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Is page indexing geographically affected?

by blairquane
17 replies
I have a situation where one or more of my websites pages shows as being indexed in Google Search Console and in any search using (site that I do, but not indexed for a consultant that works for me, who's in a different country. They search for the page and its shown as not found/indexed.
Is there a thing where Google will index a page in one country but not in another? It has me stumped as I thought indexing was international and once a page is indexed by Google, its available in all countries search results?
#affected #geographically #indexing #page
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  • Profile picture of the author XYZcontent
    Curious to see the outcome of this - I believe it is global too.
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    • Profile picture of the author CyberSEO
      Originally Posted by XYZcontent View Post

      Curious to see the outcome of this - I believe it is global too.

      Nope, it's different for different visitors according to their preferences and countries/languages of course.
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  • Profile picture of the author ZephyrIon
    Must be a fluke because of server resources being located in another country. You won't find a straight answer on something like this.
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    • Profile picture of the author blairquane
      Originally Posted by ZephyrIon View Post

      Must be a fluke because of server resources being located in another country. You won't find a straight answer on something like this.
      I thought that but the consultant tried it on multiple browsers, computers and IP addresses via VPN and it still didn't show as indexed. Its weird.
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  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    Originally Posted by blairquane View Post

    Is there a thing where Google will index a page in one country but not in another? It has me stumped as I thought indexing was international and once a page is indexed by Google, its available in all countries search results?
    The answer here is YES absolutely.

    Something you can try for yourself is to do a search for say "Dentist" and you will see results local to you. You can then goto another countries Google, Google Australia as an example ( https://www.google.com.au/ ) and do the exact same search - using Google Australia...

    The actual organic search results remain the same ( local to you ), the 3 pack results will vary. ( still local to you ) No where will you find results for Australian Dentists.

    You can go into the Google search console and set international targeting ( https://serpstat.com/blog/how-to-set...earch-console/ ) BUT even with that... its an uphill struggle.

    Hope that Helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author blairquane
      Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

      The answer here is YES absolutely.

      Something you can try for yourself is to do a search for say "Dentist" and you will see results local to you. You can then goto another countries Google, Google Australia as an example ( https://www.google.com.au/ ) and do the exact same search - using Google Australia...

      The actual organic search results remain the same ( local to you ), the 3 pack results will vary. ( still local to you ) No where will you find results for Australian Dentists.

      You can go into the Google search console and set international targeting ( https://serpstat.com/blog/how-to-set...earch-console/ ) BUT even with that... its an uphill struggle.

      Hope that Helps!
      OK, thanks - I get that it'll show local results before other country ones, but I had assumed that it would still index the page, but maybe further down the search results on page 8 for example? Are you saying it won't even index it in certain countries?
      I'll take a look at the GSC as you suggested. Thanks.
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Originally Posted by blairquane View Post

        Are you saying it won't even index it in certain countries?
        I'll take a look at the GSC as you suggested. Thanks.

        In a bit more than theory, yes that is what I am saying. Just because my sites are indexed in Google.com does not mean they will be indexed in Google.au or Google.se or Google.com.tw. I think we can go a step further, and say it doesnt mean it will and really say "It wont".

        Google isnt really this one huge collective of data anymore, it is very compartmentalized by country - so much so there is technically something like 190 ( +/- ) Google country specific sites now - to put this into perspective there is 195 countries in the world.

        Google operates primarily with the concept that local results are better results... and have for years
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        • Profile picture of the author blairquane
          Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

          In a bit more than theory, yes that is what I am saying. Just because my sites are indexed in Google.com does not mean they will be indexed in Google.au or Google.se or Google.com.tw. I think we can go a step further, and say it doesnt mean it will and really say "It wont".

          Google isnt really this one huge collective of data anymore, it is very compartmentalized by country - so much so there is technically something like 190 ( +/- ) Google country specific sites now - to put this into perspective there is 195 countries in the world.

          Google operates primarily with the concept that local results are better results... and have for years
          Thanks for the thorough response here. I now understand how it works but how does it determine what's 'local'? My site is not a physical store with a location. It's hosted in the USA and refers to the US in its language and content etc. Does that mean that it won't then index in Spain for example? I'm guessing Google uses a host of factors to determine this, right?
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          • Profile picture of the author savidge4
            Originally Posted by blairquane View Post

            Thanks for the thorough response here. I now understand how it works but how does it determine what's 'local'? My site is not a physical store with a location. It's hosted in the USA and refers to the US in its language and content etc. Does that mean that it won't then index in Spain for example? I'm guessing Google uses a host of factors to determine this, right?
            The exact how and why, I dont know exactly. Language I am guessing would be a good start. In Spain.. wouldn't Spanish be the primary language?

            Even with the English language say the United States, Canada, Australia, and England as examples... they all use English, but there are some more than obvious nuances.... and at this point, I think Google knows the difference.

            Think for a moment... when was the last time you searched for something and got a page in a language other than your own... I really cant even think of the last time I clicked on a page that was written in obviously broken English.

            Another variable could be the who-is data for the site.

