Targeting Specific Countries with SEO

Search Engine Optimisation is a great way of getting exposure for any website, but the real beauty of the net is you have the potential to reach an enormous worldwide audience with relative ease. There are popular misconceptions of the best way to target different speaking countries which you are not based in through SEO, but here are some proven methods that SEO Consult uses on a regular basis.

Google and Geo-Targeting

Google has become such a force because of one reason; relevance. When a searcher goes to Google they know the results provided will be accurate and useful, this is down to their complex algorithm which is a closely guarded secret. However Google also recognises your global position, generating search results that are from your area, another way of keeping things more relevant. Because of this it’s important that you cover of all bases when targeting a specific location.

Domain Extension

An important factor in explaining where you are based is your domain extension, .co.uk for the UK, .fr for France, .es for Spain etc. I’m not saying it’s impossible to achieve good results with a cross matched domain but the associated one will always have more power in that country.

Hosting

Another key feature is your website hosting location, this should again be based in the country you want to target. If you are hosted in that country then the IP address of the server will be recognised and this provides Google search engines with further information and conclusiveness that you are based in that area.

Language

As simple as it sounds it’s important to use the primary language used in that country for all your copy. If the primary language is German then the search query is likely to be in German, therefore your keywords and copy should also be in German.