Choosing between a .it and a .com domain
The extension matters less for search ranking than most people think, but it matters for customers and for your brand. Here are the practical criteria.
When to choose .it
- Your audience is mainly Italian: people looking for a local business tend to trust a .it.
- You want a clear signal that you belong to the Italian market.
- You meet the requirements: the owner of a .it must be an adult with citizenship, residence or a registered office in the European Economic Area, the Vatican, San Marino, Switzerland or the United Kingdom (source: Registro .it).
When to choose .com
- You sell, or plan to sell, abroad.
- Your brand is international or you want a name that is easy to say to anyone.
- There are no residency requirements for the owner.
What does not change
For Google a .it and a .com are equal in quality: content is what counts. A .it helps you come across as an Italian site but gives no magic advantage. More than the extension, a short name that is easy to spell and remember is what matters.
Practical advice
- If you can, register both and use one as the main address; point the other to it. This stops others from registering the matching version.
- Avoid hyphens and numbers, and check the name does not resemble someone else's trademark.
- If the .com of your name is taken, a good .it beats a .com with a worse name.
You can check availability of both in seconds. Current prices appear in the storefront search.