Local domains vs. subfolders?
-
I am in the process of rebranding a B2B website for a UK company that has been established on a .net address for ten years. The CMS is Wordpress. The company has previously had localised content on .net/de, .net/au extensions for various regions where they have offices (US, Oz, various Europe.)
I am getting varied and at times conflicting feedback from the creative agency, inhouse digital staff, and IT about the best way to proceed with the new website and in particular its future local language versions.
Question 1: If we change the .net website to a .com address, will 301 redirects safeguard our SEO real estate?
Question 2: we own the .com extension and have been using it for some back office stuff. It was purchased because it was advised that the .net did not carry much credibility in the US, is this correct?
Question 3: If we change the .net to the .com which is hosted in the US, will we wipe our search rankings on Google for the UK and non-US locations? I saw this post and wondered:
http://moz.com/community/q/uk-rankings-disappeared-after-us-website-launchQuestion 4: is hosting the regional site best done on a local domain (we own a bunch) or does that not really matter?
Question 5: If we use a WP plug in and just use subfolders for translating and localising content (US, Germany, Australia), what is the best way of serving that content for local PR?
Sorry about the many questions
Guni
-
So my question is, will hosting our site in Australia on a .au domain rank it higher than relying just on subfolders?
If it was me, I would. By having that extension you are stating clearly what your intended target area is. Additionally, this could save you money if you do run local country ads, due to the ads being of higher quality and relevance. Just be very careful that you do not have duplicate content index-able across multiple sites. Make it unique for each area and country
-
Hi David
Thank you for the input - to clarify:
Question 4: is hosting the regional site best done on a local domain (we own a bunch) or does that not really matter?
Local like how? Please elaborate what your intentions are and focus area would be. (what domain for what area) ==>> our intentions are to be found online. We have a huge competitive landscape and some of our larger competitors spend fortunes on PPC. So my question is, will hosting our site in Australia on a .au domain rank it higher than relying just on subfolders?Question 5: If we use a WP plug in and just use subfolders for translating and localising content (US, Germany, Australia), what is the best way of serving that content for local PR?
Why not just use Googles own translator, rather than a plugin?
http://support.jimdo.com/tutorials/apps-and-plugins/how-to-add-google-translate-to-your-website/ ==>> the quality of automated translation does not work for us due to our sector and we need human translation and localisation for language as well as tone of voice, culture etc.I hope that makes sense.
Guni
-
Lots of questions! Whew ok... here I go
Question 1: If we change the .net website to a .com address, will 301 redirects safeguard our SEO real estate?
Most all your page rank and weight should be trasferred through the 301. If you are leaving most everything else the same, it will also be very simple to redirect, as you can do a mass redirect in htaccess if the URL structure stays the same. If not, you will have to redirect all the pages manually. Yes, its very time consuming, but its the safest way to ensure all your pages go to the right place.Question 2: we own the .com extension and have been using it for some back office stuff. It was purchased because it was advised that the .net did not carry much credibility in the US, is this correct?
Meh, if the site is set up well, and validated through multiple places then there will not be much of a difference. With a .net domain, it’s still possible to achieve high rankings on search engines, but you just have to make sure that you put in the extra effort into your branding methods so that clients and prospects are aware that your website ends with .net and not .com. Most people will type in .com by default without even thinking about it.Question 3: If we change the .net to the .com which is hosted in the US, will we wipe our search rankings on Google for the UK and non-US locations? I saw this post and wondered:
http://moz.com/community/q/uk-rankings-disappeared-after-us-website-launch
If the transfer and redirects are done thouroughly and to the most complete that it can be, then most likely no. I'm a bit curious as to why you do not have a .uk for your domain extension, particulary if you target the UK. Also, it looks like the guy who posted that had two duplicate sites, trying to rank for multiple countries. Duplicate=bad news for seo. If you launch 2 website that are the same, Google will most likely index the newer one, and the old one will get replaced. This actuall happened to me at an old company I used to work at. We had 2 sites, for 2 different areas. One launched, and then someone took th eother site live without changing out content for the new area. Old site got knocked down, new site got pulled up.Question 4: is hosting the regional site best done on a local domain (we own a bunch) or does that not really matter?
