US friendly version of domain

My domain name is a .co.uk and unfortunately the .com version is not available unless I was prepared to pay silly money for it :( My traffic is predominantly from the UK and it seems to me that assumptions about it being relevant to only UK based people are made by both the search engines and some partners that I have applied to promote.

That's not a problem for me at the moment but if I did want to better target people form the US and other non UK based countries would purchasing a .com domain similar to and possibly containing my brand name (e.g. thebettingtools.co.uk) and 301 redirecting work? Or would I have to upload content to the domain too?

Has anybody done something like this before?

Thanks!

Fresh Content would be best dedicated, or you could transfer your uk site to the .com and 301 it that way you dont have to start again, but risk of traffic loss might be a problem,

I would host the site on the .com and then 301 redirect each specific page from the .co.uk to its new location on the .com.
This would leave all content on the .com and simply redirects from the .co.uk, but no content on the .co.uk except the redirects.
I have done this with a few sites myself and it very quickly picks up the 301 redirects and ranks the new domain as it did the old domain. It will also solve the issue you have. Certainly I would agree that if you want to rank really well in the USA then using a .co.uk to do it is not the way forward.

And I see bettingtools.tips and .guru is available..

Thanks both. I think I'd be a bit nervous moving the content and 301 redirecting back but if that's the best way forward...

Anyone know how new domains such as .tips or .guru are treated by the search engines? Are they free from location bias and giving similar results to a .com?

why not keep it where it is and add a subdomian? like us.bettingtools.co.uk and target that at the yanks and do the same with whatever other countries you may wish to target

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why not keep it where it is and add a subdomian? like us.bettingtools.co.uk and target that at the yanks and do the same with whatever other countries you may wish to target

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I have considered this too actually but wasn't sure whether the co.uk would be a problem still and how well this would work versus a .com. Is this something you've done TBO?

I think the subdomain is a good idea for different locations, but I would do that on a .com domain. So have a .com domain and the use subdomains for say your usa and aussie etc sections. Obviously a .co.uk can rank in the USA but you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage. I am not guessing here as I have read around this subject in the past when moving my own sites to different domains and google states to use .co.uk for UK, they do not suggest that a .co.uk is good for general global use. Also if you are moving site then at least do it to a .com, why go to all the hassle for an extension that may not be factored as highly as a .com in the algorithm. I really don't believe all TLDs have a level playing field.

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Originally Posted by BettingTools

I have considered this too actually but wasn't sure whether the co.uk would be a problem still and how well this would work versus a .com. Is this something you've done TBO?

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nothing I've donr before so you will have to look to see if it would work

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I think the subdomain is a good idea for different locations, but I would do that on a .com domain. So have a .com domain and the use subdomains for say your usa and aussie etc sections. Obviously a .co.uk can rank in the USA but you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage. I am not guessing here as I have read around this subject in the past when moving my own sites to different domains and google states to use .co.uk for UK, they do not suggest that a .co.uk is good for general global use. Also if you are moving site then at least do it to a .com, why go to all the hassle for an extension that may not be factored as highly as a .com in the algorithm. I really don't believe all TLDs have a level playing field.

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Thanks, this was exactly my thinking too and what I suspect to be the case based on my reading around and current findings.

google treats the .co like .com according to Matt Cutts, but buying a new domain and starting it from scratch, link building and waiting for it to rank would be a real pain. Creating a subdomain on an already established site would be the way to go imo.

create a subdomain and let google know the country in code.

301 redirecting passes everything on to the new domain. You also tell google in webmaster tools. I have done this a few times. Starts ranking in your usual positions within a couple of weeks or less. I dont see a .co.uk ever doing too well in the usa. pushing water uphill.