Can a .com site be ranked #1 on Google.CO.UK?

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Can you rank a site with a generic domain extension like .com, .edu, .net or .org on Google UK?
Is this even possible???
If yes - how to do this?

Google UK favors co.uk domains heavily.
I'm left with the impression that, unless a site with a generic extension is super big and super important, Google.co.uk would pretty much ignore/trash/sandbox it.

I believe that when the servers of the site are located in the UK, this also helps generic sites rank well on Google UK, but what if the server is not in the UK and the site does not have a .co.uk extension?

When trying to rank a generic domain on Google.co.uk, is it a wise idea to add another domain to your existing site that has a co.uk extension and try to rank for that new domain name on Google.co.uk?
Will this have a reverse effect?
I mean, will having two domains for the exact same site harm you on the SERPs?
#googlecouk #ranked #site
  • Profile picture of the author stephencammeron
    Why not use Google.co.uk search yourself on some various keywords? You'll surely get the answer you are looking for.

    co.uk is an advantage in ranking in Google.co.uk, however, that doesn't mean that .com is a disadvantage.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joesorrell
    Of course it can... Just do a search
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    • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
      Originally Posted by Joesorrell View Post

      Of course it can... Just do a search
      Uhhh.. what do you mean?
      A search can't rank my site. Or am I wrong? :confused:

      I've done searches for my keyword and I found out that:
      • 8 of the Top 10 results on Google UK are co.uk sites
      • The remaining 2 are generic name domains (com, org, net) that have their servers based in the UK
      So, I can't beat those guys because in one way or anther, they are local UK sites.
      But is it possible to somehow beat them, using a trick or something?
      Can I use an additional .co.uk domain and not get banned?
      That's the big question here...
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      • Profile picture of the author stephencammeron
        Originally Posted by Bulldozer View Post

        Can I use an additional .co.uk domain and not get banned?
        What makes you think you'd get banned from the first place?
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        "People who rely on just a couple of concepts, only shows how clueless they are."

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        • Profile picture of the author Josh MacDonald
          Originally Posted by stephencammeron View Post

          What makes you think you'd get banned from the first place?
          This is just disappointing. Banned from who?! Google Ranking? Adsense? Domain Registrar? Web host?

          Good luck with your seo :S
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        • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
          Originally Posted by stephencammeron View Post

          What makes you think you'd get banned from the first place?
          I read that using two different domain extensions for the same site can cause problems.
          A different domain extension, especially one for a specific country, suggests that your site needs to have a different physical address in that country (street, contact person, etc), also a different contact form and so on.
          Google/AdSense likes it that way.

          But even if we accept that this is not a problem, could an additional .co.uk domain be useful for ranking on Google UK anyway?
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          • Profile picture of the author Josh MacDonald
            Originally Posted by Bulldozer View Post

            I read that using two different domain extensions for the same site can cause problems.
            A different domain extension, especially one for a specific country, suggests that your site needs to have a different physical address in that country (street, contact person, etc), also a different contact form and so on.
            Google/AdSense likes it that way.

            But even if we accept that this is not a problem, could an additional .co.uk domain be useful for ranking on Google UK anyway?
            Just get an international EMD and be done with it.
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            • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
              Originally Posted by Josh MacDonald View Post

              Just get an international EMD and be done with it.
              What is an international EMD?
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          • Profile picture of the author stephencammeron
            Originally Posted by Bulldozer View Post

            I read that using two different domain extensions for the same site can cause problems.
            No, certainly not at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author Valera
    I think you should try and get some solid .co.uk backlinks, that might help improve the relevancy of your site to UK and might even help you get that #1 position.

    I am in Australia and it is the same issue here, I can never seem to get .com #1 on google.com.au, however, i have seen .com domains rank #1 in google.com.au, I think hosting in that country you are trying to rank in helps a lot as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
      Originally Posted by Valera View Post

      I am in Australia and it is the same issue here, I can never seem to get .com #1 on google.com.au, however, i have seen .com domains rank #1 in google.com.au, I think hosting in that country you are trying to rank in helps a lot as well.
      Yeah, this is what I'm talking about too.
      I guess I will have to buy hosting space in the UK and migrate my site there.
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      • Profile picture of the author KevinA
        Originally Posted by Bulldozer View Post

