Website traffic is a sure way of getting good ranking in the search engines. Growth in traffic optimizes the number of visitors while increasing the visibility of your business. And things have become even better; it is possible nowadays to use seo country targeting method to target a particular country. Countries like US and UK are known for better conversion of adverts and affiliate sales. Simply, target country-based traffic can yield good results. Some of the website contents are developed exclusively for targeting a particular country (country specific seo) and/or use a certain language, and as a result, the content is not of high importance to other regions of the world that are not relevant to the material these sites provide.
How to target country-specific web traffic?
The Domain Name
Domain extensions with the likes of .org and .com usually rank higher on the global search engines. However, to target a specific country, your best decision might be to buy a country-specific domain. For the Australian market, it’s common to find the domain extension .au. Similarly, in Spain, you can target domain extensions such as .es to give you good results in Spain. It is also good idea to setup country based subfolder in your main site and develop sites accordingly in those particular languages. For Example: TechKoW.com, TechKoW.com/DE, TechKoW.com/FR and many more. It is also best way to perfectly optimize your site in different countries of the world and to gain different targeted traffic (target website traffic). You need to add some codes in .ht-access file in your main site directory so that you will be eligible to redirect your visitors to exact place. It is compulsory that whenever any visitor logon to your domain in that country then, it must be automatically redirected at exact sub-folder domain.
Web hosting server location
Another essential factor in targeting particular country’s traffic is the use of server location. If you are targeting customers from the US, you may want to base your servers in the same country. This helps to ensure your website loads faster in the said country due to the server IP. The search engines will also be able to determine the location of your server and hence helping you rank higher in your target country.
The Google, Bing and other webmaster tools
These are the free tools provided by Search Engines for webmasters and bloggers. They come in very useful in seeking country specific traffic. The tool allows you to set the country you are targeting and hence assist in getting traffic from that county. You simply log in and verify your site on the webmaster tool, then under the configurations, you specify the country you are targeting, and you are good to go.
Content level targeting
The material on your internet site is the main signal that a search engine uses to determine which country you are targeting. In case you are targeting more than just one country with your generic domain name extension (.com, .net, .org,…), add the name of the targeted country in your post’s titles and descriptions; this will not only make your material more keyword-targeted, but will also give a clear signal that you are targeting a specific country with that particular article or page.
In addition to the keywords, the type of content you are posting and the language you are using in your articles will also affect the ranking of your website. As you probably already know, readability is a well-known SEO factor, and if your language is following the U.S. standards to target Japan traffic, results will not be satisfying. This is why you need to be sure to use the language of the targeted country to make your site not only ranking higher in the local searches, but also more approachable to the people.
Use of backlinks
When different search engines were devised, they used backlinks to determine the popularity of content. They have changed since then, but the importance of backlinks remains the key. Hence, you can use this strategy to keep specific country backlinks. For instance, if you are targeting audience from the UK, try getting backlinks from various UK based websites. Here, you can use the power of guest blogging and blog commenting. Both are proven methods to give you good results.
Track Keyword Progress in Country-Specific Searches
You read about some of the most efficient techniques that you can use to target your website traffic for particular countries. What you want to do next is keep track of the keyword’s progress in the country you are targeting. This will assist you to find out which strategies work and which do not. When you identify the game plan that works best, you can fully focus on that strategy and work on it to get it to the next level.
Design your content to your target user’s language and culture
When you are targetinga specific audience, always make sure you are providing information that is suited for them.
By using local language, country’s currency and time zone combined with contact information, like addresses and phone numbers, you are sending the users AND search engines powerful signals that they are in the right place. And do not forget about cultural differences when you are creating the design and content for the website; countries and cultures around the world are very divergentand they look at things in very different ways, even things like color, shapes and style of humor, so make sure you do not offend anybody or make an off-putting design.
Making it crystal clear that your website is made exclusively for them, increases the chances that the audience will have a pleasant experience.
