Is my TDL affecting my conversion rates

[Jack4ireland]

This post is deleted!

[crackingmedia]

Hi Jack

In my opinion it is better to have a URL that reflects your brand than one that doesn't or loses some of the impact of your brand. If your brand is UnlockMy then it makes total sense for you to use unlock.my as your domain.

If you are concerned with people looking for unlockmy.com then you should get that as well and redirect it, but by the look of it someone has already purchased and holds this as a premium domain.

So to answer your question: "Do you think the memorability of the domain outweighs not having a less memorable .COM domain and would this affect people's perception of site trust?"...

I think the memorability of your domain is more important and on people's perception of site trust, I think that is more to do with the presentation of your site then having a .com, and making sure people know where you are trading from etc.

I hope that helps,

Peter

[EGOL]

You are asking the question....

Is my TDL affecting my conversion rates?

If you are asking the question then other people are probably asking the same question.  I am sure that lots of people will see the .my and not have any idea what that is all about.

So, I am willing to bet that some people will not enter a credit card number into your website.  You are going to lose some sales.  How many?  I don't know... but you will lose some.

Speaking for myself, I would not use anything but a .com for ecommerce in the USA.   And, a lot of your best customers will try to return to your site by typing unlock.com into their address bar or into a google search.

I would not use .my for my site.

[Jack4ireland]

Thanks Egol for your feedback

[Digital-Diameter]

For US users overseas domains often create trust issues that reflect in the conversion rate. Google also favors country TLDs and hosting location within the respective country which can be a competitive disadvantage in the US (unless you are really focusing on brand / social where 'memorability' of the domain is an advantage.

The Verisign trust logo is great and can help offset this, but you are offsetting a disadvantage.

Hope this helps.

[crackingmedia]

I hear and respect what others are saying on here, especially as you are better qualified than I am.

But looking at the site Jack is referring to, it shows both a UK and a US contact phone number. I realise that provides no guarantee of the level of service someone is likely to receive, but it is in the site's favour.

Whilst from what has been said US customers have trust issues for non .com TLDs, I would say in the UK that is not as common. With regard to the use of .my, I have seen an increase in the use of domains which are written to create a brand name and be used in marketing the product or service on offer as is the case with unlock,my.

So putting aside the site trust issue on the basis of it not being a .com, isn't there a place for marketing through the name and building trust through creating an online brand promoted through social media etc, which in turn builds trust with search engines?

Just asking the question.

Peter

[EGOL]

** isn't there a place for marketing through the name and building trust through creating an online brand promoted through social media etc, which in turn builds trust with search engines?**

Sure, there is a place for building.  If you going to brand build then spend that effort on a brand that is absolutely clear and unmistakable.

If you market your biz as "Unlock My" then lots of people are going to go to UnlockMy.com.

The harder you work to build your brand the more the person who owns that domain will get your traffic.

So, I think that unlock.my has two strikes against it.