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.co.uk registered domain....

by alfardo
13 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Ive just got a quick SEO type question. I'm a UK business owner about to launch a new website the domain is a .co.uk all my other websites are .com generally.

I have hosting with Hostgator (US). I'm wondering do i need to host the .co.uk domain in the Uk for better rankings within the UK.

Thanks
#couk #domain #registered
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by alfardo View Post

    do i need to host the .co.uk domain in the Uk for better rankings within the UK.
    Yes. According to Google, anyway (and I've found that worked well, for my one UK-niche).

    What impact does server location have on rankings? - YouTube
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    • Profile picture of the author alfardo
      Thanks Alexa,
      Just as a matter of interest do you have any recommendations for Uk hosting!!
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by alfardo View Post

        Thanks Alexa,
        Just as a matter of interest do you have any recommendations for Uk hosting!!
        I actually did a lot of research into this (including getting some "Warrior opinion"), before signing up for one, and I use and recommend Heart Internet. They're not quite the cheapest (though their prices aren't bad at all) but they have particularly good and fast customer service and generally an excellent reputation. There are plenty of good, well-established hosts, though. I don't think it matters too much?

        (I'd stay away from any newer ones, and well away from 1-and-1-UK, myself).
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      • Profile picture of the author Myles Sinclair
        In Webmaster Tools you can specify which Country you want to target users. This seems to suggest an alternative to having to host in the Country of your target market. -
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        • Profile picture of the author marketinguk
          Originally Posted by rosetrees View Post

          I host all my UK websites in the UK. I can't comment on difference in ranking. I changed a couple of sites around a year ago from US to UK and didn't notice a difference. Others have been UK based for longer.

          I've used betterwebspace.com from the start and I recently opened an account with tech-hosts.co.uk following a recommendation on here.
          Carol was one of the people I was thinking of when I said I think it makes little to no difference in rankings but many others have experienced the same.

          Originally Posted by Myles Sinclair View Post

          In Webmaster Tools you can specify which Country you want to target users. This seems to suggest an alternative to having to host in the Country of your target market. - Google Webmaster Tools - Geogaphic Targetting - YouTube
          Beat you by 1 minute Myles LOL, but thanks for the share.

          Joel
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          • Profile picture of the author Myles Sinclair
            Originally Posted by Joel Ross View Post


            Beat you by 1 minute Myles LOL, but thanks for the share.

            Joel
            That's because my fingers are so numb with the cold! And I've got the heating on! Lol
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            • Profile picture of the author marketinguk
              Originally Posted by Myles Sinclair View Post

              That's because my fingers are so numb with the cold! And I've got the heating on! Lol
              Ah that must be it, well i'm in London and you know what they say, the further south you are the warmer it is.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Myles Sinclair View Post

          In Webmaster Tools you can specify which Country you want to target users. This seems to suggest an alternative to having to host in the Country of your target market.
          I started off that way, but still had a big jump in google.co.uk rankings when I followed Google's advice and relocated my hosting to the UK. Again, I have only one such site, so it's hardly "statistically significant" at all, but that's what happened.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketinguk
    This is a matter of debate about whether UK hosting actually makes any difference to rankings. I am personally of the opinion that it makes little to no difference at all. To give you an example if you add the site to Google Webmaster tools you can specify if you want to target a specific geographical location and can select the UK if you have a .com, .org extension etc. In fact I recently did this with a .ME extension targeting the UK and it works just fine!

    However, back to your point, I really wouldn't worry about having UK hosting trying to rank in the UK with a .co.uk domain name, your US hostgator hosting should suffice.

    Maybe us Brits should be worried by this possible future change in the domain space by nominet looking at introducing the .UK extension which I think would be a real game changer here: Consultation on a new .uk domain name service | Nominet

    However, that's for another day and time to discuss.

    Joel
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  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    I host all my UK websites in the UK. I can't comment on difference in ranking. I changed a couple of sites around a year ago from US to UK and didn't notice a difference. Others have been UK based for longer.

    I've used betterwebspace.com from the start and I recently opened an account with tech-hosts.co.uk following a recommendation on here.
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  • Profile picture of the author david carr
    Been recommending hostgator to people for years and I haven't seen any difference in the difficulty of obtaining rankings between a UK site hosted here in the UK or a UK site hosted in the US.

    Regards
    Dave
    Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author hadtic
    it really makes no difference where you are hosted to be honest i have several .uk domains on Heart Internet and several in other countries and can see no real difference. As for the uk i would stay clear of both 1and1 and Heart to be honest and stick with hostgator if thats who you are with
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  • Profile picture of the author troy23
    I too have had bad experience of 1-and-1-UK.
    They take 3 weeks or more to answer an email and at best only give one line replies.
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