Benefits of country-specific domain
When you are targeting a particular country, the best move you can make is to buy a country-specific domain. Yes, you have to dip into your wallet a little, but it certainly pays off greatly.
Let’s have a look at some of the greatest benefits of buying a domain specific to a country;
- SEO Benefits
In many cases the major search engines provide higher search engine rankings for webpages that have a country-specific Top-Level Domain (TLD). For example, if a web user from Germany is searching for a SEO Link Building consulting services in that specific country, the website with the .de may rank higher than another site with a .com extension providing the same service.
This type of domain can also increase the visibility of your brand through directories commonly recommended by local internet surfers. Directories make a great way to increase search engine rankings and build quality links that lead to more traffic to your internet site.
- Better audience identification
Identifying your customers’ location gives you an edge, as it makes things much more convenient for both parties, you and the client. You can easily display services and products aiming directly at consumers in that particular region and the customers do not have to be concern about choosing the area they are located in; this gives your website a local feel, and establishes the trust a customer needs to sense when doing business with you.
- Boosting the customer’s confidence
Having a country-specific domain help increase the confidence in clients, because many of them feel more comfortable doing business with local providers. For the consumers, it is easier to track their sales and follow up with any potential questions and concerns regarding the service or product. Even though businesses are conducted all across international borders on daily bases, a lot of people would simply like to know, that they are dealing with someone who either resides in the same country or runs the business from there; it is easier to trust someone like this, than someone who is operating in a foreign locality.
If you are not completely sure whether or not a country-specific domain will work, have it both ways; create a website specially for the targeted country with its domain, and design essentially the same site with a more common domain, like.com. In time you will see for yourself which of these two reels in more traffic and conversations.
FAQs on Country Specific SEO
1. Is the use of citations important?
Yes, indeed it is. Just like links, citations (mention of your company’s name, address and phone number) are also a big part of search engine’s algorithm, and when it comes to local search engine rankings, they are a strong indication and ranking factor, so make sure to include relevant citations to your website.
2. Why is it not recommended to use a machine translation on a website when targeting a particular country?
To put this simple: they are just not good enough. You want your content to be well written and clear. The machine translation software can help you a little, but you must check the content you translated, because there might be grammatical errors and a poor choice of words, due to a limited vocabulary. The best thing to do here is to hire someone who is fluent in the language you need the material to be written in.
3. Does the search engine know my location and can I do something about it?
Yes, it does, and although it is not a big factor, it can still make a difference. The IP address of an internet site is determined by the server the site is hosted on, which means that if you are building a country-specific website, it would probably be wise to host it in the country the site is targeting.
4. Can social media websites help me with targeting a particular country?
Of course they can. Social media sites have become more than just a chat room filled with people’s pictures. When you are targeting a specific country, just share the direct link to your website with you friends, and ask them to share it forward. It is a chain reaction, that can bring in relevant traffic when it comes to the right crowd.
Final thoughts and recommendations on Country Specific SEO
- To increase relevance in the targeted country, it is recommended to have your registrant address in the same location as your targeted location. This is a very useful piece of information, that search engine uses to determine is doing business in that particular location.
- The nature of the content you post; language and the way the content is written certainly influence ranking of your website.
- When targeting more than one country with one website, use a common domain and target separate countries with articles written in their language, with relevant keywords, like the very name of the targeted location.
- Host your site on a local IP address and link to local content
- Build links from local resources; this will give you a lot of traffic from already established sites that people trust.
- Try and find ways to rank on local search engines. Not everybody uses a search engine like Google.com, there are many engines that are specific to the locations they operate in, and when you are targeting a particular country, it will serve you great, if you rank in the local search engine.
Targeting a country-specific web traffic for country-specific search results is far from a ‘’quick and easy’’ process, but combining the knowledge of SEO Link Building, proper website design and great articles in the targeted country’s language with some undivided attention, the objective is not unreachable at all, and in the long run, all the time and effort you put in today, will pay off with great results.
If you have any questions about the country-targeting for SEO, do not be a stranger, and contact us, we will be happy to help you with providing any necessary information.
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