Moving Domains From Com to Co.Uk - best plan for Google

In less experienced times, I grabbed a couple of domains at the .com level rather than at co.uk. I built sites on them that are currently doing well in Google, rank highly for some nice terms, have page rank, etc.

Now, what's bugging me is this. The sites are all about UK content. However, when you do a search for them on Google UK, they don't show up unless you select pages from the web. Ideally they should show up in the UK results as they are about the UK... I have the co.uk versions of the URLs and want to use them to make an impression on the UK pages search.

Now, I don't want to lose all that lovely Google goodness I have on the .com, but I want to start ranking in the UK search as well. I'm considering 3 options. What do you think would be the best?

1. Complete mirror of the .com site on the Co.Uk - make a compelete copy of the site at the co.uk version of the URL (Duplicate content maybe in the main index, but would that affect it under the UK only searches as there would be no duplicate in that index)
   
   
2. Move all the content over to the co.uk domain and 301 the .com - will this mean all the lovely back links I have become useless though, and all my page rank goes out the window?
   
   
3. Make a simple portal page on the co.uk address. Leave the .com as is, make a simple page that scrapes some of the content from the .com site for the co.uk page, but makes it clear it's from the .com site?

What do you think would be the best? I'm favouring the third, making a simple UK branded portal page that links to all the best content on the .com

 

From what I have read a 301 works best although it sucks for backlinks that are already established. If you do not have too many backlinks... or even if you do... you could email them all asking them to update

 

That's part of the problem - there's a quiz on the site that people get a link back badge for doing, and many have added them to their sites and myspaces, etc - so getting them to change that would be a nightmare.

 

Put the site onto the .co.uk and then 301 redirect the .com. At the next update all of the links to the .com should be credited to the .co.uk

Avoid mirror sites as you might pick up a duplicate content penalty.

 

I'm thinking that would be the easiest way to do it, but I wondering if there would be a relevancy boost by having 2 urls. The one with all the main content, the other with some similar content, as in a newly built single portal page?

 

Where is the .com site hosted, in the uk or the US? If it is hosted in the US just move it to UK hosting with a dedicated IP address.

- Michael

 

I'd suggest you go for a completely new website. This way you can have 2 different websites. Keep them slightly different from each other, with the same topic.

 

The .com is US hosted - as are some of my successful ranked co.uks. I've thought about UK hosting, but have you tired getting decent cheap hosting in the UK!

Other than some notable expensive hosts, it's all like £6 a month for 50mbs with 1gig of bandwidth and no add on domains. The cheap ones are all resold from the states.

Sorry, I wasted ages looking for a cheap uk host yesterday that allowed me multiple domains, uk servers and semi-decent bandwidth with no joy.

Does the location of the servers work then when it's a uk based .com? I've looked through the results for the terms I'm thinking about, and .com sites don't kick in till the 2 or 3rd page, the first results are all co.uk? It still seems to favour the actual co.uk's over the .coms, which is the point of doing it.

 

In my experience a .com domain doesn't suffer any penalty in the UK serps.

The major factor is hosting location. You simply have to have a UK host.

UK backlinks help lots as well so start submitting to local directorys.

Go with Positive Internet - unlimited bandwidth, 1Gb space for £130 per year with extra domains £30 each and good support.

 

I would build a .co.uk site on a UK based server.

 

Move the hosting location to the uk. That is why you are not ranking in google.co.uk Keep looking for a good host the other options are not worth thinking about.

There are plenty .com sites ranking well in google.co.uk

 

In an ideal world, I would, but until UK hosts start offering the same sort of prices and feature ranges as places like site5, dreamhost and asmallorange, it's not going to happen. I have a couple of UKs that rank well, being hosted in the US doesn't seem to affect them in the Google ranks for Co.uk...

 

If it is the quiz site in your sig not only is it US hosted but there are 2,665 other sites hosted on the same IP address. Most of them are crap and look like they have been dropped from Google's index

Like I said move it to UK hosting with a dedicated IP. Preferably as soon as possible....

- Michael

 

It's not

That quiz site is on GoDaddy, it's the only site I have there, one page, but lots of images being served...

 

That's lucky Dio

 

Hi,
I have heard that redirecting thru 301 sometimes kill your SERPS. So, before doing that be sure, what to do.
Although, I may not be correct.

 

If you are serious about the site then £150 per year isn't really much to invest. If you have more than one site then a UK host which allows you to add other domains to your account will let you host 3 or 4 sites for £200.

 

I'm serious about all my sites.

Unfortunately, I'm also a. skint, and b. cost-conscious. From what I've seen (and I'm looking again today, with my jaw constantly dropping), hosting in the UK is a rip-off, like most things. I'm not going to pay that £200 when I can pay half that, get twenty times more features, host unlimited sites and get good serivce into the bargain. I'd sooner host my co.uks in the US. They do well enough in the SERPs.

 

try jabwebsolutions.co.uk they ar based in Cardiff i am currently using there service you can give it a try they are prettycheap, i currently pay less than £4.

 

Thanks for all the replies - you're all making me think hard today.

So far, I think I'm veering towards making a completely new site for the co.uk version of the URL, but heavily linking it to the existing content on the com.

My reasoning being, twice the content, twice the URL, twice the possible placement in SERPS if they are distinctly different entities.

I can tailor the UK version to be a leaner and more focused, add a load of new original content, but funnel people through to the .com content if need be - this means I can also keep cheap, and host it on exisiting hosts. I's a little bit more work, but I think it would pay off in the end.