Does Keyword and Location Matter?
-
Hi Everyone,
I'm always learning, but here's a question. I would like to know if keyword and location truly matter. For example, I've been trying to rank my website for a LONG time for a UK English term. My site is hosted in the US. My site has great content and internal and external links using the keyword. I cannot seem to climb the SERPs although my "American" keywords do fine and I see results.
If anyone wants to take a look, that would be great. My website is JourneyBeyondTravel.com and I wish to rank for "Morocco Holidays" (I am at about #20 currently). I am also having trouble with "Morocco travel" although I have continuously ranked well for "Morocco tours" and "trips."
Along this same line, I've been doing some quality guest posting and blogging. I've used longer phrase-type keywords (3-5 words) in the article text that have keyword terms in them. Should keywords be varied like this? How long until I see results? And, should I look for blogs in different countries to keep things balanced (such as blogging on .co.uk sites so that I can get link juice for UK keywords).
Thanks again!
Thomas
-
Superb! This really opens up a huge discussion and is very interesting. We are a small-medium sized company, so I don't think I will go with different domains, although I own them. I have redirected them for now.
I have gone into Google Webmasters and changed my preference from US to 'unlisted.' This might help and give it that international understanding. Not sure.
I may very well set up a UK homepage, an AU one, and perhaps South Africa or Canadian one. But, that will be in the future. I just don't want to lose the links I already have. It seems that getting links from these countries to your homepage would help saying to Google, "Hey, this is an international site in English and is appealing to all of these countries." It may not make me #1 in the SERPS, but it cannot hurt.
Thanks again!
Thomas
-
Thomas, I've been doing a little research trying to support my hypothesis that the location of your hosting company can effect your SERP results and I found this:
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/international-seo-where-to-host-and-how-to-target-whiteboard-friday
This is probably a great starting point.
-
Wow - thanks for the response : )
Actually, most of our customers are from the US and Canada. We are hosted in the US and one of our offices is based in the US. Our other office is based in Morocco. We have an apparent UK base since we have a UK phone number (as well as US and Toll Free). I would consider UK hosting for another site, like our site ending in co.uk but I am not sure that makes a difference.
I do think where you are located is probably a factor, but I just don't know how much. Competitors are based in the US and rank well for the term. Perhaps I have some links that are not liked?
Thanks!
Thomas
-
Hi Thomas,
I am always learning too and am very interested by your question. Are you based in the UK but hosted in the US? Or are you based and hosted in the US? The reason I ask, is that if you are based in the US, I presume that your target market is US. If you are based in the UK I presume your target market is UK-Europe. If the latter is true, have you considered changing to UK hosting? Although I don't know the whole story, it seems from looking at your site that you are indeed UK based.
I am thinking that you are having a bit of trouble ranking for a more British term because you are USA hosted. I do think the location of your host is a factor in ranking for certain terms. The problem is, I can't point to any proof to support that opinion. I am interested to hear what others have to say about this.
Thanks Thomas!
Dana
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
URL Structure for Multilingual Site With Two Major Locations
We're working on a hotel site that has two major locations. Locations currently live in separate domains. The sites target users from around the world and offer content in multiple languages. The client is looking into migrating all content into one domain and creating sub-folders for each location. The sites are strong in organic search, but they want to expand the keyword portfolio to broader keywords regarding activities, which they also market on their sites. The goal is to scale their domain authority as they have a really strong brand. The question is which would be a preferred URL structure in case content is finally migrated into one domain? - (we have doubts about were the lang folder should be placed as each location has different amenities and services). Here is what we had in mind: domain.com – this is the homepage domain.com/location-1 – to target English visitors domain.com/location-2 – to target English visitors domain.com/es/location-1 – to target Spanish visitors domain.com/es/location-2 – to target Spanish visitors
International SEO | | burnseo0 -
Does the location of my Domain Registrar affect SEO?
Does the location of my Domain Registrar affect SEO? For example, if my hosting company is in the U.S., but the domain registrar is overseas. Also, is it better to have both services be met by one company?
International SEO | | greenfoxone0 -
Spanglish? Picking keywords for an English website with a Spanish speaking search demographic
I'm putting together meta data for an English website whose target search demographic is the Hispanic market. The website has a Spanish translation as well. When I entered the website into the Google Adwords keyword tool to begin doing keyword research, all keywords returned to me were in Spanish. I am unsure if the meta data keywords I'm preparing for the page should be in Spanish despite the fact that I am preparing the meta data for the English version. Moreover, should there be any mixed Spanish English (Spanglish?) keywords as users might be searching under the English search but in Spanish or with queries that are partially in Spanish?
International SEO | | IMM0 -
Keyword selection for international company
Hi everyone, I am working on a new project for a telecommunications company with its target audience in various countries around Europe and USA. They only have 1 website in English and don’t have content specific to different countries. Ineed to choose keywords for this project but I am finding it quite challenging as usually my keywords are localised. In this case I cannot restrict keywords to any particular country. At the same time I know that it would be extremely tough to rank for generic keywords. What do you suggest?
International SEO | | ICON_Malta0 -
Does Hosting location impact on local search results?
Hi, long time user first time questioner : ) I'm wondering if using a server overseas impacts on local search results? I heard something to this effect and I thought I would come to the guys that know! Thank for your help, Ben.
International SEO | | yoonet0 -
Can geographic location of web server affect in SEO?
I have server in Singapore. I need to target USA and Europe for my site. Whether I need to change server? Please guide me... Can geographic location of web server affect in SEO? If Yes, how it affect in SEO?
International SEO | | MayurChavda0 -
How can I Get SE results as if browsing from a differetn location?
Hi, I would like to know if anyone has an easy way off allowing me to browse a SE and get results based on as if I was browsing from a different location. EG I am based in the UK and therefore google customises my result as such. However I am working for a client targetting the US, so I need to get SE results as if I was browsing from there. Thanks
International SEO | | James770 -
How to overcome server and WHOIS location
What if we published an address in the UK as the contact/WHOIS details but wanted to target the USA market? The server resides in the UK, the domain WHOIS resides in the UK - but what are the best methods to target the US search market? The domain is a .com domain.
International SEO | | Peter2640