8 replies to this topic

[jedstump]

Hello Everyone

My website www.coverallsale.com has been showing up in Google for a few months now around position 10 for my main keyword "nomex coveralls".
When I go to Google Canada I can not find my site under the same keywords.

The thing is I am physically located in Canada but have a US based host.

I have not optimized any pages that focus on Canada but I still am confused why I am having trouble getting listed in Google Canada.


Loooking forward to your help.

Thank you.


Terry

[chrishirst]

Terry welcome to the forum


This article and this discussion should shed some light.

[jedstump]

Hello chrishirst

Thank you for the reply articles they are very informative.

Do you think if I were to keep my current US based host and add a Canadian based host with a .ca extension with the same website content is a good idea?

This would mean that I would have 2 duplicate websites under slightly different domain names.

I think I know the answer (not a good idea).


Terry

[mcanerin]

Right. Not a good idea

I would simply park a .ca domain on your current US host and get some links (preferably Canadian) pointing to it using the .ca domain. That should do the trick.

Here are some pretty good FREE Canadian Directories:

Canlinks
Proudly Canadian
Local Sites.ca
CHC
1st Spot.ca
Listings.ca
Canadopedia
Search PEI
Search Calgary (Calgary only)

Cheers,

Ian

Edited by mcanerin, 31 October 2004 - 01:40 PM.

[jedstump]

Thanks Ian

What exactly is meant by parking a domain?

I think I understand that it is where you can store a domain name until you need it at a future date. When parking a domain name can you use it then have it point to your original domain or how does this work?


Thank you


Terry

[mcanerin]

Although that is one use of the term "park" (used most often by domain registrars) when an SEO talks about parking they mean something different. Yes, it's confusing

Imagine you have a phone number. This is the actual number that people dial to phone you. But unless they are very familiar with you they will not know this and will probably look you up in a phone book in order to find you. The phone book translates your name into a number - in this case, your phone number.

The internet works the same way. Your website has a unique number (it's IP) and although you *can* often get to a website using it, most of the time it's too hard and people will use an easier method - a domain name. When you type a domain name into your browser it goes to a "phonebook" called a DNS (or nameserver) server that translates the domain name into the IP number.

With me so far? Ok - what would happen if, instead of phoning you, someone wanted to phone your spouse or someone else at your home?

Unless they knew the name the phone was listed under they'd have a problem. The internet DNS system allows for several people living at the same address, in this case, several names all pointing towards the exact same IP and website.

So basically, you can have more than one domain name pointing at the exact same IP and website. This is what I'm talking about when I say parking.

If you wanted to go to my website, either mcanerin.com or mcanerin.ca would work, and both would take you to the same site. This is an example of a park.

There is another way to do this called a 301 (or 302) redirect, but for geolocation purposes you don't usually want to do this, which is why we draw the distinction.

Basically, if you tell your host that you want both domains to point at the same website they will usually know what you mean. People do it all the time.

A lot of times I will buy an extra domain that I have no immediate use for but have plans for in the future and don't want anyone to take in the meantime. So I'll "park" it on my current website (or a "under construction site"). Hence the term.

Hopefully that's clear

Ian

[jedstump]

Hello Ian

That is very clear.

Thank you so much for the help I will try this out.


Terry

[amabaie]

If you operate near Ottawa, don't forget http://ottawastart.com

[cyanide]

Interesting analagy of domains and IPs, Ian

Personally, I would prefer to do the reverse. Install the website on the .ca then park the .com

Another thought, jedstump...
Is the way your website is designed and structured.
You're going to give the SE bots a real workout crawling those long pages. And those valuable keywords on most pages are on the lower half of the page.