New to SEO - Quick question for the experts!

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What reason would my site rank for google in the UK and not in the US?

What's it based on? Web hosting location...? Domain extension...?

I'm sure there are a few factors, but what are the main ones that contribute the most weight to how you are ranked and where.

I've seen US sites rank highly in UK searches and wondered why.

I hope this question makes sense!
#experts #question #quick #seo
  • Profile picture of the author OrganicSeoGuru
    Whats your website, all those factors and many more can and are often at play...
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  • Profile picture of the author jack85.142
    Whats your website, all those factors and many more can and are often at play... What's it based on? Web hosting location...? Domain extension...? I've seen US sites rank highly in UK searches and wondered why.
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  • Profile picture of the author thetruth23
    It's hypothetical, I don't have a website. I was just doing some analysis.

    So for eg. If I do a Google UK search one website ranks number one, but if i do a global search its a different website. Even though the global number one may still be somewhat relevant.

    Basically, I want to develop a website that would rank well for uk searches. I wouldn't care where it ranked globally.

    How can I achieve this? ( not high seo rankings in general but that which makes the difference locally)

    This is why i gave the examples of hosting location and domain extension. Anything else?
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  • Profile picture of the author chooch
    If you are wanting to rank well in the UK....I would suggest that you get a .co.uk extension.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aira Bongco
    If you have a general .com domain, then expect to get higher rankings in the US search engine. For some reason, this is how websites are treated. As suggested by chooch, you can do well with a .co.uk domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author robert1985
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      • Profile picture of the author greekweb
        As Profit Sniper mentioned earlier, it is all about GEO targeting.

        Let me explain: Lets assume that you are an internet user that lives in London. When you are searching for a restaurant, Google assumes that you are looking for a restaurant that is located close to you and not in United States! That is the idea behind it.

        For that reason you should choose a .co.uk if you are interested especially for users in England. You will have a kind of priority because your website is "more accurate" to show up on Google UK results.
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        • Profile picture of the author thetruth23
          Originally Posted by greekweb View Post

          As Profit Sniper mentioned earlier, it is all about GEO targeting.

          Let me explain: Lets assume that you are an internet user that lives in London. When you are searching for a restaurant, Google assumes that you are looking for a restaurant that is located close to you and not in United States! That is the idea behind it.

          For that reason you should choose a .co.uk if you are interested especially for users in England. You will have a kind of priority because your website is "more accurate" to show up on Google UK results.
          Ok. Thanks for that.

          That seems to explain more what to expect as the user conducting the search. I understand that.

          Another example: I want to promote a a website to an American audience therefore I buy a .com domain.

          With everything else being equal, lets say I have one .com domain on US hosting servers, and one .com domain on UK hosting servers. I don't know what is true, but logic tells me the .com domain on the US hosting servers will rank better for the audience i'm targeting. (i'm not an expert - i don't know!)

          But what other factors should I be considering?

          Is there a way to set the GEO Targeting parameters?
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          • Profile picture of the author peter_jones
            Also add into the mix link diversity, if you are looking to rank in the UK try to attract or build links from sites with UK relevance.

            The same applies for any geo location even down to the town level for Local SEO.
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        • Profile picture of the author Profit Sniper
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