Redirecting Users Based On IP Location and SEO

[JamieM]

Would appreciate some opinions on this please.

If I have a UK website and also a separate version for US users (on a subdomain), is forced redirect based on IP location a bad idea for SEO?

The problem I envisage is that Googlebot is likely to crawl from a US IP and therefore will never see the UK website.

If this is correct, then is the only solution to make redirect optional rather than forced?

 

[webgeek]

Nothing wrong with that, but be sure you're checking for Googlebot before you do the redirect

Make sure to use the hreflang markup so your language specific versions are not seen as dupe content.

Offering localised content with specifics that are relevant to the people in that area.

 

[JamieM]

Nothing wrong with that, but be sure you're checking for Googlebot before you do the redirect

Do you mean don't redirect Googlebot? Is that acceptable because I thought Googlebot had to be treated like a regular user?

 

[webgeek]

If you redirect Googlebot, it'll only ever see the USA version of your site. You want it to see the full, with all the alt's listed/linked in the head. I guess if USA is your primary market, this isn't a bad thing necessarily.

 

[JamieM]

If you redirect Googlebot, it'll only ever see the USA version of your site. You want it to see the full, with all the alt's listed/linked in the head. I guess if USA is your primary market, this isn't a bad thing necessarily.

That's what I thought and that is my problem. I don't think treating Googlebot differently to a regular user is wise though. I think it runs the risk of falling in to the cloaking category.

I'm leaning towards the possibility of optional redirect, as I think it is safer and allows Googlebot to crawl both sites.

Not my ideal solution but I can probably work with it.

 

[webgeek]

I believe that as long as you're delivering all the alt languages markup in the head of every version, you'll be fine with whatever you serve big G. It'll know where to look for respective differences.

As far as US and UK goes, all you're doing is replacing Z's with S's for UK and tossing in a few extra u's whenever words end with 'or'

 

[Dmitri Fantastic]

Personally, I do not think it's a good idea. Google should be smart enough to rank US of US users and UK content for UK users. As long as you have your appropriate language tags in place + webmaster tools set right.

 

[altonroot]

There is nothing wrong in redirecting based on ip. I have many clients who are using redirects for AU, US and UK websites. It is absolutely fine. One thing important as webgeek said, use hreflang in header. Verify both version in webmaster and specify preferred location if it is on sub-domain.

And one more thing, "Google has only on crawler of US" is wrong concept. Google has crawlers for many countries and they can crawl your website easily, I mean both version.

 

[StevePoster]

There is nothing wrong with the method if it is for the users benefit to help them navigate well and learn according to their intent. However, consider valid reasons before using redirection.

 

[rizbit]

could you not list both on google webmasters so google will crawl both regardless of redirect?