New TLD SEO Performance: Case Studies

## Beyond Theory: Real New TLD Performance Data The debate over whether new gTLDs can perform in search has generated more heat than light since ICANN's 2013 new gTLD program began releasing extensions. Rather than repeating theoretical arguments, this guide examines documented case studies of sites that built significant organic search presence on non-.com domains. The evidence is clear: new TLDs can rank competitively. The question is what separates the success stories from the failures. ## Case Study 1: .io in the SaaS Sector The .io extension — originally the country code for the British Indian Ocean Territory — has been adopted as a de facto standard for technology startups and SaaS companies. The trust signal it sends is "tech company" to a tech-savvy audience. Notable .io performers in search: - **itch.io**: Indie game marketplace ranking for thousands of game-related terms in the top 3 positions - **Linear.app vs. Linear.io**: The project management tool deliberately chose .app for its production launch after testing - **CodePen.io**: Developer tool site with DR 90+ and ranking for hundreds of developer tool terms The .io success story is not about the TLD providing SEO advantage — it is about the TLD attracting a specific audience (developers) who are also high-quality link sources. Developer community sites generate extraordinary organic backlinks from GitHub READMEs, documentation, and technical blogs. **Key lesson**: .io works in tech because the audience's trust in the TLD is high, which drives CTR and links. The same TLD on a law firm or a clothing retailer would underperform .com substantially. ## Case Study 2: .co for Startup Branding Colombia's ccTLD .co was repositioned in 2010 as a global alternative to .com, marketed to startups. High-profile adoptions included AngelList (originally angel.co), Overstock's O.co campaign, and hundreds of venture-backed startups. **AngelList / angel.co**: At its peak, angel.co ranked for competitive startup and investment terms alongside .com competitors. The site achieved this through exceptional content and organic community growth, not through any TLD advantage. AngelList later migrated to angellist.com, which itself signals the long-term preference for .com even among sophisticated tech audiences. **Overstock.com / O.co**: Overstock invested heavily in rebranding to O.co and ran national advertising campaigns around it. The experiment was considered a failure — consumer recognition remained weak, and Overstock reverted to overstock.com. This case illustrates that .co's Domain Memorability challenges remain significant for mainstream consumer markets. **Lesson**: .co can work for startup/tech audiences but carries significant migration risk if the brand outgrows its startup identity. ## Case Study 3: .org for Non-Profit Authority The .org TLD predates the new gTLD era but demonstrates how a TLD can carry genuine trust authority in a specific context. Wikipedia.org, Mozilla.org, and Wikimedia.org consistently rank at the top of their respective competitive landscapes. Studies of link acquisition show that .org domains in the non-profit and educational sectors receive link patterns comparable to .edu domains — high-authority, low-spam, high-editorial-threshold sources. For non-profits, charities, and open-source projects, .org signals legitimacy in ways that improve both link acquisition and CTR on relevant queries. ## Case Study 4: .app and .dev for Developer Tools Google operates both .app and .dev registries and used .app for its own Flutter framework (flutter.dev). These TLDs have two structural SEO advantages: 1. **HTTPS required**: Both .app and .dev are on the HSTS preload list, meaning browsers enforce HTTPS connections without needing a redirect. This eliminates mixed content issues and ensures SSL is never forgotten. 2. **Audience alignment**: Developer tools on .dev and .app receive links from the developer community at higher rates because the TLD signals technical relevance. Sites like pub.dev (Dart package repository) rank effectively against .com competitors for package-related queries, though the ranking success is primarily driven by content depth and backlink quality, not the TLD. ## Case Study 5: .shop and .store for E-commerce The retail sector has seen several new TLD experiments. The results are more mixed than in the tech sector. **Gap.com vs. GAP experiments**: Traditional retailers have consistently returned to .com after testing alternative TLDs. **Shopify merchant stores**: Shopify offers mystore.myshopify.com and .shop domains. Analysis of Shopify stores shows .com stores convert at measurably higher rates than .shop equivalents in A/B tests — the conversion signal compounds with any ranking effect. **Niche retailers**: In very specific verticals (artisan crafts, regional foods), .shop and .store have performed reasonably for long-tail queries where competition is low and the audience is comfortable with alternative TLDs. ## What the Data Actually Shows Aggregated analyses across new TLDs reveal a consistent pattern: - New TLDs rank at roughly equivalent positions for equivalent content and backlink profiles - The gap appears in **link acquisition rates** — .com domains acquire backlinks at 15-40% higher rates for equivalent content quality - **CTR differential** from the same ranking position favors .com by 5-20% depending on industry - Over 12-24 months, the compounding effect of lower link acquisition and CTR creates measurable ranking gaps in competitive verticals The TLD Comparison Tool lets you model these tradeoffs for specific industry contexts. ## When New TLDs Succeed in SEO The pattern of new TLD SEO success is not random. New TLDs outperform expectations when: 1. **The audience is familiar with the TLD**: .io for developers, .co for startups, .org for non-profits 2. **The content category is specialized enough** that the audience's trust in the TLD creates CTR advantage rather than disadvantage 3. **The brand is strong enough** to overcome the generic unfamiliarity of the TLD 4. **Link acquisition is community-driven** rather than dependent on broad editorial coverage New TLDs underperform when they enter competitive verticals dominated by established .com properties with years of backlink accumulation. ## The Emerging .ai Category The ccTLD .ai (Anguilla's country code) has emerged as the dominant extension for AI companies, following .io's path in tech. OpenAI uses openai.com, but many AI startups (character.ai, perplexity.ai, etc.) use .ai effectively. Early data suggests .ai is developing strong trust signal value in the AI category, analogous to what .io achieved in SaaS. Given the concentrated backlink sources (AI research papers, tech blogs, venture capital announcements), .ai sites appear to be acquiring links at rates comparable to .com in their specific niche. ## Related Guides - Does Your TLD Affect SEO? The Definitive Answer — The theoretical framework for how TLDs affect SEO - International SEO: ccTLD vs Subdomain vs Subfolder — When ccTLDs like .io and .ai are and are not country-targeted - Domain Authority: What It Is and How to Build It — Building authority regardless of TLD