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Can you still rank for the UK with USA Backlinks?

by mince001
19 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have never tested this in my seo. I am very curious to know if this would work. Has anyone tried it?

Let's assume that you have website that has a .co.uk extension and is hosted in the UK, has a uk address for the domain(check this on whois).

Could you still rank top 3 for the Uk if you do not build backlinks from the UK and they are all from the USA and some european countries?

Also...let's assume that the competition level is not a problem.


I would like to hear different oppinions!
Thanks!
#backlinks #rank #usa
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
    Whats the point? why would anyone want to test not using any geographically relevant links for a geographically relevant data center? free time on their hands?
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    • Profile picture of the author mince001
      Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

      Whats the point? why would anyone want to test not using any geographically relevant links for a geographically relevant data center? free time on their hands?
      Just to check if there are flaws in this area coming from Google.
      For example, on one of my sites I am targeting the USA market and there are no backlinks coming from the uk, the hosting company is in the usa, the domain address is registered on an usa address.... and it is still on page one for google.co.uk even though I did not optimise it for that.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
        Originally Posted by mince001 View Post

        Just to check if there are flaws in this area coming from Google.
        For example, on one of my sites I am targeting the USA market and there are no backlinks coming from the uk, the hosting company is in the usa, the domain address is registered on an usa address.... and it is still on page one for google.co.uk even though I did not optimise it for that.
        You will find plenty serps in the uk where there is no great local competition and so you can rank for it but by and large they will favor local links. its not a flaw. it just how it works. I move up all the time in the uk center by applying links from all over the world but theres really no reason to run a test excluding all local links. It has no practical application. Links can be had all over so why would you exclude the ones that make your pages geo relevant?
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  • Profile picture of the author wfstin
    Yes, I've had that happen before but I'm not sure how accurate it was since it was search term that was mostly used in the US so there was very little competition from the UK sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author IM Ash
    Yes, you can!

    I have a site with a .co.uk extension that is obviously targeting a UK audience. The site has absolutely no UK based backlinks but it is sitting comfortably in the 2nd position of the UK SERPs. Most of the backlinks are from the US.
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  • Profile picture of the author collegeboy
    it is not possible, you can only get Uk position from UK back links.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Miranda
    I really don't see why you would need UK backlinks to rank. A source from the US is not relevant or credible to link to your site just because it is in the UK?
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      Originally Posted by Steven Miranda View Post

      I really don't see why you would need UK backlinks to rank. A source from the US is not relevant or credible to link to your site just because it is in the UK?
      Then you have absolutely no experience in UK SEO. There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that geo specific centers look at metrics in regard to the geo specific factors. run a serp in Google.com and then Google uk and see if they are the same.
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  • Profile picture of the author WilliamBerg
    You can rank a site in chinese using US links. A few local links helps as well but they are not required.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Williamson
    Absolutely; I've had plenty of sites that targeted the UK and Ireland, some of which were .com's and .info's, others of which had the country-specific domain extension. All backlinks were from US sites and they were all hosted here in the US. The main thing you have to remember to do is set the specific country in Webmaster Tools.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
    Sigh.....

    Here - one search in google uk

    Google

    Same search in Google.com

    Google

    Notice the differences? There are a number of Geo specific factors that go into that NOT just .co.uk extensions. Run rank checker (firefox add on) set the options to check both .com and Uk and you swill see the differences even with .com sites

    Please guys if you don't have experience with working with UK sites don't come in here misleading people. getting links that are geo specific (by IP addres ) IS a factor in ranking in Google UK.

    Does that mean that you can Never rank in Google UK without UK links? No. In fact as someone rightfully indicated their are searches that are great for the US and people will target them and lousy in the UK and no one in that market cares. All comes down to competition but anyone who says that is not a factor knows nothing about SEO for overseas sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author dmac3296
    For local search no way. For regular search terms it is definitely possible if you get high authority and relevant links. It is best to keep a natural and balanced link profile
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  • Profile picture of the author TBInternetMarketing
    Yes you can. I am currently ranking a website for a photography business in the UK at number 2 and number 3 on the first page for two keywords using backlinks from all over the place. It definitely seems to work.
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  • Profile picture of the author jkthomas
    It may be but if you try in uk region then it's take less time and efford.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Albas
    Originally Posted by mince001 View Post

    I have never tested this in my seo. I am very curious to know if this would work. Has anyone tried it?

    Let's assume that you have website that has a .co.uk extension and is hosted in the UK, has a uk address for the domain(check this on whois).

    Could you still rank top 3 for the Uk if you do not build backlinks from the UK and they are all from the USA and some european countries?

    Also...let's assume that the competition level is not a problem.


    I would like to hear different oppinions!
    Thanks!
    Some time it is possible but you rank must be on Google Uk search engine.
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  • Profile picture of the author peewhy
    Yes, geo specific links are an important ranking factor in Google UK
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  • Profile picture of the author nicktyler
    In my experience it doesn't really matter. Maybe the geo targeted links are worht a bit more but at the end of the day if it is a good link then it has a good effect on your site.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sky Walker
      The least significant detail about ranking is on where the webhost is located. By having a country TLD and links from websites in Timbuktu google knows your site is UK so you will rank without a problem. A few local links will be better too.
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  • Profile picture of the author quicklinkbuilder
    To answer your question. YES! You can still rank for a UK website with USA backlinks!
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