            A "Theory" I have... is another primary variable that seems to come into play is phone numbers and address' on your site. Google I believe gives a decent amount of boost if these are present.

            Are there ways to get around all of this and the answer is yes... A basic list of ways to get traffic from a specific country would be:

            Domain Name Extension.
            Google Search console Geo-Targeting.
            Web Hosting Server Location.
            Backlinks.
            Content Level Targeting. ( Language )
            Local SEO Using Google my business.*** Wont apply in your situation
            Submit Website To Local Search Engines & Directories.

            So I am guessing your extention is .com so thats out.
            Geo Targeting is something you can do.
            Web hosting is in the States.
            Start accumulating back links from the desired countries.

            Content in the languages of the countries you want to serve - if its that important... I would say you have to make this happen. We do a fair amount of work outside of the States. And even the English we use for a site in Australia we will consult a native Australian to go over and make corrections to our writing.- it makes a difference

            Local SEO is not a variable for you
            Submit website to local search and directories... this one can help for sure, like: Apali, and kaixo ( for Spain ) as a few examples.
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            • Profile picture of the author blairquane
              Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

              The exact how and why, I dont know exactly. Language I am guessing would be a good start. In Spain.. wouldn't Spanish be the primary language?

              Even with the English language say the United States, Canada, Australia, and England as examples... they all use English, but there are some more than obvious nuances.... and at this point, I think Google knows the difference.

              Think for a moment... when was the last time you searched for something and got a page in a language other than your own... I really cant even think of the last time I clicked on a page that was written in obviously broken English.

              Another variable could be the who-is data for the site.

              A "Theory" I have... is another primary variable that seems to come into play is phone numbers and address' on your site. Google I believe gives a decent amount of boost if these are present.

              Are there ways to get around all of this and the answer is yes... A basic list of ways to get traffic from a specific country would be:

              Domain Name Extension.
              Google Search console Geo-Targeting.
              Web Hosting Server Location.
              Backlinks.
              Content Level Targeting. ( Language )
              Local SEO Using Google my business.*** Wont apply in your situation
              Submit Website To Local Search Engines & Directories.

              So I am guessing your extention is .com so thats out.
              Geo Targeting is something you can do.
              Web hosting is in the States.
              Start accumulating back links from the desired countries.

              Content in the languages of the countries you want to serve - if its that important... I would say you have to make this happen. We do a fair amount of work outside of the States. And even the English we use for a site in Australia we will consult a native Australian to go over and make corrections to our writing.- it makes a difference

              Local SEO is not a variable for you
              Submit website to local search and directories... this one can help for sure, like: Apali, and kaixo ( for Spain ) as a few examples.
              Hmm the content level targeting (language) you mention is interesting. Whilst I agree in some respect, I as a user, am happy to read an article from Australia, US, UK etc if its helping me with my query. I don't actually care if its from a different country, if the content isnt about that country, i.e. its generic. So, Google indexing differently over English speaking countries is worrying because a lot of the content out there is relevant purely because its in English. I don't see the micro nuances between English speaking countries enough to warrant placing this as a factor in indexing. I certainly hope that Google see this like I do. Some good thoughts though, so thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author sumitnirala
    Hi
    It is possible if you have some restrictions in your robots.txt file or you can check the search console for the targeting options. It can be of you have set the targeting for one location. Go to GSC and then go to International targeting, check the unlisted if you don't want to optimize your website for specific locations.
    Sometimes it happens because of IP blocking.
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    • Profile picture of the author blairquane
      Originally Posted by sumitnirala View Post

      Hi
      It is possible if you have some restrictions in your robots.txt file or you can check the search console for the targeting options. It can be of you have set the targeting for one location. Go to GSC and then go to International targeting, check the unlisted if you don't want to optimize your website for specific locations.
      Sometimes it happens because of IP blocking.
      Thanks, I'll have a look at the GSC settings. We haven't set any targeting up to now so I'm not sure we'll find this restricting it. The contractor used multiple IP's via VPN so hopefully that gets around any potential IP blocking?
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  • Profile picture of the author marketing2021
    same problem i getting from Bing but my web site index on google still not get any solution
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    • Profile picture of the author WF- Enzo
      Administrator
      For you, your best solution is to seek help from both search engines

      Originally Posted by marketing2021 View Post

      same problem i getting from Bing but my web site index on google still not get any solution
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  • Profile picture of the author devdubai
    I think Yes!
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  • Profile picture of the author Angela Meghan Deisley
    In general, the indexing of a webpage is not geographically affected, meaning that a webpage will be indexed the same way regardless of the location of the user accessing it. However, the ranking of a webpage in search results can be influenced by the location of the user.

    Search engines use a variety of factors to determine the relevance and ranking of a webpage for a particular search query. One of these factors is the location of the user. For example, if a user searches for "pizza near me," the search engine may return results that are geographically relevant to the user's location. This means that a webpage that ranks highly for a search query in one location may not rank as highly in another location.

    It's also worth noting that search engines may use different data centers or servers in different regions, which can potentially affect the way a webpage is indexed or ranked in different locations. However, this is generally not something that website owners need to worry about, as the differences are typically minor.
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