Why is Google .ca ranking different than .com?

by 18 replies
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I am puzzled as to why my keyword phrase is consistently ranked either 2nd or 3rd on Google.ca but is nowhere to be found on Google.com. This website is now over a year old.

I am located in Canada and have done some research on IP addresses. Everyone seems to think that it doesn't matter where you are located when it comes to rank, which makes me wonder why there is this difference.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be going on? I should also mention that my host/server is located in the USA.

Grant
#search engine optimization #.ca versus .com #google #ip address #ranking
  • Banned
    "Everyone" is mistaken.

    Is the site in question a .ca domain-name? If so, it's always likely to rank higher on Google.ca, even if it's hosted in the US.
    • [1] reply
    • the answer to your question that your website has different ranking for Google canada and google US is pretty simple...

      geographically the Google is divided into multiple clones, and changes to one clone, is imitated by all others... its a pretty simple concept if you are a computer science student... but simply put each clone of Google is responsible for gathering data around itself... and not only update the local database but the central database too, this clone thing helps speed up the process, both in serving search results and scanning the web, like the google canada will scan all the pages in the geographically i.e in canada, and will accordingly rate the pages, where they should land in the search results...

      Getting a higher rank in Google Canada is easily possible because, canada hosts less of websites, plus there less local search results to be displayed... where as the google us, your search results might even vary from state to state... keeping the stiff competition in mind... so the search ranking is indicative only... and no1 search ranking in all google geographic domains... is only possible by the giants like... hp/facebook/wikipedia/google itself/etc...

      I hope i made the point...

      Thanx
      PS: you will have to visualize the big picture to understand how google is working right now... i have tried to remain as clear as possible...
      • [2] replies
  • Google consider the website from some local situation! You know that Google gain different servers in different countries and areas! They may collect the information of your web from different local places. That is why you see the differences between your Google rank! Even the cookies of your browser may affect the search result!
  • Remember that each google website have his own data center, the data center effect the SERP result.
  • I have the opposite problem - I rank well in google.com for my keyword, but I'm trying to rank in .ca for a local search. However, my listing doesn't appear until page 7 for google.ca, whereas I'm #1 in google.com.

    This would normally be a great problem to have, except that Google defaults to the .ca version for browsers in Canada. Will it just be a matter of time before my ranking on the .ca version matches the .com version, or do I have to be more proactive?
    • [2] replies
    • Hi Adam, facing the same issue as you... rank well on Google.com but locally (google.co.uk) I have to dig deep. Let me know if you receive an answer on your question. Thx, Alex
      • [1] reply
    • Nice to see that I am not the only person with this problem. Here it is several years later, and the much vaunted google search engine is behaving very strangely indeed. I have a .com website for a local Canadian business. The site has the address in it very predominantly. There is a google plus page for the site with the same address in Canada. It is a local business that only does business in this Canadian community.

      The site ranks in the first page for several of my main keywords on google.com, but is nowhere to be seen on google.ca.

      Not only that, but if on my mobile browser, I am showing local sites from England over similar local sites from Canada.

      Google makes a bunch of claims as to how good that they are, but they are not nearly as smart as they claim.

      Logs of glitches in replicating data between their various data centers I suspect.

      Most likely, the Canadian development team is clueless as to what the USA development team is doing.

      Yahoo has had similar problems.
      • [1] reply
  • That is because in the google ca the ranking that is much more important to the geographical area will show up more than those compared to the rest of the world. Think of it like there is a certain pizza parlour in your area that you want to search for, this parlour will have a different and better ranking than when I would search for it from half way around the world using my own local Google. That is why the local Google and the International Google have different results.
  • I've got the same problem. I'm a Canadian company with a .ca domain but I rank higher on Google.com than I do on Google.ca. I have my webmaster tools set to Canada and have my address on my website.

    Any ideas? Pretty much all my competitors have .com web addresses.

    I'm guessing that possibly I have too many US links (I write and blog for international publications) but from what I can see from my competitors, they are similarly US centric on their links.
  • There are lots of threads talking about "google local search" and "local search results" in forum, you should check them and I'm sure it will be helpful.
  • The .ca is targeting local businesses where as the .com is targeting general business or US businesses. Trust me the search results will always change depending on your location. even if u move towns that will can see a difference in results . Google will make its priority to identify ur ip and pin you down to a local location and serve the links that is more local to you.

    If you want to change Google target locations just go to Google "Search tools" and define the "Search near" to a relevant town, country or suburb of ur choice.
  • With Google’s localized search results, usually there are some difference in ranking because of the difference in datacentres. Also, the user’s IP has an impact on Geographical locations in search. You can disable the personalization by logging out your Google account and then delete the cache and cookies. You can also use the Google Analytics by segmenting it by city or country to see the correct data. You may consider using rank tracking tool like MSM.
  • A first-time poster just had to dig this thread up to post a useless rant. If you want help start your own, would you please?

    There's a checklist that Paul posted in 2011. Those haven't changed in 3,5 years. If you're at the stage that you've got a canadian IP address behind the site then it might be a mystery. But I'm not going to assume that someone has done everything they can if they're not saying so.
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    Why is Google .ca ranking different than .com?

    I am puzzled as to why my keyword phrase is consistently ranked either 2nd or 3rd on Google.ca but is nowhere to be found on Google.com. This website is now over a year old. I am located in Canada and have done some research on IP addresses. Everyone seems to think that it doesn't matter where you are located when it comes to rank, which makes me wonder why there is this difference.