Looking For Opinions On Website Ranking

[branders11]

I have got mixed feelings on this and keep getting different opinions.

if i have a .com site ranking in the UK and would like to target canada. Would this work..

Website.com (uk site)

Website.com/casinos/canada - Would that work to target Canada?

Thanks

[nfint12]

Yes that is very common, for example Gambling .com targets the UK, whereas Gambling .com/ca target Canada, and both sites rank very well.

[Former Member 14]

Gambling .com targets the UK, whereas Gambling .com/ca target Canada, and both sites rank very well.

Gambling .com has been targeting CA for literally years and years. The OP's site seems to favour the UK with his .com. I'm not saying it wont work, but... I sure wouldn't bank on it working 100%.

I'd be more inclined (have done in the past) to use a subdomain. EG: ca.yourwebsite.com
Google will treat the subdomain as a separate site.

Personally, I wouldn't risk screwing around with a site's SEO.

Leave the site as is, and use a subdomain instead. Changing content on a site, can result in p#ssing away a lot of hard work.

FYI... one may never, ever, get back to the SERP's before said changes.

[Lee1]

There are a few ways.

Sub-domain as mentioned by AussieDave, or you could go down the folder route.

I personally would go down the folder route, i.e, example.com/ca and add the hreflang attribute.

hreflang="ca". I'd also recommend creating content that differs from the UK version and is more in tune with the Canadian language.

[nfint12]

Gambling .com has been targeting CA for literally years and years. The OP's site seems to favour the UK with his .com. I'm not saying it wont work, but... I sure wouldn't bank on it working 100%.

I'd be more inclined (have done in the past) to use a subdomain. EG: ca.yourwebsite.com
Google will treat the subdomain as a separate site.

Personally, I wouldn't risk screwing around with a site's SEO.

Leave the site as is, and use a subdomain instead. Changing content on a site, can result in p#ssing away a lot of hard work.

FYI... one may never, ever, get back to the SERP's before said changes.

It will work just fine, speaking from experience - if you do some googling you'll see it is not "screwing around with a site's SEO".

[Former Member 14]

It will work just fine, speaking from experience - if you do some googling you'll see it is not "screwing around with a site's SEO".

That's your opinion.

My experience is based on 20 years as a successful casino affiliate. That also includes owning a web dev company, which (FYI), conducted SEO services for some large casino-groups. Hence, I'm not talking out my backside, here

Having gone the route (many times before) which the OP describes...If I was developing a site from scratch, where content and other countries are being targeted, then the folder-option and making use of the href tag, would be my first choice.

However, that's not the case with the OP. Hence the sub domain recommendation.

Nothing is 100% guaranteed when it comes to SEO, and that's especially valid when, Google is involved.


Edit:
The OP doesn't mention the website. Hence without info like this, it's like asking... how long is a piece of string?

[ddm]

@ op.

Tell Google about your different language versions

Google supports several different methods for labeling language or region variants of a page, including hreflang annotations and sitemaps. Mark your pages appropriately.


To geotarget your site on Google:

• Page or site level: Use locale-specific URLs for your site or page.
• Page level: Use hreflang or sitemaps to tell Google which pages apply to which locations or languages.
• Site level: If your site has a generic top-level domain (for example, .com, .org, or .eu), specify your site's target locale using the International Targeting report. Don’t use this tool if your site targets more than a single country. For example, it would make sense to set the target as Canada for a site about restaurants in Montreal; it would not make sense to set the target as Canada if it also targets French speakers in France, Canada, and Mali.

https://support.google.com/webmaster...r/182192?hl=en

[branders11]

Thank you all for your feed back.

In regards to launching a subdomain for different regions, heres my issue.

As you said, Google would treat it as a completely different site which to a degree would mean your starting by scratch again launching entirely a new website.

But where is if i was to launch it like so /canada/ on the current domain, It would carry the weight of the huge amounts of content and optimisations which are already on the site giving it more weight moving forward in regards to the domain authority and other overall scores on the domain?

thanks

[Former Member 14]

Google would treat it as a completely different site which to a degree would mean your starting by scratch again launching entirely a new website.

But where is if i was to launch it like so /canada/ on the current domain, It would carry the weight of the huge amounts of content and optimisations which are already on the site giving it more weight moving forward in regards to the domain authority and other overall scores on the domain?

The Google link (ddm supplied) uses both suggestions.

You've been given the pros and cons (including risks). Which one do you use? That's your choice.