19 replies to this topic

[nzrobert]

Hi there,

I have a New Zealand based website (.co.nz) however we actually target a global ecommerce market.

Today I registered a similar .com domain for a wider global SEO benefit. Essentially I would like to copy the website from .co.nz domain to the .com domain and do a 301 redirect from every page on the .co.nz to the equivalent page on the .com domain. Thus transferring all the 3K - 4K back links to the new domain and being able to keep the current rankings that i have not only in the New Zealand market but giving the website a bit more of a shot ranking better outside of New Zealand.

I guess essentially what I need some support with here is whether I am over looking anything in terms of transferring what is currently a well ranking website over to the new domain. I.e will the ageing factor of the new website have an effect on the ranking, or will the power of the back links to the old domain be significant enough to pull it through that?

Just a few insights would be great? Has anyone actually done this before? What was the outcome.

thanks!
Robert

[Tiggerito]

Hold on. A .com domain is not global!

AFAIK all the major search engines work by regionalising all domains and showing preference to ones that are local to peoples searches.

Some domains are by definition localised because they have Country Code Specific Top Level Domains (ccTLD). Like .co.nz

Other domains are ambiguous, like .com

With the ambiguous domains the search engines guess at the region. An obvious start is the location the website is hosted.

Google is the only one that lets you specifically state the region for one of these ambiguous domain names (thus confirming what I am saying). This is via Google Webmaster Tools.

So, the answer is, you cannot have a website that is purely global. In fact, if your .com domain is hosted in NZ then all you are doing is duplicating your current website in the same market. Lots of effort, Zero benefit.

I'd re-think your plan. Are there any particular international markets your interested in? Maybe duplicate your website in those locations using local ccTLDs. You will have to start afresh with backlinks unless your happy to kill your NZ websites ranking in their favour.

[Jill]

I need some support with here is whether I am over looking anything in terms of transferring what is currently a well ranking website over to the new domain. I.e will the ageing factor of the new website have an effect on the ranking, or will the power of the back links to the old domain be significant enough to pull it through that?

Unfortunately, there's no way to know for sure without knowing all the details. And I would caution you to do something like that based on free advice from a forum. Changing domains is not something to take lightly and should not be done for the reasons you're wanting to do it. You may very well end up fine, or you may lose everything you previously had.

[Michael Martinez]

What I would do is copy the content from the .co.nz domain to the .com and then implement "rel='canonical'" on the New Zealand version pages to point to the .com. When you see the .com pages start to appear in the search results then implement 301-redirects on the .co.nz domain.

I do have to agree that ".com" is not necessarily a "global" TLD. If you're a New Zealand-based company and people know that, you are sacrificing part of your brand proposition for the sake of using a ".com" domain.

There is no reason why a .co.nz domain cannot perform well in multiple markets, unless you find a bias among potential partners AGAINST acknowledging a .co.nz domain. This should be a business decision, not an SEO decision.

[LewisSellers]

Hi There,

I'm new to the forum and I'd like to try and say what I've got from this. As far as my knowledge goes, what everyone has said about sounds correct.

Technically, if you're doing 301 redirects from every page and duplicating the page. The link juice will be passed through and ultimately this should pass be passed along. Unfortunately, domain age does come into effect as one of Googles ranking factors so you would loose this advantage. There is an option in Google webmaster tools for telling Google when you've changed your URL. In theory, this would allow you to swap your domain and 'hopefully' not receive too many penalties for doing so (don't hold me to that). Obviously, that's only in Google, but I'm relatively sure that Yahoo and Bing have similar options.

As some of the other people have pointed out on here, .com is a commercial extension and not a global extension. You should be able to optimise your website for all markets and create a website that works well for different locations. This may mean reworking a lot of your website, but it may be the safer option instead of making loads of changes and suffering large drops in the SERPs.

I guess it all depends where you're currently sat in the search rankings and whether you think this is beneficial for yourself....

I hope this helps!
Lewis

[chrishirst]

Unfortunately, domain age does come into effect as one of Googles ranking factors so you would loose this advantage.

So what IS the "domain age" then?

[LewisSellers]

Sorry, I'm not sure I quite understand your question?

By domain age, I mean how long the domain name has been purchased for... For example, if I bought a domain 10 years ago, it would have the advantage of being an aged domain (which I guess maybe shows it being more established in Googles eyes?) over a domain that was purchased 2 weeks ago.

I assume that's what you were asking? I'm not sure...

Unless you're asking how old his domain is, in which case, I have no idea.... It may be 2 weeks for all I know

[Jill]

By domain age, I mean how long the domain name has been purchased for... For example, if I bought a domain 10 years ago, it would have the advantage of being an aged domain (which I guess maybe shows it being more established in Googles eyes?) over a domain that was purchased 2 weeks ago.

I don't believe that the age of the domain name means anything to Google. The age of a website using a particular domain name yes, but just the age of a domain that's never been used...no.

[chrishirst]

For example, if I bought a domain 10 years ago, it would have the advantage of being an aged domain (which I guess maybe shows it being more established in Googles eyes?) over a domain that was purchased 2 weeks ago

Ok then, I have a domain name that i have owned since 1996, never been online, never had a website on it , never been redirected or pointed anywhere.

Does that make it an "aged domain"?

[LewisSellers]

Sorry for the delayed response, had a very busy week.

Ok, I see what you both are saying and I'm not disagreeing as they're both valid points.

I'm not sure what Google goes off with aged domains. If it goes off the date the domain was registered, then yes, it would class as an aged domain. If it goes off how the site has grown over the past 10 years and takes into account other metrics for the aged domain part, then no, it wouldn't be an aged domain.

I don't have a definitive answer for this, based off a few articles I've read, Google takes into account both sides of the argument.

- The age of the website
- The length of time a domain has been registered

www.webconfs.com/age-of-domain-and-serps-article-6.php
www.rmgseo.com/seo-power-of-aged-domains/

Obviously the articles above are only peoples opinions. So I guess it's just down to what you believe.

Not trying to argue with anyone here Just saying my thoughts..

Edited by Jill, 08 December 2011 - 08:34 AM.
Removed live links as per forum rules

[Jill]

Obviously the articles above are only peoples opinions. So I guess it's just down to what you believe.

It would be more helpful/useful if you posted from first hand knowledge rather than what others have said since there is so much wrong and bad SEO info out there.

[LewisSellers]

It would be more helpful/useful if you posted from first hand knowledge rather than what others have said since there is so much wrong and bad SEO info out there.

Isn't SEO just based off peoples opinions? Google don't release much information about their algorithms so most of it is trial and error... Matt Cutts releases some information but Google are fairly guarded about the whole thing.

Lets use an article from Matt Cutts -

Although there's a lot of bad SEO info out there, I wouldn't class this as bad. I do think it's a ranking factor and that it does make a difference.

[chrishirst]

I do think it's a ranking factor and that it does make a difference.

Despite Matt Cutts stating categorically that it is NOT a factor?

[LewisSellers]

I don't have sound on this PC and looking at the comments below, I'm pretty sure It was the wrong one (I couldn't edit the post after sending). I'll have a look when I'm at home. He's definitely released a video about domain age being relevant.

[chrishirst]

Well that one and every other one I've seen say that it is irrelevant.

Don't confuse "age" with experience.

Would you take advice on cars from a seventy five year old Amish man just because he is seventy five therefore must know more than a twenty year old rally driver?