Add a comment August 29th, 2008 by tosd
I have been asked the question on a couple of occasions lately whether the web site of an Australian company will be returned in Google search results if it has a [.com] domain name. Tricky question …
As near as I can make it the information I found in a Search Engine Watch forum seems to sum up the situation fairly well. Here is a summary:
- Host in a particular country, you’ll almost certainly be seen as related to that country. So, host your .com or .au site physically in Australia, and you should be seen as Australian
- If you have a [.com.au] domain then even if you host in the US, you should still seem like an Australian site to Google.
- But what if you are an Australian site using .com? Then unfortunately, you’re stuck — the .com part doesn’t expressly say Australian, so chances are if you host in the US, you won’t be seen as Australian.
- Links — if you have many backlinks from major Australian sites, then that might help you seem related. i.e. get sites that are known to be Australian to link to your site, and it might be seen as Australian. (seems a bit “iffy” this one doesn’t it?)
Sometimes I think the simple approach is the safest. If you are an Australian business selling primarily within Australia then use a “.com.au” domain. That way you will have no problems. In general of course so many product ranges are only viable within Australia simply because of the rather expensive overseas freight issue.
If you have any further information on this matter I would be happy to hear it. It is easy to imagine a situation where it could make or break a site owners marketing efforts.
Add a comment August 29th, 2008 by tosd
Choosing a domain name can at times be every bit as tricky as choosing the name of your first born. Here are 5 top tips from TOSD:
- Memorable and as short as possible beats long and descriptive every time.
- A name connected to your products, services or business name is great as long as it doesn’t conflict too badly with (1) above.
- Domain names with multiple words are fine, as long as the individual words are recognisable e.g. www.mapbrokers.com.au.
- It is good to have a important keywords embedded in a domain name, but to be effective a search engine must be able to recognise them. Hyphens are the answer. e.g. www.map-brokers.com.au.
- Don’t want to use a hyphen in advertising? Easy - set the hyphenated version to be the primary domain name attached to the hosting account and then piggy back the non hyphenated version on to it. To follow the example above www.map-brokers.com.au would be the primary domain while www.mapbrokers.com.au would be an add-on domain with a permanent re-direct to the primary domain.
- Avoid names with words that seemingly run into each other e.g www.oneensignforall.com.au - I almost feel obliged to explain that this attempt at a domain name was intended to be “one ensign for all”. It just doesn’t visually stand out does it? The chances of people typing www.onesignforall.com.au would be just too high.
- If you are operating within Australia, and your audience is primarily Australian, stick to a .com.au address - .net.au or .org.au if appropriate.
A final thought. With domain names, the name of the game - above all else - is to be memorable.
Good luck!
