How to rank .com site in Google.co.uk?

19 replies
  • SEO
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Hi,
I have a "local" site targeting local business in UK. The site is .com with Host Gator and main keywords are targeting local place in UK. When I check ranking, site ranks No. 4 on first page of Google.com and nowhere to be seen on Google.co.uk (which most of the guys from UK are using).
What do I have to do to make my site appear in Google.co.uk? Thanks
#googlecouk #rank #site
  • Profile picture of the author networm
    Have you tried setting up your google webmasters tool, there is a setting there where you want your site to be prioritize for the SERP results.

    Also, try geotags. Not sure if this works or not
    Code:
    http://geotags.com/geo/geotags2.html
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    • Profile picture of the author Nenad Adamovic
      Thanks, I will try all of this.
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    • Profile picture of the author jep
      Originally Posted by networm View Post

      Have you tried setting up your google webmasters tool, there is a setting there where you want your site to be prioritize for the SERP results.

      Also, try geotags. Not sure if this works or not
      Code:
      http://geotags.com/geo/geotags2.html
      This alone works for me on a .net domain targeting my country's google search with the usual backlinking. Got ranked 1st place for my term. Try it.
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      • Profile picture of the author deepakg
        you can bring your website 2 type of google.co.uk

        1. Add geo tag your website page

        <meta name="geo.region" content="US-WA">

        2. go to google webmaster tools from there select united kingdom location.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaverickUK
    Your best bet would be to move to a UK host, that will almost certainly work for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author connorbringas
      Originally Posted by MaverickUK View Post

      Your best bet would be to move to a UK host, that will almost certainly work for you.
      I'd have to agree with this. Even if you change settings, there is still a probability of not ranking. I'd 301 your current site to a uk host.
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  • Profile picture of the author SimpleSEOTips
    Some good advice here already. In a bit of a checklist form (sorry about the duplication of the above advice) this is the tips I would suggest:
    1. Use Webmaster Tools and choose the United Kingdom as your country which you wish to target.
    2. Move your site to a UK based server.
    3. Develop more inbound links from .co.uk websites.
    4. Add your business address within the footer of the site if it is one which is based within the UK (useful to add geospecific keywords in there).
    5. Make sure your UK address is used within the contact us page if applicable.
    6. Move your site to the .co.uk domain and 301 redirect from your .com if you have the .co.uk domain secured and are willing to put in the extra work for long term benefits.

    Finally, and the most important suggestion I would have for you would be to set up a Google Places account for this business if it is applicable. This will give you a chance of ranking within Google maps and the respective local search results which are often displayed within the main search results within Google. By linking to your main site from your Google places profile you will also be sending a key indicator to Google what your prefered targeted country is.

    Hope that helps.
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    • Profile picture of the author samual james
      Originally Posted by SimpleSEOTips View Post

      Some good advice here already. In a bit of a checklist form (sorry about the duplication of the above advice) this is the tips I would suggest:
      1. Use Webmaster Tools and choose the United Kingdom as your country which you wish to target.
      2. Move your site to a UK based server.
      3. Develop more inbound links from .co.uk websites.
      4. Add your business address within the footer of the site if it is one which is based within the UK (useful to add geospecific keywords in there).
      5. Make sure your UK address is used within the contact us page if applicable.
      6. Move your site to the .co.uk domain and 301 redirect from your .com if you have the .co.uk domain secured and are willing to put in the extra work for long term benefits.

      Finally, and the most important suggestion I would have for you would be to set up a Google Places account for this business if it is applicable. This will give you a chance of ranking within Google maps and the respective local search results which are often displayed within the main search results within Google. By linking to your main site from your Google places profile you will also be sending a key indicator to Google what your prefered targeted country is.

      Hope that helps.
      but what is the use of moving .com site to .co.uk. i don't thinks its a good idea to move your domain to get desired result in UK Region. you can achieve top ranking by creating links from uk websites, google will push you in serp
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    • Profile picture of the author markowe
      Originally Posted by SimpleSEOTips View Post

      Some good advice here already. In a bit of a checklist form (sorry about the duplication of the above advice) this is the tips I would suggest:
      1. Use Webmaster Tools and choose the United Kingdom as your country which you wish to target.
      This is the MAIN way to do it - do NOT bother getting a .co.uk, UK hosting or any of the other expensive advice here. Maybe in the case of real high competition those factors might make a difference, but generally this is all you have to do.

