Optimising a dot com domain for international datacentres

[eazytiger]

I've just been asked the question and didn't have a great answer, what a great reason to try the new Q&A!

We have a .com domain based in the UK but we'd like to optimise for Australian searches. Are there any tips about useful practices to carry out on the site to highlights it's relevance for Australian users?

[StalkerB]

Use words like: Kangaroo, Fosters, Wallaby, Shrimps, Barbie, Castlemaine XXXX, Strewth?

Ah, the double English problem (rising to the triple and quadruple when thinking about USA and Canada). I can give you a few things but I've not had enough success with any to say they are undoubtedly the way forward.

1. Another site
   a) Subfolder - /aus/
   b) Subdomain - aus.domain
   c) New TLD - domain.com.aus

Rather than hash out the pros and cons here's a recent Whiteboard Friday - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/international-seo-where-to-host-and-how-to-target-whiteboard-friday

Also check the comments for some good suggestions and sites.

[DanDeceuster]

There are a few things I would recommend doing to any website regardless of TLD to show geographic relevance.

1. Host your site in Australia. If you are in the UK and have a .com then at least make sure the site is registered with an Australian registrar and hosted on a server in Australia. That should be the first thing to do.

2. Be sure to put your Australian address and contact information on the site. Probably more than just the contact page...put that type of info in the footer so it is sitewide and Google definitely spots it.

3. Buy your .au domain name and 301 redirect it to your .com. I would even buy other .au domain names and redirect them to your .com. Be sure not to buy hundreds of existing sites and redirec them though, as this is creating doorway pages and is considered black hat SEO.

4. Focus all of your link building efforts on .au domain names. Make sure you are in Australian specific directories as well. If you have a location with a physical address, be sure to get into the local directories too.

5. In Google Webmaster Tools under settings you can specify your country and language I believe. Make sure you tell Google you are targeting users in Australia.

If you follow those 5 steps you should definitely increase your relevance in Google's mind to the Australian audience. Good luck!