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Foreign domain names: Separating fact from fiction

by czilbersher
3 replies
Does anyone know the answer to this?

As an affiliate marketer, I want to direct my visitors to products located on Ebay Germany. The question I have is regarding which domain names work best for ranking. Obviously, most customers will be Germans living in Germany. I have heard (rumor) that Google gives preferential treatment to domains within a particular country, so if you're in Germany and search for 'BMW', then the .de domains will get preferential listings over any other listings including .com's or .eu's. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this? Also, are .eu domains of any value at all in European markets or are they as worthless as .info's? I would prefer to register .de domains but the unbelievable hassle involved in satisfying DENIC's requirements with US Registrars who are completely cluess and US Hosting Providers who are completely clueless when you tell them: "I need both my IP's parked on different subnet masks" and they reply with "Huuuh???" leads me to avoid .de domain registration unless I absolutely must have it in order to rank in the SERPs.

If anyone has any thoughts on this topic, I would really appreciate hearing from you.
#domain #fact #fiction #foreign #names #separating
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Barber
    I am UK based and the results I have seen and seen others obtain is that a .co.uk on a Uk server will out rank a .com in the UK, all other things being equal. Also have a local physical address and phone number also seams to help.
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  • Profile picture of the author InternetSuccess001
    It does (initially) make a difference, but you can easily circumvent that.

    Simply start participating in German newsgroups/forums, make sure your website is written in German (and/or at least has German content on it), use the appropriate German tags/etc. Then, it will become a matter of quality which will allow you to outrank .de sites.

    If you are looking for a magic bullet however, registering a .de site will not automatically give you tons of converting traffic. 1995-1997, maybe. Now, no. You would need a lot more than that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Davioli
    I used to think the same. Then I found that if you sign up for Google Webmaster Tools..there is an option that allows you to set your preferred market. So if you set it to Germany.. your website will rank higher in germany in the same way a German domain would.
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