        Yeah, this is what I'm talking about too.
        I guess I will have to buy hosting space in the UK and migrate my site there.
        No you don't. If you have a .co.uk extention (primary indicator) it does not matter where your site is hosted. Google will know the location you are targeting. The country of your hosting server is only a secondary indicator. I looked this up a while ago and this is what I found.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steadyon
    It will help a little, to have a .co.uk domain, and have it hosted in the UK.
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  • Profile picture of the author JawadAshraf
    Have your On-page SEO set, then search for your targeted keywords in the Google.co.uk and look where your site is, then start/keep building the authority one way links. Soon you will be beating your competition.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
      Originally Posted by kaka21 View Post

      If you have a .co.uk extention (primary indicator) it does not matter where your site is hosted. Google will know the location you are targeting
      Yes, but I don't have a co.uk doman.
      This is the goal of this topic - ranking a non-co.uk site on Google.co.uk
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      • Profile picture of the author lalitbansal004
        No, Only One Thing Is More Important for you.

        Just Make More Backlinks from .co.uk Website.

        These Are Really HElpful for your domain. and No need to HOST .co.uk domain.

        Thanks.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexis Barnabe
          This is another tricky myth that has some grain of truth, but needs clarification. According to Google spokesperson Matt Cutts, the domain extension does play a small factor in the ranking algorithm, but only for defined countries.
          So for example a .ca might show better results in Canada. For other extensions like .com, .info, .net, .org, they are all equal, of course you will see much more results from .com on SERP, because they sold much more of those extensions.

          But if you want to rank with a .com in .co.uk get backlinks from the UK, create profile on UK forum and if your website doesn't talk about UK have a google places in UK or anything about UK that shows google hey I am targetting UK, how could google know you want to rank in UK? You might already have those information on your site, but it might help if you don't.

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  • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
    Originally Posted by JawadAshraf View Post

    Have your On-page SEO set, then search for your targeted keywords in the Google.co.uk and look where your site is, then start/keep building the authority one way links. Soon you will be beating your competition.
    Sorry, I didn't get this one...
    My site is #2 on Google.com.
    At the same time it is not even Top 500 on Google.co.uk
    I am building backlinks, of course - aren't we all doing this anyway?
    But those backlinks don't seem to help at all. Especially with my CO.UK ranking.
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  • Profile picture of the author alistair
    Do you use webmaster tools?

    Google sees a .com as geographically targeting the US so if you use webmaster tools you can change the geographic target in the settings so that Google understands your .com site is aimed at a UK audience.

    This is something I make sure I do when using .coms, .nets etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
      Originally Posted by alistair View Post

      Do you use webmaster tools?

      Google sees a .com as geographically targeting the US so if you use webmaster tools you can change the geographic target in the settings so that Google understands your .com site is aimed at a UK audience.

      This is something I make sure I do when using .coms, .nets etc.
      This is very interesting and vdhun is talking about it also.
      Isn't "Google Webmaster Tools" just a diagnostic set of tools?
      Can you really control the way Google looks at your site from Webmaster Tools and actually tell Google to rank it for this country more than for that country?
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  • Profile picture of the author vdhun
    Originally Posted by Bulldozer View Post

    Can you rank a site with a generic domain extension like .com, .edu, .net or .org on Google UK?
    Is this even possible???
    If yes - how to do this?
    In order to specify your geo target one possible way to use Google Webmaster Tools.

    1. Add your .com .net or .org site there.

    2. After that you can specify the geo target of your site: Site configuration -> Settings -> Geographic target -> Select United Kingdom in the dropdown menu. That's it.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaverickUK
    Yes, it's completely feasible to rank a .com domain in Google UK - I've actually done this for a friend who's in the electrician business. The site is hosted in the US, too, plus geo-location is set to the US.

    You generally need a good few .co.uk backlinks, plus if the keyword is location specific get backlinks from websites within that location. Also I have a .co.uk domain ranking for a UK term in Google.com on the first page, where it's currently in the second page on Google UK.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
      Originally Posted by MaverickUK View Post

      Yes, it's completely feasible to rank a .com domain in Google UK - I've actually done this for a friend who's in the electrician business. The site is hosted in the US, too, plus geo-location is set to the US.

