Think twice before choosing a spammy top-level domain

Top-level domains (TLDs) come in many forms and flavours—from your .CAs, .coms and .nets…to the more interesting choices like .top, .pizza or .ninja.  

And when it comes to your website, you want to stand out, right?  

So, naturally, you might gravitate more towards the “interesting” TLDs. You may also find that the custom domain name you want is readily available and that it’s either ultra-cheap or free.  

Sounds glorious so far, doesn’t it?  

Not to totally rain on this parade, but the TLD you  might be considering registering could have a “spammy” reputation. 

What makes a domain spammy in the first place?  

No TLD is inherently spammy or bad on its own. But what does make a TLD spammy is when they are used for a higher number of malicious domains versus legitimate ones. There are a couple of reasons why this happens:  

• In some cases, the registry organization controlling the TLD might have weak (or no) policies in place for removing abusive domains.  
   

• Cheap (or free) registration fees make it easy for cybercriminals to buy up huge numbers of available domains and also replace domains that get suspended or removed.  

How do spammy domains impact you?  

Unfortunately, a TLD’s poor reputation precedes you. By that, we mean—even if you personally have the best of intentions, registering with a spammy TLD can have several negative impacts on you and your business.  

For example: 

1. Email providers might proactively mark your messages as spam because your chosen TLD is most often used in phishing and malware scams. This can lead to your emails going straight to spam folders or getting blocked all together. 

2. With a spammy TLD, there’s a good chance your domain could get de-listed in search engine results pages. More on this below.

3. Wary customers might think twice about clicking on an email or link from you if it appears to be from an odd TLD that they’re not familiar with. 

Whichever way you slice it, registering with a spammy TLD can impact your ability to reach your audience or legitimacy.  

How search engines like Google deal with spammy domains 

Google won’t necessarily ban a TLD outright just because it’s unusual but Google will use advanced machine learning to analyze TLDs and the websites that use them.  

By looking at different websites’ content and links, Google is trying to identify any signs of spammy or fraudulent behaviour.  

Here’s the thing: if spammy, malware-distributing websites all tend to use a certain TLD, then Google will naturally start associating that TLD with spam.  

So, again, even if your website is legitimate, it’ll still be weighed down by your TLD’s spammy reputation.  

What’s a non-spammy, safe choice?  

We’ve covered just about all the pitfalls of choosing spammy TLDs. So now, let’s shift gears and cover two of the biggest benefits of choosing a .CA domain.  

First—.CA is an especially good choice if you’re a Canadian business selling to fellow Canucks in Canada.  

Country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) like .CA are also the best way to tell both your customers and search engines where in the world you’re based. In fact, whenever you use .CA as part of your web address, Google prioritizes your site in local, Canadian search results. This is the total opposite to how TLDs with spammy reputations are treated!  

Second—.CA is one of the least spammy domains in existence!  

Don’t believe us? According to the SpamHaus project, an international non-profit that tracks internet threats, .CA is routinely among the “least-abused” domains.  

A big part of what makes .CA so trusted are the Canadian Presence Requirements. You’re  required to provide proof of Canadian citizenship or permanent residency when registering a .CA.  

We—the good people of CIRA—will also regularly review active .CA domains to ensure they aren’t being used in bad faith to spread spam and malware and are following all requirements. 

The moral of this blog post?   

.CA is ultimately your safest, most secure and least spammy choice when picking a TLD.  

Even if your exact, desired domain name isn’t available through .CA, it’s always going to be better to come up with a slight variation, versus registering your name with a spammy domain and opening yourself to a ton of different issues.