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Question about local domain names and competition

by JB
6 replies
Hi All,
I was researching keywords for a domain name I own using the Google Ad words tool and I started messing with location to see the demand from various countries vs the overall global search results. I was very surprised with one particular keyword which forms part of my actual domain name.
There were something like 11,800 per month from a certain country from a total of 80,000 global searches and the competition is LOW. In addition, the keyword is for a product type so this an active market, not people seeking information about a subject.
What would be your opinion on purchasing local domain (eg .co.uk / .ca) for the particular country and setting up either a) a clone site or b) a redirect to the .com address? Am I right in thinking that the local domain will score higher in the local search? If anyone has done this type of thing before I would really appreciate some tips or advice.
Regards,
Dave
#competition #domain #local #names #question
  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Dave:

    I have never heard Google or any of its gurus (like Matt Cutts) say that a local domain will score higher in a local search. Unless someone knows for sure, it would be my guess that local domain names would have no more Google quality or ranking power than a dot com.

    My preference in domain names is always dot com.

    But since domain names are cheap, why don't you buy a local name, set it up as you've suggested, and try it out for a year? Test to see which ranks higher. It's a pretty inexpensive and quick way to find out.

    If anything, I would guess that Google frowns on redirects and cloned sites regardless of the domain extension.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author bphalen7
      you have to keep in mind how google is changing. the way they look up content now is relative to your zip which is also pulled from your ip address. this makes it easier for domains containing the keywords for that specific search to show up better locally. Also if it is in the city you live in you should absolutely get the local domain keyword that would best describe your business. have fun
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

      I have never heard Google or any of its gurus (like Matt Cutts) say that a local domain will score higher in a local search.
      I think Matt Cutts has said it, many times, actually, Steve ... in the little video below, he's talking primarily about server location, but I think he does also mention "local domain names" as something that have always been relevant, too (it's not exactly the video I was looking for, to be honest, but there are other threads here which link to other Matt Cutts videos which prove the point better - I just can't find them at the moment! ).

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  • Profile picture of the author Mary Wilhite
    If the searches for the keyword contains the location
    then getting an EMD (exact match domain) containing
    the location will give you some plus points in SEO.

    That is the core principle of Google Sniper.

    However, having an EMD is not an assurance of owning
    the top spot in Google. You also have contents, backlinks
    and domain age.
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  • Profile picture of the author seraveegn003
    thx for the video ...
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  • Profile picture of the author JB
    Cool, thanks for the info guys. If local domains do indeed rank higher for local searches then surely this is something that IM'ers selling physical products need to look at. I am setting up a dropping shipping site at the moment and the keyword that is part of my domain name has major traffic potential for a particular small country. I'll look further into this and if it looks like a runner (even if it means cloning the site with some small modifications for differentiation then so be it) - I'll report back on what happens anyway.
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