thing since that was the original purpose of those TLDs. I think you should always grab the .com URL when possible, and then forward it to the .org. This method ensures you get all the traffic from those who go to the .com site, but you also keep the .org to display the perception of being a non-profit.

There are not any hard rules here. It is up to your judgment. You can disagree with me and use the .com site. In that case you would forward all the traffic from the .org to the .com for the same reason as described above. Your rankings wont be affected, but it is a component of how users view your site.

[Deluxe]

Ryan is right.  .org's have a sense of trust in the nonprofit community.  From experience people would rather donate money to a .org than a .com .  I'd build on the .org and 301 the .com to it.

[jimmyzig]

I have read the two previous answers in the Forum about this subject but Google has seemed to have again changed the playing surface. Within the past 30 days, we have seen a huge spike in organic search returns seeming to favor .org as domain authorities.

Has anyone else noticed this shift and is it just coincidence or worth factoring in?

If it is a shift, will Google punish those that have .org but have used.com previously for switching the redirects to serve .org first?

[RyanKent]

Hi Jimmy,

I do not have any hard data to refute what you are experiencing; however, I will share it is highly likely the spike is related to other factors and the TLD being .org or .com is completely unrelated. It would be an exceptionally major change for Google to change how they value TLDs. Such a change would be front page news on all the SEO sites.