
Ask HN: Why are .io domains bad for SEO? - superasn
What are your thoughts on .io, .website, .biz, etc domain?<p>And why does Google hate the .io, .biz domains? Because I&#x27;ve often see .io domains rank lower than .com domains (i.e. the main product site being eclipsed by some .com review site). What is the thinking behind that?<p>What are your thoughts? Those with .io domains, do you feel your site takes the SEO hit?
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skyisblue
Google provides a ranking boost to local domains. So .co.uk domains get a
ranking boost for searches made in the United Kingdom. Reason being that local
domains are more likely to return a relevant search result. For example if you
searched for 'Google Pixel Review' in Google UK you're likely to see .co.uk
sites appear at the top of the search results as the reviews may contain UK
release dates and pricing that's more relevant than a US site.

.io is a country top level domain assigned to the British Indian Ocean
Territory, so having a .io domain will only give you a ranking boost for that
specific country.

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superasn
> I've often see .io domains rank lower than .com domains (i.e. the main
> product site being eclipsed by some .com review site)

Sorry forgot to give you an example. Search for example "videopal". You'll see
that the actual website (videopal.io) is ranking at 4th or 5th. I've also seen
this for many other sites too.

Disclaimer: It's just a random site I picked. I don't have anything to do with
it.

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taprun
This might be a case of correlation, not causation.

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seanwilson
You have evidence .io domains take a hit?

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teslacar
because .oi domains are much newer... many .coms have been around for year, so
they have better SEO factors

