UK Market

[AJ113]

I am pleased with service and results from VH so far. My next website will be aimed specifically at the UK market. It seeems that by default my other websites target the US, which is fine, but what are the factors that govern whether my site will figure in UK SE results? (I'm specifically referring to Google)

a .co.uk domain?
Fill the site pages with uk references?
Dare I say - use a UK-based web host?

[adele1972]

Re: UK Market

hi AJ
just red your post!...i live in the uk so i really hope it will search in google!!
i have a co.uk domain....let me know if you need any help..from here in the uk...info and stuff :)
let me know how you get on thanks

[AJ113]

Re: UK Market

Hi Adele, thank you for your offer of help, I probably didn't make myself clear.

I live in the UK too, but I find that my sites are visited mainly from the USA. The question is, what can I change so that Google returns my site when searches are done from the UK?

[Vasili]

Re: UK Market

Basically, it all comes down to your website itself, and how it "scores" according to the current metrics values in use by Google (and it's local datacenters), the most important element of them being Content.

"Content is King" has been the singlemost premise of website design, and shall continue for a very, very long time. Here in VodaTalk, much time, effort, and discussion has been made trying to teach/learn peer-to-peer the basics of pre-optimization techniques as they apply to our manual "hand-on" web design processes. This is a good thing, for they all fall into the overall grand scheme of the "Perfect Page Model" that has been the concept so overlooked that Google has tried to explain in numerous ways as being the first and most basic "scoring" elements considered before moving on to Content and then creating a "Relevance" rating that the Search Engines use to fulfill their core purpose: provide results for client search querries.
* Because the major engines have local datacenters, localized domain names are not nearly as much of an issue they were only 2 years ago.... your .co.uk extension is not a hindrance moreover your site itself.
For reference, here is a noted UK firm's spin that tries to keep the overall Google Scheme to one page.

Google has a local N. European Data Center (in the UK) which specializes on collecting local data to then feed to Corporate for compilation (just as Yahoo does), and this DC specifically looks for local link relationships and popularity (hot traffic). To "score bigger in the UK" you will need to create both a more noticable local footprint (by having link relationships to prominent/relevant sites, links on 'official' sites such as organization membership directories, local articles or mentions, even display banners on non-relevant but high traffic sites like hub/city sites, etc.) and a greater depth of relevant and supportive Content: if you have 3 times more info on your site that pertains to local interest or particular inquiries, you will undoubtedly "rank" higher with Google as a website with obviously more importance as a "resource" for them to pay attention to if they are to provide better. richer results for their search clients.
> And that is the Catch-22: how to create/compose richer Content creatively and with import without "burying" the needs of your real-time visitors or boring them to death before you can elllicit that critical "conversion" .....

In a nutshell, I would advise that if you seek a more focused localized prominence with a Google rank, you first should pay serious attention to precise development of richer content, being careful to attend to particular words, themes, and interests you are aware of and then weaving that into the "core" content that is your website's skeleton, and secondly seek to strategically place your site on others (UK based) that will create both traffic and relevance to build the metrics to demonstrate your leadership (what Google is really looking for beyond assigning it's own opinion to you that it derives).

IMO

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[Marincky]

Re: UK Market

I have a UK wedding directory, which is called UK Wedding Store, it has a .co.uk domain, it has the words UK all over it. It consists of over 700 pages of UK services and goods and it has over 900 links from UK websites, forums etc. However I still get more hits from the US than the UK, I think this is just the way it is.

But to be honest in my case I have learnt that this actualy benefits me more than not as all 700 pages have adsense blocks on them. So I find that when I get a hit from the US, they realise it's just UK service providers on my pages but then they get hit by all the adsense advert blocks which are set to generate adverts in the country that the viewer is from and hence I believe that most of my income from the site is generated by US visitors, so keep coming...

[AJ113]

Re: UK Market

Thanks very much for that chaps, unless I'm misreading your posts it appears that Marincky's 'real life' situation seems contradict Vasili's advice. i.e Marincky appears to have done exactly what Vasili is advising, and yet still gets more hits from the US. That leaves me with a conundrum....

[Vasili]

Re: UK Market

Thanks very much for that chaps, unless I'm misreading your posts it appears that Marincky's 'real life' situation seems contradict Vasili's advice. i.e Marincky appears to have done exactly what Vasili is advising, and yet still gets more hits from the US. That leaves me with a conundrum....

Not really, I don't think. Given the populations, and the extent each is "online" it pretty much reflects the numbers straight across. (Besides, the Wedding category is one of the most active global markets there is: self-renewing, and whenever it involves people's dreams they will soak up whatever info is out there - from wherever it can be found, and often hit multiple times -- which proves content to be the satisfying allure)

* Having huge numbers of links does not a solution make: strategy, selectivity, and proper ongoing management is the key. That and actually getting your feet wet to see where the rubber really hits the road....