Search engines usually offer different indexes for different countries. As
well as the main .com index, there will be specifically indexed pages for each
of the national domains that attempt to provide results relevant to that country.
If you operate a local business or store and want an online presence to help
build your portfolio of local clients then you should concentrate your efforts
on the .co.uk search engines.

Giving Search Engines The Relevant Information

You need to let the search engines know that you’re a UK based website. This
can be done by using a .co.uk domain name yourself, using a UK hosted server,
and by adding the country meta tag to your pages. HTML address tags can also
be used so that the search engines are made aware that the content within those
tags is your address.

Link Building And Local Search

Your link building campaign should attempt to gain links from sites that are
predominantly UK based. This gives another sure indicator to search engines
that you too are based in the UK. By adding your details to Google’s local
search you will further enhance your local marketing opportunities as your
details will be displayed on a Google map when people search using localised
search terms.

Local Search Optimisation

There are numerous reasons why you would want to perform particularly well
in the .co.uk search results. Even if you offer an international service, many
customers prefer to deal with companies that are based in their country, or
even in their region. You can still concentrate some of your efforts on gaining
.com placement but generate more local search by dedicating a little time to
UK local search optimisation.