| LED Digest 2665: Selling Internationally |
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The LED Digest
Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom http://www.AudetteMedia.com : the LED's Publisher Boutique Internet Marketing: SEO, SEM, Social Media http://www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. June 18, 2008 Issue no. 2665 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Purchasing International TLDs ==-- ~ Mark Medlicott "...clients who register a .com extension have found that to be a much better solution..." ~ Martyn Gay "Anyone can purchase a .co.uk domain name..." ~ Robert Joy "I've tried to buy a .AU website several times and always fail." ~ David Spahr "I purchased .co.uk and .de addresses for my business..." ~ Ivan Jimenez "...I couldn't place at all until I hosted in the country." --== The New iPhone ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "...the iPhone far outsells all Windows Mobile based smartphones together." ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Mark Medlicott Subject: International domains > Can someone in the US buy UK, AU, etc > domain extensions? If so where? Will that > place my site in better positions in the > natural search for the SEs of those > countries? Would it be wise to also host in > those countries? - Janet Picard, LED 2664 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/2079/190/ I am unsure about UK domain names, but know for a fact that to obtain an Australian domain name you need to have a business number or Inland Revenue number from that country. As we live in neighbouring New Zealand I have worked with several businesses that as they expand first look to move to Australia and have found that Australians 'trust' .com.au domains more than say .co.nz domains, but for an outsider, even setting up a shelf company will cost US$600 - $1000 at present with your weak dollar. Having said that, I have other clients who initially register a .com extension where available and have found that to be a much better solution to world wide sales and expansion. This eradicates the need to purchase lots of different domain names (many of which are unavailable for your desired name in other countries). Any reasonable SEO or web designer should be able to research the target market and build a purpose built page that may attract the Australian market, the UK market and so on. After having a quick look at your home page, instead of just saying 'Worldwide Shipping' perhaps adding some text related to specific Countries e.g. "We can ship our Chess products to Australia, Britain and the Uk" may be enough to begin generating better overseas results since your website obviously ranks well already, and although we live elsewhere, in NZ and Australia most of us search on the generic worldwide Google even if it is weighted to our own countries. For instance on Google Australia your site shows at No 2 for "electronic chess boards" and in the same spot on google.co.nz So I don't think you need to worry about buying new domain names, but perhaps need to look at how you present your package to help increase sales. >From a personal point of view your site at first glance to me appears a bit sterile. I don't mean this rudely, but today websites are like people, and its that first impression that counts. When I enter your store (website) I feel like I have walked into a large supermarket where no one talks to you and it is very impersonal, as opposed to a smaller local shop when I get a regular friendly greeting and perhaps asked about the kids, or I can ask the same. There is nothing wrong with the shopping process, but (my opinion only) perhaps when first arriving at your website it could tell a story ...the why, how, when and where of your business and give me a feeling that I can relate to you. Sorry about the lengthy ramble as I know you never asked for a site critique but help with overseas domain names, so I hope you appreciate the answer? Regards, Mark Medlicott Medlicott Design http://www.medlicottdesign.orconhosting.net.nz/ -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Martyn Gay Subject: Re: International domains Janet, Anyone can purchase a .co.uk domain name (commercial) or a .net.uk (network) - there is no requirement that you be a UK-based business. Some other UK domains are more restricted like .ac.uk (academic), .gov.uk (government) etc. In Australia, the domain registration rules require that you must be an Australian registered company or a business with a registered business number in Australia to purchase a .com.au (commercial) or .net.au (network) domain. The rules in other countries vary. We have an office in the United Arab Emirates - to purchase a .ae domain one must be incorporated or resident there. As to whether having localized domains helps natural search engine listings - I'm sure you'll get all sorts of opposing views as is the way with anything SEO related! Certainly my experience is that the physical hosting location of the server doesn't matter too much - we have clients from all around the world hosting with us in the UK, and many people around the world host in the USA - so it wouldn't make sense for the search engines to penalise sites based on where they were hosted. Google.co.uk is itself hosted on a US IP address, so Google would be penalising others for doing what it does itself! We have a Mexican client hosted with us in the UK and they do very well for searches in their field on google.com.mx - and notably their .com domain does better than their .com.mx domain. Martyn Gay ASP Shopping Cart Software www.cactushop.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Robert Joy Subject: International domains I've tried to buy a .AU website several times and always fail. The reasons are that I do not live in Australia although I am Australian. They want only people that reside in Australia to be able to purchase .AU domains. If you can find a legal way to purchase one I'd love to know and follow you in a purchase. This requirement seems to be the same in many other countries, I find it most strange, but they must have a controlling reason. Robert Joy -------- new post - same topic -------- From: David Spahr Subject: International Domains I purchased .co.uk and .de addresses for my business and it has worked out well for me. I am getting more European business theses days than US business I think. They are spending well with the low dollar. My original site was mostly US oriented and was becoming too gargantuan to include all the other material. Having a smaller dedicated site for these locations is certainly simpler for the buyers. David Spahr stereoviews.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Ivan Jimenez Subject: International domains Hello Janet, I've heard varied opinions but in my experiences I did position better with country specific extensions (on the more competitive keywords) however I couldn't place at all until I hosted in the country. On the non-competitive keywords (yes, I tested random key terms that I figured no one would want), my .com extension hosted locally (in the U.S.) placed. As far as purchasing the domains, most will allow you but a few will make it extremely challenging and some will flat out not allow it. One such case was registering a domain name for Chile (.cl). They require a RUT which is similar to the U.S. social security number. I didn't have one. Also, you'll find that the extensions range from very cheap to very, very expensive. Bottom line is that you'll want to have a clear cut strategy and make sure you're just concentrating on the specific domains you'll need. This is the site I used: http://www.101domain.com. Best! Ivan Jimenez http://swisslogic.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: New iPhone > Sure Apple's innovating. But does it > deserve 6 paragraphs of partially baseless > praise on LED digest? - John Andrews, LED 2664 Well, we'll soon see. In the US, the iPhone far outsells all Windows Mobile based smartphones together. And its single model - without 3G and without enterprise support - is secondly only to RIM. 3G, enterprise support, and many other functions becoming available in the second iPhone, July 11 --- distribution beginning in over twenty more countries then, and distribution in forty more countries in the second part of the year --- most of the mobile industry racing to emulate the interface and functionality...... But I'm not trying to convince anyone that it's the Holy Grail. I just saying, for anyone who didn't know, that, "It's not just another phone", and is worth a good look as a business tool. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com (c) Copyright 1995-2008 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The end of birth is death; the end of death Is birth: this is ordained! and mournest thou, Chief of the stalwart arm! for what befalls Which could not otherwise befall?" - Bhagavad Gita |
