If you are targetting a country through AM/PPC, do you go for that country domain extension, like .co.uk or do you just go for a .com? even though your targetting the UK market? Do you think it makes a difference to the potential visitors/buyers?
It CAN make a HUGE difference. Test it yourself. Also, you may want to check up on the new AdWords quality score details and judge for yourself what location specific and display URL mean
No problem. Some people say it doesn't matter but in 100% of tests that I have done, ccTLD has always won out.
Excellent, im just starting soon wth PPC so trying to get everything as correct as possible, and anything that will help get good results is worth it.
If you do use a regular .com, you can always mention your location in the ad itself, using a title like: Widget Company - UK
Well, as far as Google Adwords is concerned it does not matter - they will show your ads wherever you tell them to. From the audience response point of view it can make a big difference, i.e. historically, searchers in the UK are more likely to click on a .co.uk rather than a .com, although I think, as the web and TLDs continue to grow, the tendency is reducing. Still, I believe if you have any TLD other than .co.uk then the use of 'UK' in your ad or display url definitely helps ( it is also useful as a component of keyword phrases - a lot of searchers will include it in their query, e.g. "blue widgets uk".) From the natural listing viewpoint it also makes a big difference. It can take Google, say, quite a while to figure out your market; that is, with a .com site you can perhaps get good SERPs placings on Google's general search but it can be months before you start showing on a search of "pages from the UK." Where you domain is registered also plays an important part in this, e.g. because my site is a .com hosted in Canada I get great SERPs on google.ca even though I only target the UK. The .com TLD and your hosting company can also be a handicap when it comes to SEO and directory listings - there are still a number of UK directories that will only list you if you have a .co.uk TLD AND/OR your site is hosted on a UK server (Hard to credit but unfortunately true!)
The domain in the ad can really effect the CTR. If you are targeting a specific country and are not already using the country domain extension then I would definitely set up a split test of two ads (the second ad with the country extension) to see if it makes a difference... The only way to know for sure for any specific campaign is to test. If you are starting a campaign for a specific country then I would start with that countries domain extension. hope that helps! Dave.
Thanks very much bjewelled and Dave, very informative and helpful and something il definately go with.
I am not sure about .co.uks but .com.au domains are HIGHLY regulated so foreign companies can't just register a domain at will. They need to register their business for trade before applying for a .com.au which can be a costly endeavour. Thats said I do agree that the ccTLD is more effective than a .com but if you have a .com try: country.website.com/KeyWord website.com/country/KeyWord You can also put country in title of text ad or refer to country in descripion: "Britain's leading widget shop.."
Maybe it does. Maybe the buyers from uk would prefer a .co.uk product who's headquarters are located in their own country. But, with increasing globalization, and the never-ending popularity of TLD's such as .com and .org, its ok if you make a .com and use that.
Thanks trishan, and yeah ive read before that australia is pretty controlled regarding registering domains of .com.au Lol Thanks freelikehell