GeoTargetting - any way to disable for a .ie?

515

I'm working on updating a .ie website at the moment. The company is based here but has clients all over the world.

Because it's a .ie google automatically geotargets it to Ireland... does this mean we will be lowered for searches done outside of Ireland? Or does geotargetting only kick-in if people search for results only from their own country?

If it DOES lower our page rank in other countries, can it be disabled? The .com is already taken by a different company doing something completely different, so can't simply change that.

Thanks for any help/guideance on this.

Derek B

515 wrote: »

I'm working on updating a .ie website at the moment. The company is based here but has clients all over the world.

Because it's a .ie google automatically geotargets it to Ireland... does this mean we will be lowered for searches done outside of Ireland? Or does geotargetting only kick-in if people search for results only from their own country?

If it DOES lower our page rank in other countries, can it be disabled? The .com is already taken by a different company doing something completely different, so can't simply change that.

Thanks for any help/guideance on this.

What types of search terms will you be targeting? Are they localised to Ireland eg 'hotels in dublin' or generic terms like 'cheap hotels'.

Search engines will return results based on a few geo specific factors, cctld is one (.ie domain), also they will look at the location of your hosting, and the specifics of the searcher (IP address etc)

If you're targeting generic search terms, let's say I do a search from Australia, then local companies here will naturally be more relevant for me. Why would an Irish company be relevant? Unless I include a geo modifier and reference Ireland in some way in my search term. Is your business web-based?

It doesn't lower your pagerank and it can't be disabled

515

Thanks for the response Derek.

Basically, the company is one of a handful of companies that supply certain equipment. Very few of these are sold in Ireland. I want ensure that companies searching for this equipment anywhere in the world will still see us high up in the search rankings.

Are you saying that the .ie and geotargetting won't drop us down on international searches unless they specify they want the equipment locally?

Derek B

515 wrote: »

Basically, the company is one of a handful of companies that supply certain equipment. Very few of these are sold in Ireland. I want ensure that companies searching for this equipment anywhere in the world will still see us high up in the search rankings.

If there's only a handful of companies selling this equipment (worldwide?), then you're in a niche market which makes it easier to rank well, but the dotcom domain would be a big help - would you be in a position to offer to buy the dotcom? Where is your hosting based? Is the site optimised for Irish terms? Do you have content relevant for international buyers, with information on buying/shipping/costs/benefits/promotions etc?

515 wrote: »

Are you saying that the .ie and geotargetting won't drop us down on international searches unless they specify they want the equipment locally?

No, you will be less relevant internationally as your domain is Irish based. Think about your own searches on Google.ie - how often do you see a domain that's not .com, .ie or .net? Even if you choose (as most do) to 'search the web', not just 'pages from Ireland'...it's not impossible for an .ie to rank globally, but it will be difficult

There are other factors to consider also, does your site have pagerank? How old is your domain?

Be interested to hear others thoughts on this

515

Derek B wrote: »

There are other factors to consider also, does your site have pagerank? How old is your domain?

The domain has been around for years. What do you mean by 'does your site have pagerank?'?

Derek B

515 wrote: »

What do you mean by 'does your site have pagerank?'?

You can download the Google toolbar for Firefox, and a bar at the top will tell you what your site's PR is.

515

So if the site were moved to a .com it would do better internationally... would the same be said for .net, .info, .eu?

link8r

It could do better internationally - but for a guaranteed reponse your client is better setting up localised sites for each country - a .ie, .co.uk or a .com linked to a specific country.

Older .coms were easier to internationalise, before Google started using your hosting company/IP address to index you for a certain country.

Basically, it allows Irish domains (.com, .ie etc) to rank better within searches by irish users (based on their IP) and so on. Or if you search only within Irish pages, then you only get Irish or Irish targeted sites.

Google as a rule, doesn't like 1 content - multiple domains - duplicate content, so its like this 1 : content : 1 domain : 1 county. Doesn't mean all the content is different but its a good model to work from - if you are in the UK and you have a localised website for the UK with localised contact details, then you have confidence buying.

If its just one company in one country, its not "truly" globalised - not in the same way of having a company there.

[/funny] The idea that a .com can bring you global business and is the same has having a company in every country is a self propelling myth for cheapskates [/end funny]

CCSL

Webmaster tools only allows geographic targeting on locaton neutral domains like .com as the .com is not available try .biz or .net

if its a .ie then Google will automaticly target Irish searches to your site.

However if you are in a niche market as you seem to be then just as .com sites show up even of you pick ireland for the search your .ie site should also show up if there are not a lot of competing sites for the search term.

Google gives weight to the domain name when many results are found.