How to optimise for country-specific Google results?

markowe · 01-26-2011, 08:31 AM

I just recently built a site around some keywords that are British English-specific and imagine my joy when it hit positions 4 and 5 on page one of Google... .com!

That's no use to me, since people from the US are not searching for this! However, the competition on page one is no tougher for the .co.uk. SERPS than for .com, indeed, many of the competing pages are the same.

I've never had this situation before, always targetted international or US keywords. What things can I do to optimise for UK-specific Google listings?

I have specified .uk as my target market in Webmaster Tools, but that's about all I could think of. Is there anything else, on- or off-page that I should be doing?

dotcomken · 01-26-2011, 08:40 AM

The webmaster tools is about the only thing available to tell Google the sites target. Other then that I would suggest geographic content targeting and social networks in the uk.

I manage a site that has 26 international domains and they are all setup in webmaster tools. But it doesn't descriminate google.com from showing them.

Also, look into the language, are there difference with the way people in the UK phrase keywords compared to US visitors?

Jryan774 · 01-26-2011, 08:44 AM

I recently asked the same question and the key thing I seemed to find out, is it also helps where your site/domain is hosted. Is it in the UK or US? This also seems to be a major factor from people feeding back to me.

dotcomken · 01-26-2011, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jryan774

I recently asked the same question and the key thing I seemed to find out, is it also helps where your site/domain is hosted. Is it in the UK or US? This also seems to be a major factor from people feeding back to me.

...exactly and that's why sites on a CDN rank much easier. Example: Googlebot from china will hit your content lightning fast from a server in china.

markowe · 01-26-2011, 09:23 AM

Hmm, there's not much I can do about the hosting server location, it's Bluehost, where all my stuff is, even though I am British. I dunno, it just doesn't follow to me that this would be a factor, I mean I host my sites where I get the best deal, not based on where I live. Seems to me that this reflects the reality of the Internet.

Well, I will see if changing the target country in WT makes any difference, and also maybe see about some .co.uk backlinks - never really thought about that tbh... Obvious really - or is it...

Thanks.

markowe · 01-26-2011, 12:16 PM

Update: just thought of adding:

HTML Code:

<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Language" CONTENT="en-GB">

to my page header too - who knows... Will let you know if any of this gets me anywhere. Perhaps the competition is just that bit stronger in the UK even if my page one analysis seems to suggest otherwise...

Jryan774 · 01-26-2011, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markowe

Update: just thought of adding:

HTML Code:

<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Language" CONTENT="en-GB">

to my page header too - who knows... Will let you know if any of this gets me anywhere. Perhaps the competition is just that bit stronger in the UK even if my page one analysis seems to suggest otherwise...

Wouldn't it be "en-UK"? as opposed to "en-US"

markowe · 01-26-2011, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jryan774

Wouldn't it be "en-UK"? as opposed to "en-US"

No, en-GB is the ISO 639-1 code for British English. I guess because it's called British English, not UK English, though why that is is still a mystery to me, and I come from Britain and have studied languages all my life! Must get round to finding out one of these days..!

Dr Eric Smith · 01-26-2011, 03:35 PM

to optimize for country specific results, it would help to get backlinks from the country you're trying to optimize for. Having .co.uk backlinks should boost your ranking on british google, not to mention using a co.uk yourself

John Williamson · 01-26-2011, 04:27 PM

- Domain with that country's extension
- Set Webmaster Tools to target that country.
- Geotargeting code in the header.

markowe · 02-03-2011, 01:32 AM

Just to update on this - I retargeted in Webmaster tools, put en-GB in the header as the language and... er... that was it. Today my site has gone in at no. 2 in the Google UK serps for my main KWP. Pretty pleased with that, that's a 5000+ exact search keyword and Adsense clicks are around 0.35 EUR ($0.50 a click) so that is worth having, though I have to keep it there of course.

Not saying any of my efforts actually made a difference, could have just been temporary differences between data centres. But worth thinking about in future.

Oh yes, and no .co.uk needed!

01-26-2011, 08:31 AM	#1
markowe The Wordbay Guy War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,531 Thanks: 185 Thanked 315 Times in 191 Posts Social Networking	How to optimise for country-specific Google results? I just recently built a site around some keywords that are British English-specific and imagine my joy when it hit positions 4 and 5 on page one of Google... .com! That's no use to me, since people from the US are not searching for this! However, the competition on page one is no tougher for the .co.uk. SERPS than for .com, indeed, many of the competing pages are the same. I've never had this situation before, always targetted international or US keywords. What things can I do to optimise for UK-specific Google listings? I have specified .uk as my target market in Webmaster Tools, but that's about all I could think of. Is there anything else, on- or off-page that I should be doing?
	eBay is full of HOT PRODUCT NICHES with low competition, just going begging! * Isn't it time you were making $$$ with eBay niche sites (like in the good old days)?! * Well now you can, and you don't even need to join the eBay Partner Network! CLICK FOR DETAILS!

