.com domains -seo

[Mattk1983]

do they have an adverse effect in ranking in google.co.uk ?

the co.uk isn't available for the domain I was after

 

[andygambles]

If it is hosted on a non-UK IP then it will adversely affect ranking in google.co.uk

 

[fisicx]

I've got 3 .com websites that all rank well in google.co.uk. One of them has nothing on it to indicate it's anything to do with the UK.

 

[terryuk]

I would prefer .UK personally, which would probably help conversions depending on what your promoting but you can help with a physical address, WMT location etc

 

[Jolt.co.uk]

No, they won't. The IP address won't have much of an impact either and should you feel the need, you can explicitly set the target audience in GWT.

 

[SimonAntonySEO]

In the long term there is no difference in rankings between .com and .co.uk domains. However, google uses the top level domain along with location of the server and its ip address (as already mentioned) along with other information such as the language of the content, the country of origin of the traffic (if known) also same for backlinks and some other factors to determine which country your website targets.

Once decided, you will rank better in searches for this language and in this region SO! If your target is a UK base and this is a new site/domain, I always recomment making the .co.uk domain your main one for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there will be no doubt from day zero who your target audience is (and therefore there is a chance you will appear in uk searches sooner, higher. Also, co.uk domains are often cheaper (although I also recomment buying the .com to protect your brand/company name ! )

Hope this helps!

 

[sambarnes90]

There may be a slight ranking advantage from having the .co.uk and for your branding it's a good idea to have it.

The interesting thing for me is the difference in CTR when using a .co.uk as oppose to a .com when you're targeting UK searchers.

But in short, use the .com ... you'll be fine!

 

[Jolt.co.uk]

There may be a slight ranking advantage from having the .co.uk and for your branding it's a good idea to have it.

The interesting thing for me is the difference in CTR when using a .co.uk as oppose to a .com when you're targeting UK searchers.

But in short, use the .com ... you'll be fine!

Well you should actually get both

You lose a lot of potential type in traffic by having one or the other.

 

[webgeek]

Get the .com and set the geo targeting in WMT to point to UK, stop worrying about it and move on to another issue needing your attention.

There is minimal value in .co.uk over .com other than initial buyer reaction - not SEO.

 

[Mick.H]

Get the .com and set the geo targeting in WMT to point to UK, stop worrying about it and move on to another issue needing your attention.

There is minimal value in .co.uk over .com other than initial buyer reaction - not SEO.

In my experience .co.uk is considerably better when trying to rank.

 

[sambarnes90]

Well you should actually get both

You lose a lot of potential type in traffic by having one or the other.

Personally, I think type in traffic is a bit of a myth...

When was the last time you wanted to contact a company and just guessed their domain name? ill bet not very recently!

Webgeek hit the nail on the head. There's bigger fish to fry!

Sent from my HTC Desire using UK Business Forums

 

[Jolt.co.uk]

Personally, I think type in traffic is a bit of a myth...

When was the last time you wanted to contact a company and just guessed their domain name? ill bet not very recently!

Webgeek hit the nail on the head. There's bigger fish to fry!

Sent from my HTC Desire using UK Business Forums

Depending on how good the domain is, type in still can be a significant traffic source.

But the bigger issue if you don't have both you suffer from traffic wastage. People going to the wrong domain directly, or the other extension ranking higher than you and losing traffic as a result of search.

 

[webgeek]

First visit is usually via search, then on the second visit people start typing the domain and let autocomplete kick in. If you've visited more than one, with similar names, it's luck of the draw which one you get.

In a perfect world, yes, you'd own both .com and .co.uk. If you can pick up both, then the extra £10 or so per year isn't a bad defensive position to take.

Also, for people who have www.domain.com, please make sure your DNS is set up to accept just domain.com and send people to the right place. The number of times I've been confronted with typing in domain.com and gotten a 404 error because DNS wasn't configured is shocking!

 

[VinceW]

There may be a slight ranking advantage from having the .co.uk and for your branding it's a good idea to have it.

The interesting thing for me is the difference in CTR when using a .co.uk as oppose to a .com when you're targeting UK searchers.

But in short, use the .com ... you'll be fine!

Having a .co.uk doesn't give ranking advantage on the contrary. .Coms have historically and still do come higher in the rankings to this day-
the only event in which they would not was if browsers had a location bias (which they don't but might have in future) or if your user has filtered for results only from the uk

It is recommended to have both a .com and a .co.uk -

My reasons are thus:

1, If you have .co.uk and you are doing well in your field, it only takes a handful of clicks for a competitor to own your domain .com , steal a fair amount of your traffic as well as people assume your a .com

2, .com are the most sought after addresses, .co.uk are as recent as 1985. When having a .com you have a degree of cudos because everyone knows its nigh on impossible to get the .com you want without paying through the nose

3, .co.uk come across as a bit regional when dealing with say US clients/business partners

4, prospective clients will tap in "yourfield".com weather its cheaphotels.com , businesscards.com , securitytags.com just looking, I don't know the stats on that but thats a lot of casual traffic.

5, If your a .co.uk business it takes seconds to set up a redirect from .com and you know your not missing traffic.

The only issue we have here is the cost of the .com, you would be fortunate to have a company name that is unusual and not registered or you may want to try variations on a theme.

Personally I grab the .com .co.uk and going forward am pacmanning the rest .eu etc' how much does it cost? £500 a year to have total brand protection/full penetration?