Best way of handling top level domains (with a local twist)
-
Hi There,
We're about to develop a new website for a small company who operates in both New Zealand and Australia. The company has a foot in the door with major Australian distribution so is keen to build their brand there - almost all of the marketing budget will go into Australia this year.
1. Domains and websites:
We're thinking of using separate country domains (.co.nz and .com.au) along with the CMS to create 2 sites that will have:
- Content common to both countries and sites (about, story, product info)
- Country specific content (contacts, tastings, competitions and other promo)
- Headers and footers of each page will contain different content for each site
I guess we're worried about creating a duplicate content issue as both sites will have several pages that are identical (although different info will be in the headers and footers on every page).
Also, using www.brand.com/aus might not be a great option (perception-wise) when the competition will be using .com.au. And creating and maintaining different content for both sites will drain too much budget away from Adwords and marketing.
2. The effect on SEO and Adwords:
If the www.brand.com/aus approach is simply better, are there any implications if all the advertised domains (especially in Adwords) redirect like this?
www.brand.com.au -> www.brand.com/aus
www.brand.co.nz -> www.brand.com/nzHow would everyone recommend approaching this?
As you can tell, we're a bit unsure and want to get this right from the start - any pointers in the right direction would be very much appreciated.
Cheers
Ben
-
Thanks Kate - sorry for the late response.
It looks as if Google doesn't account for the local, feel-good factor when people in certain countries see their TLD.
e.g. New Zealanders feel better if they see .co.nz because the company seems more local and similarly with Australia - but the content could be identical.
And then when you have countries with a healthy rivalry like New Zealand and Australia (or US and Canada) Australians might react differently to seeing NZ's TLD (albeit subtly).
I'm not sure I fully understand the downsides to multiple TLDs and duplicate content as which is the original and which is the duplicate depends greatly on which country you're in - it's perception-based.
I realise Google doesn't see things this way but is that what Nlevi was talking about with Webmaster Tools - you can tell Google to always serve .com.au to Australians?
Anyway, I'm not sure I'm fully understanding the situation as we haven't worked on a site that targets multiple countries specifically before.
It seems like it's safer to go with .com because that's what's best for Google even if that's wrong for the customers - especially New Zealanders who feel a loyal sense of ownership with the brand if that makes sense.
-
1. It sounds like you are actually targeting the different countries. Just be aware that the duplicated page will not perform well. As long as you are aware of that, you should be okay. Duplicate content is not a penalty, just means that the pages won't perform well. Just remember to target geographically in Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.
2. And this question is negated by my answer above, but if you did go with the other option, no you can't have a display domain as .com.au and have the destination URL to another domain. It won't work.
Stick with the TLDs and with trying your best to target each site at it's intended audience.
-
1. Domains
If the page content is identical, then yes, you will probably face duplicated content issues.
You could use rel="canonical" tag to inform Google which version of the page is original. As you probably know rel="canonical" is not bullet proof, it's more like a recommendation for G.BTW. On Google Webmaster tools you can specify which country you are targeting, although this will not erase the duplicated content issues, it might be worth to use.
2. Adwords
It's a bit unclear for me what you meant with redirecting AdWords traffic.
I would do different campaigns for different domains. If the domain changes, just update the URL's to your AdWords campaign.
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
-
Best way to present Google Display /Search Reports
Hi Everyone Im just looking to produce some quite detailed analysis and overview of out google search and display adverts. Can someone suggest a format or template for the best way to present this information as welll as what sort of information would be best to include
Paid Search Marketing | | aplnz20170 -
I am already ranking top
i saw advice that even if you are already top in the serp you should anyways buy the google ads for it. it doesnt seem to make any sense to me can anyone explain it to me??? thanx
Paid Search Marketing | | Ruchy0 -
Advice On The Best Facebook Advertising Guide
Hey Everyone, I am looking for some recommendations on the best Facebook Advertising guides that are available. I have been advertising on facebook for some time but want to hone my skills to get better value and I am looking for the best guide. Hope some of you can throw me some recommendations. Thanks
Paid Search Marketing | | TTGDavid0 -
How I can saw Handling Price for Google Shopping Feed
Hello, We have customized product and we charge Handling Charge + Shipping Charge for blow $9.99 price products, other products not have Handling Cost but only Shipping Cost. If I apply Shipping Price from Merchant Center Shipping Table then it is required to mention Shipping Cost + Handling Cost at Shipping attributes? Because we saw total Shipping Cost including with Handling Cost as given below, | Subtotal | £6.99 Super Saver (delivered on or before Fri,Oct 9th 2015)( £7.95 ) + Handling Fee (£3.00): | £10.95 | ** Grand Total£17.94** (Incl. VAT) In this case how I can saw Handling Price ?? Thank you in advance.
Paid Search Marketing | | CommercePundit0 -
Best Way Optimize SEO for a Multi-service Company Serving Puget Sound, WA.
We offer several services (carpet cleaning, tile cleaning, fire & water restoration and rug cleaning and repair) in about a 50 mile geographic area (Puget Sound, WA.) We have optimized our main site, set up 4 microsites to support our main services and are now running 4 Adwords campaigns. We believe we are on the right track, but would like to hear from others who have multiple products/services to sell primarily in about 10 major city areas. What has worked for you? Thanks.
Paid Search Marketing | | ibizworks0 -
Poor performing adwords account - would a new account on a different subdomain be a good way to start a fresh?
Hi We have a client who has a poor performing adwords account and has suggested starting a new account with a different gmail account, different card details and a different subdomain. More specifically we will be using unbounce to create landing pages. I was wondering the following: Will Google be able to relate the new account to the old account? If so will they then use the old accounts history with regards to quality score etc...? The keywords being targeted are in and around "email marketing" which is highly competitive - would a new account struggle at first and need to bid excessively high because of lack of history? They have a high budget - does this affect how quickly and how Google looks at an account - will they get priority? Would it be better to scrap this idea and pause the old campaign and start new campaigns in the same adwords account? Would it be better to scrap this idea and repair the existing campaigns/ad groups? Keen to get people's thought's on this one as I can't seem to find a clear cut answer from the web. Thanks Anthony
Paid Search Marketing | | Tone_Agency0 -
Doing Google Places for customer - best solution?
I work at a media agency in Denmark and I'm trying to open a Google Places-account for one of our retail-customers which is to be linked to the customers AdWords-account. I created a Places account and via bulk upload I submitted the customers 74 locations. I was then asked to verify my bulk upload, which I did. That's two weeks ago, and I've tried to get help from our Google contact but to little avail. Could the problem be that I am doing the places account on behalf of our customer, and thus when I am asked to verify the upload I supply my own information (contact phone and business name) rather than the customers? Have any of you had a similar experience? Is there an alternate path I can take to solve this?
Paid Search Marketing | | Iumreprise0 -
What are the best sources for finding competitor PPC spending by category?
Can anyone provide sources for gathering paid search advertising spend for competitors, preferably by category? Thank you.
Paid Search Marketing | | JoeAmadon0