.CA or .COM?

[cgray01]

If a real estate client of mine only wants to rank in the Google.ca, Yahoo.ca, and Bing.ca listings (doesn't care about the U.S. search engines), would it be advantageous of me to have her domain name by .ca and forget the .com?

She lives here in Phoenix, is originally Canadian, and goes back and forth. Interestingly, when searching in Google.ca, most domain names or .com. Is this because these people are trying to target both search engines?

Thank you!

Chris Gray

[Dr-Pete]

Well, even the Moz staff/associates don't seem to be agreeing on this one - it's definitely an unusual situation. There were some calls to try a .ca domain, but since you see so many .com's ranking, we're not sure that's going to have much of an impact.

Part of the problem is that real estate is a really competitive market for SEO, and many of the agents targeting Phoenix-related properties will also be local. My guts says that, if your client can only take on Canadian customers, then push the Canadian "local" signals hard, and don't worry about the Phoenix signals as much (except for content and keyword targeting).

[Dr-Pete]

No, you're not crazy It's basically two local SEO problems in one, and I'm honestly not sure where the sweet spot is. If you overoptimize for Phoenix, you may hurt your standing on Google.ca.

I suspect you have to keyword optimize for Phoenix/Arizona, but geo-target for Canada. Since Canada pulls a lot of .com results, though, you can afford to have some Phoenix-based geo-cues. I'm not sure anyone can tell you the perfect balance. I'm going to see if the broader Moz team has experience with this issue.

[cgray01]

Sorry I didn't reply to your post directly: I am trying to have her rank for: Arizona Real Estate, Arizona Homes for Sale, and Phoenix Real Estate (all in Google.ca, Yahoo.ca, and Bing.ca)

[cgray01]

Peter,

True, it is a task. But there quite a few competitors in this area if you search for 'phoenix real estate,' 'arizona real estate,' etc. in google.ca.

It seems like I need to show the search engines that my goal is to rank in the Canadian search engines, but that I'm local in Phoenix. Therefore, I need to do heavy-duty local optimization for Phoenix.

Does this sound like it would work or am I making things up?

[NewGlobalVentures.comSEOTexas]

I would probably recommend doing both the .com (since it's more universally accepted, esp. here in the USA) as well as the .ca (since you could probably script it with French, English and so forth for local people who know your realtor).

Additonally, having reciprocal backlinks will ease the transition for those who are local or snowbirds who like the sunniness of AZ.

Best of luck Chris!

[Dr-Pete]

So, just to clarify, she's basically looking for Canadians who want to buy property in Arizona? Wow, that's quite a niche, and not an easy SEO problem. You're crossing 2 geo-targeting streams, in a sense.

[cgray01]

I am trying to have her rank for: Arizona Real Estate, Arizona Homes for Sale, and Phoenix Real Estate (all in Google.ca, Yahoo.ca, and Bing.ca)

[toddmumford]

What keywords is she trying to rank for? This will help us answer the question

[cgray01]

Her business is located officially in Scottsdale, AZ. She does have an office in her home in Calgary, Canada, but doesn't want people to know about it (because it's in her home). Thoughts with this new info?

Also, can you elude a bit to these other factors to target Canada? This way I can do further research. Thank you so much!

[SEOPA]

Is her business located in Canada (e.g. she has a physical Canadian office address that will be on the site)?

I would recommend that, along with the .ca, plus dozens of other factors to specifically target Canada.