      (pozdrav iz Novog Sada )
      Signature

      Who says you can't earn money as an eBay affiliate any more? My stats say otherwise

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      • Profile picture of the author Nenad Adamovic
        Thanks, Novi Sad, I will try to get more links from UK. Moving the site is a bit complicated.. Thanks for the advice, Nenad
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      • Profile picture of the author Nenad Adamovic
        Originally Posted by markowe View Post

        This is the MAIN way to do it - do NOT bother getting a .co.uk, UK hosting or any of the other expensive advice here. Maybe in the case of real high competition those factors might make a difference, but generally this is all you have to do.

        (pozdrav iz Novog Sada )
        Thanks, Novi Sad
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    • Profile picture of the author Nenad Adamovic
      Thanks, I did find out that UK based server helps.... a bit too late. So I will try not to move the site and use all of your suggested tools.
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    • Profile picture of the author weston2012
      Originally Posted by SimpleSEOTips View Post

      Some good advice here already. In a bit of a checklist form (sorry about the duplication of the above advice) this is the tips I would suggest:
      1. Use Webmaster Tools and choose the United Kingdom as your country which you wish to target.
      2. Move your site to a UK based server.
      3. Develop more inbound links from .co.uk websites.
      4. Add your business address within the footer of the site if it is one which is based within the UK (useful to add geospecific keywords in there).
      5. Make sure your UK address is used within the contact us page if applicable.
      6. Move your site to the .co.uk domain and 301 redirect from your .com if you have the .co.uk domain secured and are willing to put in the extra work for long term benefits.

      Finally, and the most important suggestion I would have for you would be to set up a Google Places account for this business if it is applicable. This will give you a chance of ranking within Google maps and the respective local search results which are often displayed within the main search results within Google. By linking to your main site from your Google places profile you will also be sending a key indicator to Google what your prefered targeted country is.

      Hope that helps.
      The above is good idea if you can do it properly. And build some Top Quality BackLinks to get rank in .uk engine.
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  • Profile picture of the author curtainsandblind
    You can used local based server which is best for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author jackthomson1
    Submit your website in to only UK directories, articles directories, bookmarking sites, and forum posting sites. when you get UK traffic from these sites. Google increase your ranking automatically in Google.uk
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  • Profile picture of the author SimpleSEOTips
    but what is the use of moving .com site to .co.uk. i don't thinks its a good idea to move your domain to get desired result in UK Region. you can achieve top ranking by creating links from uk websites, google will push you in serp
    I certainly wouldn't disagree that it is possible to rank for a .com at the top of Google.co.uk. I was just giving a few different options to choose from to help the OP with their efforts.

    However, it's important also to know that having a country specific domain extension can provide other benefits to a website and brand. A Nominet survey which was conducted a couple of years ago identified that a .co.uk is trusted a lot more in the UK than the .com. With this in mind you could confidently assume that a .co.uk in an identical position as a .com would offer you a potentially higher CTR.
    There has also been a lot of discussion regarding whether CTRs on the SERPs are a factor in search engine rankings (I'm certainly not saying it is or it's not as don't have any definitive proof) but along with increased visitors from better CTRs, your site also "could" benefit from this as a ranking factor

    Here is the key points from the Nominet survey related to the points above:
    Consumer research
    – 72% of consumers will choose a .uk ahead of a .com
    – A .co.uk domain says the sita is more local, relevant, and trusted
    – 3/4 of women refer to .uk sites over .com
    – 2/3 of men refer to .uk sites over .com
    Full citation and report can be accessed here: www.nominet.org.uk/digitalAssets/33405_uk08_DNIR.pdf
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  • Profile picture of the author John Williamson
    Agree with markowe, I've ranked quite a few .com's in Google UK by just using the setting in Webmaster Tools.
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  • Profile picture of the author Elfen Lied
    To rank well in google.co.uk one need to build quality backlinks from UK based domains. What I mean is, to rank in region specific version of google one need backlink from the same TLDs, in your case get backlinks from UK TLDs which are hosted in UK based server. And make sure you build backlinks from pages which are higher in PR than that of yours.
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