Mike wrote in to ask for advice on which of his two top-level domains (or TLD’s) he should use for an affiliate site:

“Hi Docs.

I’m pretty new to affiliate marketing and am building a site for, say, red widgets.  I have both redwidgets.co.uk and redwidgets.info and am wondering which to use?

The site will have a one page review for each type of red widget with a price comparison block in the right hand column.  I am thinking of using the .info domain and swapping the price comparison affilate links for adsense ads (or even USA affilate links – is this possible?) for non-British traffic.

Or would I be better off just sticking to the .co.uk domain and, if so, why?

Really great site, by the way.  Filled with very useful advice – thanks.

Mike”

Here’s what the docs had to say:

Kier

Hi Mike.

The downside to using the .info rather than the .co.uk is twofold.  Firstly .info isn’t a TLD that’s generally associated with good quality sites.  Secondly, by passing up on the .co.uk you’ll be missing out on the high ranking Google will give to it for UK based searches.  As such, at a very minimum you should use the .co.uk for a UK focused site.  You could develop the .info into one aimed at the US, but be sure to not use duplicate content; you might want to consider using a .com for this.  Also bear in mind that affiliate marketing is even bigger in the USA than it is in the UK, so there’s no reason to be using adsense instead as it’s likely you’ll be able to find US affiliate programs to promote that stock your product.  Good networks to check out in the states for retail include CJ, Google Affiliate Network, Linkshare, Shareasale and of course Webgains.

Lammo

Hi Mike.

Purely my own opinion, but I don’t like .info domains, and would never use one.  Stick with the .co.uk, and just geotarget (Google “geotargeting” to see how to do this) to change the content based on the non-British traffic, or dig deep and buy the .com for the US traffic.

Price comparison for USA affiliate links is totally possible – just grab the feeds from the US networks as you would with the UK.  If you’re not tech-savvy to build your own price comparison, then Easy Content Units will have a US version very shortly (or it may even be live by the time you read this!) which will do that for you.

Clarke

If you are doing the “same” site targeted to different countries, then I would use both and host the UK on a UK server and the US site on a US server.  I would also make sure that the content is significantly different for each country version, and that you use American English e.g. Center and not Centre etc..  You will need to build different links in to each site, so you are in effect taking on double the work if you’re doing it right.  However, most people are a bit lazy and do the same thing when the sites cover the same subject, but this can ultimately lead to Google thinking you have just duplicated your site content when clearly you have a purpose for having two totally separate sites covering the same subject area.

If you’re new, I would get one site up and running 1st to make sure it works and you can rank before you do the 2nd, but that will depend on how much time you have and whether you will be upset if they don’t work out or not.

Kirsty

I would recommend that you make use of the .co.uk domain.  For the UK market it’ll be more brandable and SEO friendly.  I’ve found people are far more likely to click on domains with the .co.uk extension.  .info domains are often seen as having an association with spammy websites.  In the past MSN have blocked access to that extension on their service and Google have made ominous maneuvers regarding sites on such domains (a couple of years ago now).

If you want to try and target the US market in the same niche you’d be better to try and source a .com – it seems like a much safer bet!