      You generally need a good few .co.uk backlinks, plus if the keyword is location specific get backlinks from websites within that location. Also I have a .co.uk domain ranking for a UK term in Google.com on the first page, where it's currently in the second page on Google UK.
      Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
      So it looks it's all about getting backlinks from co.uk sources.
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  • Profile picture of the author commoditytrainer
    Originally Posted by Bulldozer View Post

    Can you rank a site with a generic domain extension like .com, .edu, .net or .org on Google UK?
    Is this even possible???
    If yes - how to do this?

    Google UK favors co.uk domains heavily.
    I'm left with the impression that, unless a site with a generic extension is super big and super important, Google.co.uk would pretty much ignore/trash/sandbox it.

    I believe that when the servers of the site are located in the UK, this also helps generic sites rank well on Google UK, but what if the server is not in the UK and the site does not have a .co.uk extension?

    When trying to rank a generic domain on Google.co.uk, is it a wise idea to add another domain to your existing site that has a co.uk extension and try to rank for that new domain name on Google.co.uk?
    Will this have a reverse effect?
    I mean, will having two domains for the exact same site harm you on the SERPs?
    Google put more weight in the domain, not so much if the domain is .uk or any other. The basic premise is to use proper white hat SEO and when you see the results you are satisfied. It take work and determination. SEO is tedious and time consuming, where other do not want to do it, but find the easy way out; and there are no secrets to SEO
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  • Profile picture of the author owenlee
    Originally Posted by Bulldozer View Post

    Can you rank a site with a generic domain extension like .com, .edu, .net or .org on Google UK?
    Is this even possible???
    If yes - how to do this?

    Google UK favors co.uk domains heavily.
    I'm left with the impression that, unless a site with a generic extension is super big and super important, Google.co.uk would pretty much ignore/trash/sandbox it.

    I believe that when the servers of the site are located in the UK, this also helps generic sites rank well on Google UK, but what if the server is not in the UK and the site does not have a .co.uk extension?

    When trying to rank a generic domain on Google.co.uk, is it a wise idea to add another domain to your existing site that has a co.uk extension and try to rank for that new domain name on Google.co.uk?
    Will this have a reverse effect?
    I mean, will having two domains for the exact same site harm you on the SERPs?
    Im sure you can rank that...the extension does not matter in my views...
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  • Profile picture of the author BlakeM
    Like others have said, it is definitely possible. I get traffic from multiple different Googles, especially Germany (.de) for some reason. But if you are targeting people in the UK than I'd definitely get a co.uk domain.

    Like someone else said, I don't think hosting matters, just get the domain and you should be set. Or just get a decent bit of .co.uk backlinks. Personally, I would do both.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
      Originally Posted by BlakeM View Post

      But if you are targeting people in the UK than I'd definitely get a co.uk domain.

      Like someone else said, I don't think hosting matters, just get the domain and you should be set.
      Too late for me. I may try to attach a .co.uk domain to my site while keeping it's .com domain too. But I am really not sure if this is an OK idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author gurleen
    In My experience that Website extension is no Big problem to top Ranking in the specific Country. Yes, Sometime domain name can create a problem in the ranking. So my according choose the domain in tgt keyword. Create a specific Pages Meta tags. Even if possible create a target keywords pages. Because seo is Page Specific. IF you have done a good on page and off page seo. Then you will get the Top rank in google.
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  • Profile picture of the author g36
    it can. For long term, there's no difference between .com or .co.uk, contrary to popular belief
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  • Profile picture of the author James-
    To have a better chance:

    You will need to have a .co.uk domain
    You will need to have your website hosted in the UK
    You will need to set webmaster tools to target the UK if you don't have a .co.uk domain
    You will need to focus on .co.uk backlinks

    The main thing you need to focus on here is getting relevant links from .co.uk domains.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bulldozer
    Makes sense, thanks for the replies, people!
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  • Profile picture of the author Amenda Jessera
    It is a kind of myth in SEO industry. If you have quality and unique content and good backlinks (more from your niche related pages as well as from .co.uk domains sites) - Success is yours, nothing can be beaten
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  • Profile picture of the author JaySam
    Its possible to get ranked in Google.co.uk by the domain of a .com site this will determine your On page and Off Page Optimization on how you will implement this method as your path to improve your rankings.
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