That's not possible. for ccTLDs, google doesn't offer that option. I have an .in domain. I can't change my "geographic target" in the webmaster tools. It remains as India - whether I like it or not. The OP made a big mistake by using a .in domain for a site that targets US users. He is not only getting "useless" Indian traffic, he is also losing a lot as a .in domain will get lower SERPs in google's US results.
Because you are using .in domain. Google sees your website as more suitable for Indian people. I suggest not to use localized domain. Always go for .com, .org, or .net as universal top level domains.
You can purchase a .com domain and use 301 redirect to mantain your search engine results. Read here: http://www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php The 301 redirect is the safest way to preserve your rankings. On the next spidering, the search engine robot will obey the rule indicated in your .htaccess file. The search engine spider doesn't actually read the .htaccess file, but recognizes the response from the server as valid. In the next update, the old file name and path *should* be dropped and replaced with the new one If you're changing domain names and using a 301 redirect, you'll need to leave the old domain name and files in place for a few weeks to give the major search engines time to catch on to the changes and don't forget to notify your link partners of the domain name change as soon as possible http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles3/spiders-301-redirect.htm Search engines interpret the 301 as the same site (thats why its preserves the results) but moved permanently.
You have selected .in thats why you are geting more traffic from India.. Resgister your domain as .com
Well.. by registering a .IN domain we wanted to straight away tell the visitors that it is an Indian website.. I know everyone must not be aware of every domain extensions.. but that was our intention.. Now when we are actually feeling the pain the A** because of the amount of traffic I get and there is very little conversion and now I think I should have not gone for .IN domain and instead booked a .Com domain. 301 redirect is a good idea but is it possible of an ecommerce website.. did any one try this before with an Ecommerce website ?? please share it here.. I am keen get my visitors converted as Customers.. but that is not possible if the traffic is from India
For users comming mainly from search engines, 301 is the best option. Dosent matters which kind of site is it. But i guess that with 301 you will not "clean" your site from india visitors, since google will mantain your ranks, no matter if the site is only .com Maybe the best option is to start again from scratch, sorry men.
i really think that should work because if your target is not just the Indian customers, a .com site should be the solution.
First of all - I did not understand why was this post moved to "Review" section from "Google" section.. I never asked for review in my post nor did I post an URL of my domain for people to visit and review it. The DP members themselves understood that the domain in the discussion may be in the signature.. how does that become a post for review section.. I do not want any traffic from this post and that is why I did not even mention the URL.. All I wanted is suggestions for the problem that I am facing which is not quite easy to deal with.. since it involves big G.. and also it would help others to avoid falling in such situations.. Sorry Mod but this is not the section this post should be.. I do not want to argue but would like to request you to shift it back where it was. "yenerich" I already started to scratch my head after thinking of start from scratch Anyways I am doing some research on it and will update you guys if something positive comes out.. In the mean let your suggestions flow in.. which may also help others..