Website on .com or .co.uk ?

[Affility]

Having bought both the .com & .co.uk for a particular domain name, I plan to redirect one to the other, but does it make a difference which I choose to actually host the web site?

e.g. Are there any benefits in using the .com over the .co.uk , or do I develop the .co.uk as I'm UK based?

A lot of companies seem to go for .com e.g. play.com, confused.com

[affiliatemarketingltd]

for UK serps .. use .co.uk

[tbp]

If you are targeting the UK market, then use the .co.uk and redirect from the com.

Just make sure you do the redirection correctly, so you don't end up with a copy of the site on each domain creating duplicate content. Do a proper redirect.

[Affi Liate]

Originally Posted by affiliatemarketingltd for UK serps .. use .co.uk

Load of crap.

It makes no difference whatsoever.

Aff.

[jd77]

In my experience, I've found it matters not a jot whether you use .com or .co.uk as your primary domain for the UK market.

The only thing I would agree with would be the whole duplicate content issue.

[Affi Liate]

Originally Posted by tbp If you are targeting the UK market, then use the .co.uk and redirect from the com. Just make sure you do the redirection correctly, so you don't end up with a copy of the site on each domain creating duplicate content. Do a proper redirect.

As ususal from TBP - nailed.

On top of that if you are building a brand think which would appeal most to your potential customers.

If it's a young a funky audience (like me) a .com may be better placed for the branding.

If you're talking something like a review site or voucher code site (discounts whatever) go with the .co.uk (even on branding) - there are a lot of US sites and forums in UK serps for review sites and I know I for one I just ignore them and look for the .co.uk's

Not sure about the technical bit cos Captain geeko deals with all that, but i know TBP knows his sh*t so make sure you set it up write.

Aff.
sgottabebig

[channel5]

Originally Posted by Affi Liate Load of crap. It makes no difference whatsoever. Aff.

Not strictly true..

A .uk TLD will automatically mean you will geolocate in the UK as far as Google is concerned.. however if you want to use a .com but geolocate in the UK then you need to host the site physically in the UK...


(and yes I know that backlink profiles and setting your geolocation in webmaster tools also have an effect, but for a new site the TLD and hosting location are by far the biggest indicators)
Use a .com domain and host in the US then you may find you have a lot more trouble ranking in google.co.uk

[affiliatemarketingltd]

Originally Posted by Affi Liate Load of crap. It makes no difference whatsoever. Aff.

bollo* !

search for free IVA advice ..

on google.co.uk im NOWHERE
on google.com im in top 8

same for other sites

[affiliatemarketingltd]

should have said the site is freeivaadvice.com

[Affi Liate]

Originally Posted by jd77 In my experience, I've found it matters not a jot whether you use .com or .co.uk as your primary domain for the UK market. The only thing I would agree with would be the whole duplicate content issue.

You could be right JD77 with your 77th post, but I had this out the other day.

With duplicate content only one site will get slapped - and even then it's only on big keywords.

ftr, I launched 5 sites a few weeks back with identical content on every page (maybe 7 pages) they are all averaging the same sorts of traffic levels but from different keywords.

Personally I'm a duplicate content lover whe it comes to speed.

Affiflection

[findlite]

It doesnt make any difference if your a .com .co.uk or .net most search engines pick up on if your site is from the UK by the site content. The only reason you could want .com .co.uk and .net domains is to help with people who see an advert for your site and type in yoursite.com or yoursite.co.uk out of habbit.

I would start the site on the .com domain but thats just force of habbit. It realy doesnt matter once you setup a proper redirect from your other domains.

Its not the most important thing in the world to be honest and id be more interested in getting targeted hits and fine tuning your sales patter to get a solid conversion rate.