Survey states .Com performs better than fresh TLDs

Survey states that people more likely to click and recall .com domain names.

Interbrand, ostensibly on behalf of Verisign, has released an infographic showing results from a 1,000 person survey regarding the power of .com.

The survey shows that people click on domain names ending in .com more than those in fresh TLDs. Consumers were shown search results pages with similar web addresses but different domain extensions. When the fresh TLD was displayed first, 61% still clicked on the .com web address listed below it. The infographic didn’t say which alternative TLDs were displayed.

While this is just one survey, a previous study by GlobeRunner showed that people are regarding twice as likely to click on a .com domain name in an Adwords ad than on a fresh TLD.

Some deeper analysis could be done, comparing click rates of topical domains vs. generic ones.

The Interbrand survey also stated that, following seeing a recommended website with a fresh TLD, 81% later assumed it was a .com address. The survey notes that a business risks losing web traffic if they use something other than .com.

There’s definitely confusion when people use the non-dominant TLD in their area. The big question for me is if this changes over time.