Building a new site and want to be found in both Google.co.uk and Goolge.ie. What is the best practice?
-
We are building a new site which is a .com site and the client would like to be found in both Google.co.uk and Goolge.ie. What is the best practice to go about this? Can you geo-target two countries with the one site?
-
Hi Peter,
A generic domain name's website can geo-target more than one country only it is follow a geo-targeting subfolders or subdomains strategy.
For instance, domain.com may geo-target its root on UK and its subfolder domain.com/ie/ on Ireland (or ie.domain.com, in case of subdomain).
If the site you are talking about is http://www.wsidigitalweb.co.uk/, then I see it hard to follow a subfolder/subdomain strategy, because the content will be substantially the same. Not impossible, but complicated.
An option could be:
- creating duplicating everything but the blog both in the root (for UK) and a /ie/ subfolder;
- then creating to properties on Search Console (1 for the UK version and 1 for the IE one) and geo-target them appropriately;
- then localizing as much as possible the two versions. if you have prices, convert them in Euros for Ireland. If you can buy an Irish phone number, present it in your contact information and so on;
- then implementing the hreflang in order to tell Google to show the UK version to British users from Great Britain and the Irish version to Irish users from Ireland.
I suggest to not duplicate the blog, because in that case you should be always paying attention in implementing the hreflang correctly every time you publish a new post, and because - a even greater bias - you will have to double your efforts in promoting the blog's content.
Remember, then, that backlinks are very helpful also for geotargeting, so try to create content that answers to real needs your geo-targeted audiences have, and remember to dedicate some of your posts to topics particularly urgent for one or the other specific country target.
-
Hi Robert,
thanks for your answer, but I think it is not on topic.
Peter is asking about International SEO and geotargeting, not about optimizing for multi-location, which is more Local Search than International.
If the "new site" is a new version of http://www.wsidigitalweb.co.uk/ (the one Peter indicates in his Moz profile), your solution is not valid either, because they have only one physical address in Belfast.
-
Hello Peter,
There is only 1 strategy I can think of that will make this possible, and I'm sure other Mozzers will have their own tactics.
For me, you are looking at building a silo into your site architecture. Basically, you use the website folders to create geo-targeted locations pages for areas you wish to rank for. You always start from the largest geographical area (country) and work your way down to the smallest (city). For example:
yoursite.com/United-States/New-York/New-York
would be found through Google.com.
It follows that:
yoursite.co.uk/UK/Suffolk/Ipswich will be found in the UK and
yoursite.ie/ireland/leinster/dublin will be found in IrelandThis will result in you building a link to a "Locations" page through your Home Page from which you can break down your service areas according to regions and cities. A direct example you can use for your client is:
yoursite.com/uk/suffolk/ipswich
yoursite.com/ireland/leinster/dublinThis way you retain geographical relevance but are able to hit multiple countries/regions/cities from the same domain TLD. Don't forget to add the keyword you are targeting for topical relevance!
For example:
yoursite.com/uk/suffolk/ipswich/ipswich-plumber
I have several clients I have performed this service for in the US and the UK who have service areas that are separated geographically but serviced by the same company. Google has responded quite well, with most of them featuring 1st page rankings within 3-6 months. You might even shorten the internal link path to reduce the amount of drain on your link juice from your Home Page.
The other benefit of this approach is it automatically creates landing pages that you can use for additional targeted link-building campaigns.
Hope this helps and let me know if you need further clarification - always happy to help!
Best regards,
Rob
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
-
Correct Localisation of my website on Google
I have a website which services various countries, specifically the United Kingdom and United States of America. I am now expanding the target of my website to focus on Australian and South African customers. The structure of my website is www.websitename.com/us/ for the American audience. This is also what appears on a Google search when browsing in the USA. For the United Kingdom we use just www.websitename.com which works and shows in the UK. When I have created the new versions which are:
Local Website Optimization | | A95Bennett
www.websitename.com/au/
www.websitename.com/za/ I go onto google search my company and still www.websitename.com shows (When browsing from the relevant location). When it should show the /au/ or /za/ versions. I have submitted the relevant sitemaps to Google Search Console. Yet still from Australia and South Africa the .com version of the website it what shows. Please offer any advice to how I can get the correct version of the website showing in the correct location?1 -
Using posts to make static pages - A best practice or a bad idea?