Local like how? Please elaborate what your intentions are and focus area would be. (what domain for what area)Question 5: If we use a WP plug in and just use subfolders for translating and localising content (US, Germany, Australia), what is the best way of serving that content for local PR?
Why not just use Googles own translator, rather than a plugin?
http://support.jimdo.com/tutorials/apps-and-plugins/how-to-add-google-translate-to-your-website/
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
-
3 Main Local Ranking Factors
In the Moz article titled Should You Pay for Local Listings Management? by Miriam Ellis, she makes this statement: "Prominence, proximity, and distance are the three types of factors Google tells us it takes into account when ranking local businesses. " I always thought that classic on- and off-page SEO was one of those three factors. What puzzles me about Miriam's statement is this: What's the difference between distance and proximity? Aren't they the same thing?
Local Listings | | btreloar3 -
HELP! Google Local dropped!
I noticed that my Google Local page does not show in any search results anymore. Looking at Moz Local, it appears that I had 250 views on August 30th and 0 after that. It just dropped overnight. I looked at Google My Business and I noticed that I had a duplicate listing (no idea where it came from). It wasn't verified though. I deleted that. I also noticed that my address has been changed to Drive instead Dr. I was very careful in making it the same everywhere, but it changed without me changing it. Perhaps someone so kindly "suggested an edit" and I didn't see that happen. Anyone have any ideas. My organic search ranking is still strong. #3 for most search terms. And we have a very strong Google Local reviews. I mean, it even shows business that have been permanently closed over me!!! And we have photos, great reviews, and regularly post to Google+. I seriously need some help. I am a small business owner that does all of my own SEO because I can't afford a good SEO. 😞
Local Listings | | CalicoKitty20000 -
Is it possible to be penalised by automating directory submissions via Moz local
Hi, I am currently looking at the domain authority of the site that i have linked to Moz local and was wondering if you can be penalised by automating directory submissions and if so how one would recover? Thanks Nick
Local Listings | | SEM_at_Lees0 -
SEO Google local listings
Hello We've recently started a campaign for a local business, and now the domain authority and the number of links to the site are equal if not more to all local major competitors (bar one) and organic rankings for relevant terms are increasing well... However we still do not appear in the google local listings, despite having a verified location business account - fully set up and active and linked to the website. Does anyone have any advice for increasing local rankings? Thanks in advance kind mozzers
Local Listings | | wearehappymedia0 -
Yahoo Local
Hello, I'm wondering how to add a business to Yahoo Local. I've tried searching for the URL to add it, but keep getting redirected to https://www.aabacosmallbusiness.com/advisor . Has Yahoo outsourced their business listings, or am I just not finding the page I'm looking for? Shauna
Local Listings | | shauna70840 -
How does the new local pack change rankings?
So I just saw this afternoon that google has changed how the local pack displays listings, only 3 listings now show. Also Google continues to distance itself from Google+. Now it seems getting in the top 3 of the local pack is going to be even more competitive. What should the strategy be now for competing in the local pack? Has it changed? Or just stick to tried and true local optimizations?
Local Listings | | websitemusclemarketing0 -
Moz Local for Canada
Hello, Are there any plans to expand Moz Local to Canada? In the mean time, does anyone have a suggestion for a similar tool for Canadians?
Local Listings | | jenmcardle1 -
Local SEO for a company with 3 sites, for 3 different type of businesses
Hi I've been working for an employment lawyer in Sydney for 3 years now, all good, I built many citations and fixed all ones and the website/blog are ranking fine. Imagine I created the citation using e.g Anton Forester Employment lawyers, name, phone and address. Now the client just launched a website about property with the same name/brand and a different business title e.g Anton Forrester Property Lawyer and another 3rd website about conveyancing with the same name/brand and another business title e.g Anton Forrester Conveyancing law. My question is how do I build citations now that the name is different in the 3 cases, 3 websites but possibly the same phone and address? Thanks a lot Cheers Nico
Local Listings | | niclaus780