01-26-2011, 08:40 AM	#2
dotcomken IM Evangelist Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Waltham, MA Posts: 50 Thanks: 2 Thanked 9 Times in 9 Posts Social Networking	Re: How to optimise for country-specific Google results? The webmaster tools is about the only thing available to tell Google the sites target. Other then that I would suggest geographic content targeting and social networks in the uk. I manage a site that has 26 international domains and they are all setup in webmaster tools. But it doesn't descriminate google.com from showing them. Also, look into the language, are there difference with the way people in the UK phrase keywords compared to US visitors?

01-26-2011, 08:44 AM	#3
Jryan774 Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: UK Posts: 53 Thanks: 5 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	Re: How to optimise for country-specific Google results? I recently asked the same question and the key thing I seemed to find out, is it also helps where your site/domain is hosted. Is it in the UK or US? This also seems to be a major factor from people feeding back to me.
	Golden Root

01-26-2011, 09:23 AM	#5
markowe The Wordbay Guy War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,531 Thanks: 185 Thanked 315 Times in 191 Posts Social Networking	Re: How to optimise for country-specific Google results? Hmm, there's not much I can do about the hosting server location, it's Bluehost, where all my stuff is, even though I am British. I dunno, it just doesn't follow to me that this would be a factor, I mean I host my sites where I get the best deal, not based on where I live. Seems to me that this reflects the reality of the Internet. Well, I will see if changing the target country in WT makes any difference, and also maybe see about some .co.uk backlinks - never really thought about that tbh... Obvious really - or is it... Thanks.
	eBay is full of HOT PRODUCT NICHES with low competition, just going begging! * Isn't it time you were making $$$ with eBay niche sites (like in the good old days)?! * Well now you can, and you don't even need to join the eBay Partner Network! CLICK FOR DETAILS!

01-26-2011, 12:16 PM	#6
markowe The Wordbay Guy War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,531 Thanks: 185 Thanked 315 Times in 191 Posts Social Networking	Re: How to optimise for country-specific Google results? Update: just thought of adding: HTML Code: <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Language" CONTENT="en-GB"> to my page header too - who knows... Will let you know if any of this gets me anywhere. Perhaps the competition is just that bit stronger in the UK even if my page one analysis seems to suggest otherwise...
	eBay is full of HOT PRODUCT NICHES with low competition, just going begging! * Isn't it time you were making $$$ with eBay niche sites (like in the good old days)?! * Well now you can, and you don't even need to join the eBay Partner Network! CLICK FOR DETAILS!

01-26-2011, 03:35 PM	#9
Dr Eric Smith Warrior Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: How to optimise for country-specific Google results? to optimize for country specific results, it would help to get backlinks from the country you're trying to optimize for. Having .co.uk backlinks should boost your ranking on british google, not to mention using a co.uk yourself
	gas station loan

01-26-2011, 04:27 PM	#10
John Williamson The Mathematical Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Charleston, SC Posts: 1,639 Thanks: 143 Thanked 283 Times in 185 Posts	Re: How to optimise for country-specific Google results? - Domain with that country's extension - Set Webmaster Tools to target that country. - Geotargeting code in the header.
	The Google Adwords Keyword Tool is hiding your valuable keywords! My personal review of Jack Duncan's Keyword Sniper Pro Adsense niche site success & boosted rankings - Clickbump Engine & Clickbump SEO

02-03-2011, 01:32 AM	#11
markowe The Wordbay Guy War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,531 Thanks: 185 Thanked 315 Times in 191 Posts Social Networking	Re: How to optimise for country-specific Google results? Just to update on this - I retargeted in Webmaster tools, put en-GB in the header as the language and... er... that was it. Today my site has gone in at no. 2 in the Google UK serps for my main KWP. Pretty pleased with that, that's a 5000+ exact search keyword and Adsense clicks are around 0.35 EUR ($0.50 a click) so that is worth having, though I have to keep it there of course. Not saying any of my efforts actually made a difference, could have just been temporary differences between data centres. But worth thinking about in future. Oh yes, and no .co.uk needed!
	eBay is full of HOT PRODUCT NICHES with low competition, just going begging! * Isn't it time you were making $$$ with eBay niche sites (like in the good old days)?! * Well now you can, and you don't even need to join the eBay Partner Network! CLICK FOR DETAILS!