The Internet is a global marketplace that can can open up worldwide possibilities to even the smallest of enterprises and organisations. However, jumping into a global marketplace both feet first can actually be more damaging than advantageous especially if your business or website is only set up to deal with local or national clients. Local search engine optimisation is the solution to this problem, and local SEO can be geared towards very specific locations or to the country in which you primarily operate.
UK Results For UK Sites
Search engines like Google attempt to index sites in the most appropriate country-specific index they have. If their spiders identify a UK based website then they will primarily index and rank it in the Google.co.uk search results. Often it will also feature in the main .com results but greater weight will be given to the UK results. For the UK specific business local country specific search engine optimisation can deliver excellent benefits and can provide a more affordable and attainable SEO campaign goal.
Top Level Domain Names
Use a country specific top level domain. For UK based businesses this means a co.uk domain name – this is the first and most obvious check that is made by the search engine spiders and will go a long way to getting a site ranked in the appropriate search engine results. You can also register and redirect domains from other countries but host the main content on your co.uk domain.
Local Hosting Providers
Register your domain name and hosting with a UK based provider. It’s possible to register a UK website with a hosting provider from anywhere in the world. US registrars provide hosting from all over the world too. If you are particularly interested in local SEO then use a hosting provider that is based in the appropriate country.
Google’s Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster tools includes a country specification tool. The whole suite of Webmaster tools is beneficial to your overall Search Engine Optimisation efforts and the ability to specify the most appropriate country is extremely useful for local SEO results. This is one of the most simple but effective methods of highlighting the country you wish to optimise for.
Spelling And Language
Using the appropriate spelling and colloquialisms isn’t just good practice for attracting visitors. Different English speaking countries use different spellings and different words when they speak and you should use the most appropriate for your country. For example, an American site would use the spelling optimization (with a z) whereas a UK based site would offer the local spelling of optimisation (with an s).
Inbound Links
Search engine spiders will also consider the inbound links that form your link profile. Links from other UK based websites will help improve your ranking in the UK index while .com links may give greater benefit to .com search results. Where you do have some degree of control over your inbound links attempt to ensure that a good portion are from the appropriate country.
SEO For The UK
These are just some of the Local SEO tips that can help a website rank well in the .co.uk search results or in any other country specific results. Do remember that some UK based web users will still use the .com Google search engine when they search for information but many will use the UK specific engine so optimise accordingly.
Related posts:
- Geo targeting for single country and multiple countries
- Does Server Location Affect SEO?
- Local Or Global Search Results
- Targeting Specific Countries with SEO
- Geographic SEO Statistics
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Search engine optimization is a very essential thing for any organization because a good SEO uses various tools to improve their search ranking in the major search engines. Thus in many ways your local SEO or country wide SEO could be extremely effective
You should take a top level domain for your business which can be more effective for your business. For instance, you should prefer a country specific top level domain like co.uk (United Kingdom) or co. in (India) instead of xyz.com. The Search engine spi
Web site owners and marketers have always craved for more information with regards to how Google sees and judges their site. The Google Webmaster Tools address these and many other needs of the web-site owners and also provides support for those looking t
The number of good quality inbound links to your site is one of the most important criteria’s used by the search engines to rank your pages. Therefore, a well conducted link exchange campaign is one of the most effective Internet marketing strategies. A search engine spider always keeps an eye on your site.
Spelling, Language and colloquialisms are very crucial things for your site. Many countries use different spellings, different words and even speak different English. So, you should use specific and appropriate spellings and words for your site. You should also take the help of a professional SEO Service for your SEO Campaign.
Yes I so agree with @Sofia said. I do a lot of optimization for Canada and using a .ca over a .com helps as well as some small spelling. We do spell a little different the US, so it is important to get the country you want the site SEO well for using the ‘right’ colloquialisms.
Thanks, a very helpful article. We usually have questions and queries regarding country specific options and which would be best for clients. Getting these domain specifics right before launching or moving sites is key to a sound long-term SEO strategy for any website.