UK Web Hosting

Search Engine Results

According to WebSideStory, Google has a 75% market share in the UK. As such, this is where any UK-based website should be focussing it's search engine marketing.

There are four ways Google recognises a website's location:

1. A '.uk' TLD (.co.uk, .ac.uk, etc)
2. Language and content
3. Inbound links (a website linked to by many UK-focussed sites will be generally be seen as UK-focussed)
4. Location of web hosting

Language can be a subjective issue. Not withstanding regional vernaculars, English is the primary language of countries in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Australia and many others.

It is also the recognised international language of business, so many websites whose origins are not a country whose primary language is English will be written in it.

Inbound links can also be tricky issue. Google's algorithms periodically evolve, as do inbound links, meaning there is no guarantee the search giant will reliably and consistently be able to ascertain location by inbound links alone.

Language and links are useful indicators used in the algorithm in absence of other data, but only the domain name TLD and host location are fail-safe ways for Google to recognise who the website is aimed at and return results in the relevant localised search results.

Sites hosted with a .uk domain extension should be eligible for localised search results. However, it's not always practical; 'dot co dot uk' is less brandable than 'dot com' (confused.co.uk just doesn't have the same ring to it). Sometimes the .co.uk may just not be available, and other times a more globally recognised TLD is required.

In short – if you have a non-UK domain TLD and want to be listed in google.co.uk's regional results, you need to host your website in the United Kingdom.

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