Difference between google.com and google.co.uk

[yveper]

Hi guys, can anyone help....my site is listed on page 1 of google.com but unlisted (or way down) on google.co.uk....its a .com website but for a UK based business... any tips please????

[BarryOnline]

Originally Posted by yveper

Hi guys, can anyone help....my site is listed on page 1 of google.com but unlisted (or way down) on google.co.uk....its a .com website but for a UK based business... any tips please????

I focus all my SEO on Google.co.uk

To achieve better rankings in Google.co.uk over Google.com you should use a .co.uk and host your sites on a UK based server.

You can still rank a .com in Google.co.uk but for best results the site should be hosted on a UK IP address.

What hosting provider are you using?

[Cyber Rankings]

Originally Posted by sisatel

You can set your Geographical Location (Target) on Google Webmaster Tool.
Try to post your site on UK based directories & classified sites. Those will help.

If you are targetting the UK audience only then listen to what Sisatel has to say. She is 100% correct on this.

Another thing you can do is buy the .co.uk version and set it as your main domain then 301 redirect the .com version to the .co.uk version.

I have done this a few times for other reasons and it works great Also go into google webmaster tools and let them know you have moved your website. A lot of people don't use this when transferring but it's best to take the time to do it.

[yveper]

Thanks guys, been away , I'm using hostgator. I'll look into getting the co.uk domain also. What about backlinks, do they need to be from .co.uk sites? I take it directory entires will have to be to UK ones? Big thanks to everyone so far, I need to rank in co.uk as we are selling IT training courses in UK . I will do a 301 redirect that sounds good, and the google webmaster tools.

[NEseO]

Originally Posted by sisatel

You can set your Geographical Location (Target) on Google Webmaster Tool.
Try to post your site on UK based directories & classified sites. Those will help.

Just do this and nothing else as this works a treat. I have done this on a few sites and within a week my site is at the same levels (ish) for .com and .co.uk.

[yveper]

Thanks, will do that

[webdevpro]

The ranking you check from the same location (say USA) for .com and .co.uk search engines could be wrong or misleading. It may be possible for the real visitors from UK, your site appears on high search position. Check results by using some UK based proxy servers.

[BarryOnline]

Originally Posted by yveper

Thanks guys, been away , I'm using hostgator. I'll look into getting the co.uk domain also. What about backlinks, do they need to be from .co.uk sites? I take it directory entires will have to be to UK ones? Big thanks to everyone so far, I need to rank in co.uk as we are selling IT training courses in UK . I will do a 301 redirect that sounds good, and the google webmaster tools.

I've ranked many sites at #1 in Google UK without any .co.uk back links. I have strong rankings in Google UK for some fairly competitive keywords without any .co.uk back links. So from my own experiance, it doesn't seem to be a ranking factor.

Having your site hosted on a UK server with a .co.uk domain will give you the best results and is the most important changes that need to me made if you want to rank well in Google UK.

[awj888]

building links from UK domains will greatly help that, but also, you can keep building links and vary all the locations. I have .com ranking #1 in UK, USA, CA, ZA, NZ, IT, AE, IE etc everywhere with english based searches, and even foreign markets DE FR CN and so on. just keep building links. They each respond differently in different countries so you will be able to rank in the UK for sure just will behave on different time scale than USA for example

[Jack Samurai]

Submit your site in UK directories. That will surely help to be ranked in google.co.uk

[someonenight]

May be set Google webmaster tools target location UK or try to get more Good co.uk back link .i hope your site soon page 1

[yveper]

Thanks again, I have set my geographical location to UK in the webmaster tools and will buy the co.uk domain on a UK server..however that means it will be a completely new site and I'll have to start from scratch? or is a 301 redirect ok?
Will also keep on with the backlinks ( outsource ... too time consuming !! ) and check the ranking from within UK, you're right you get different rankings when you check from there.
When I check my site from my computer I'm at no 1 on .com but when I check from another computer I'm at no 6 !!( I think I've heard this before from SEO guys like Keith Dougherty and others on one of my many WSOs !!! )

[Zibblu]

I have a similar (but sort of opposite) problem.

I have the #1 ranking on Google.ca for my target keyword but only #158 on Google.com

This is particularly strange because my site is a .US domain ... I'd much prefer the #1 ranking on .com rather than .ca as it would mean over 10 times as much traffic.

I have absolutely no idea why it would be doing better on Google's Canadian site.

(I've checked webmaster tools and it's already targeting US.)

[transcribing]

hey,
Google.com shows the ranking of your site globally around the world while google.co.uk shows the ranking of your site in united kingdom.