I have started working with a few law firms this year. They already have websites and I am doing various marketing tasks such as copywriting, redesigns, and, of course, SEO. In a couple of cases I was surprised to find that they had made the pages describing their various practice areas post content. I'm not sure why. But I suspect that the idea might have been to have the phrase: /practice-areas/ as a part of their URL. I didn't really like the idea of treating pages like posts. It seems a bit like working the system. But apart from that, wouldn't pages have a higher value as "permanent" content? As posts - their publish date has more weight, right? And they'd get old? But maybe the previous developers were on to something and the category/post approach to listing practice areas is the way to go? I am starting a new site for a new firm and I'd like to feel more confident about the right structure to choose for this kind of website before I start. Does anybody know the right answer? Thanks!
Local Website Optimization | | Dandelion1 -
If we are a local based business, what is the best approach to tracking keywords? Shall we be micro tracking?
we are a local based business and we only have one physical property but we service a 15 mile radius (people within a 15 mile radius will use our services) when it comes to keyword tracking and monitoring should we just be looking at the 3 main local towns or should we go out to the villages around our area too? at what level shall we be micro tracking? do we go to such a micro level for tracking keywords for all the villages which creates a lot of keywords for the locations? what is the best approach?
Local Website Optimization | | Mutatio_Digital0 -
Best Practice for Inserting Keywords into Title Tag?
Hello Fellow Mozers I am looking to open a discussion for my question. I will give an example to clarify things. I have a keyword I want to rank "London Luxury Apartments" Which title would be best or what would you suggest in addition to the titles below: Option A) London Luxury Apartments | Luxury London Apartments | Brand Name Option B) London Luxury Apartments | Luxury Apartments in London | Brand Name Option C) London Luxury Apartments | Luxury Apartments for Sale in London | Brand Name Any other option not displayed above that you have extensively tested and know it works. Have in mind the following : I am aware of the 55 character limit so lets not make this discussion about the character Limit. I want to keep the discussion on the Keyword Format and Keyword Logic of using the same keyword just in a different order. The above is just an example in order to best illustrate what I wish to talk about. Round one... Begin!!
Local Website Optimization | | Nic890 -
SEO for local business directory type site
I am thinking about creating a local business directory type website that lists all local Tattoo Shops. I am familiar with both local and global SEO and how to differentiate between them, however, I am not sure how I should approach this type of website. It isn't an actual business, but I want to target local searches that are looking for tattoo shops. In other words, when someone types in "tattoo shops" or "tattoo shops near me", or "tattoo parlors", I want the website to appear. Is this something that is manageable, or will the individual Tattoo Shop websites always show before mine since they are real local businesses with google+ pages?
Local Website Optimization | | brfieger0 -
Draft of my new responsive website redesign any opinions?
After a couple of years of talking about having a redesign of my website I finally taken the plunge and I'm paying for responsive design version. Before they go fully into the redesign I thought I would try to get some feedback on whether the initial look and functionality looks good or not. My old website is a very basic Dreamweaver website constructed by myself and because there's only 12 holiday properties on this holiday letting website it has done the job, but you have to scroll down to see the pictures and read the information. At the end of the day I'm certainly not a professional web designer I'm fully aware. With the new very first draft of the responsive design I've asked for functionality where clicking on the property allows you to check out the photographs and information without scrolling. This is the very first stage of a redesign any opinions regarding functionality and initial look would be very gratefully received. New draft website http://www.endeavourcottage.co.uk/newsite/ Old website http://www.endeavourcottage.co.uk/
Local Website Optimization | | WhitbyHolidayCottages2 -
Nominet have made the geographic new TLD available for UK. How will this affect SEO?
Nominet have made a new TLD available, the .uk TLD. Some might argue that this is a cynical move by Nominet to get more money out of British businesses, but either way, we need to decide how we handle this. As I see it we have 4 options. 1. Do nothing - At the moment, only websites can register their .uk domain. That won't last for ever though, and eventually, if we don't register it, someone else will.
Local Website Optimization | | Stewart_SEO
2. Register a domain but do nothing with it.
3. Register a domain and simply redirect it to the existing .co.uk domain. I suspect this is the best option.
4. Register the .uk domain and redirect the .co.uk domain to the new domain. From a technical point of view, what is the best option? For businesses that have multi-lingual sites the 4th appears the best option but why do we need to act when we do not even know the SEO value of any of this, and where Google sit regarding the new British TLD?1 -
Need advice on direction to go with site
I am taking over this site and redoing it all over. I believe that google may have penalized the site because the site doesn't show up in the SERPS, but will show under a google search (site:prosplumbingsanjoseca.com). I am just asking for your opinions on what I should do to correct the issues with this site and get back into the SERPS.
Local Website Optimization | | mikezaiss0