Should I go with .com or use local TLD's also?

[LinkedIn]

My dilemma is that I am making a website that is targeting all countries around the world equally so I can not make up my mind where the host's location should be.


I was thinking of registering at least 3 different domains: .com / .co.uk and maybe .com.au and getting local hosting for each?


However I am then paying for 3 hosting subscriptions... but it might be worth it if it means ranking higher in the local SERPS and faster page loading time?


Would really appreciate some advice, thanks.

 

[seeplusplus]

Personally I dont do this as your off-site SEO efforts are then divided by three which can be a problem if you have limited resources or funds, and secondly if you use G00gl3 webmaster tools you can speicify that your .com domain is targetted to those within the UK for example, but seeing as your target audience is global I guess that is irrelevant.

I've never had any problems ranking a .com in the UK, plus people find it easier to remember.

 

[SerpEvil]

.com is the king.end of story

 

[W9go]

.com if you go global

 

[LinkedIn]

Personally I dont do this as your off-site SEO efforts are then divided by three which can be a problem if you have limited resources or funds, and secondly if you use G00gl3 webmaster tools you can speicify that your .com domain is targetted to those within the UK for example, but seeing as your target audience is global I guess that is irrelevant.

I've never had any problems ranking a .com in the UK, plus people find it easier to remember.

Thanks great reply, but I was wondering, given that there are more people in the USA than the UK, would it be safer to go with US hosting - I read somewhere that google prefers to rank sites that have local hosting first?

 

[danms]

Check out MaxCDN or a similar service. If you care about the site and branding, get all of them.
If you're not going to show different things to each country, what's the point in doing that? If it's for the branding, get the .co.uk and redirect. If it's for speed, get a CDN.

I think you need to have a local presence to buy local extensions, not sure though.

 

[eveneven]

I always use dotcomm. I rarely target anything other than global.

If I target specific nationalities, and have content in that language, I will register a national TLD, but that is more for building trust ... I don't think it matters that much for SERPS ..

 

[boomboomer]

Book all the domains you want right away. It doesn't cost a whole lot. Redirect (302) the local TLDs initially to the main .com domain. This way, if your business calls for it, you can advertise the local domain in the respective countries.

As for hosting, start with hosting the .com one in the US and make sure that the static contents of your website are hosted on a CDN. That'll alleviate the need for separate hosting to some extent.

Once your website gets traction and you're reasonably certain that adding another hosting is worthwhile, you can host the local TLD (which you had already booked) in its own country and remove the redirect that was applied to it initially.