Canadian site ranking well in states
-
Hello, one of my clients has a site that ranks well in Google.com but is a Canadian company and therefore has a canadian address. They have not yet done any local optimization so if I was to add them to local directories, would that hurt their ranks in the states or anywhere else?
-
It's probably set in GWMT to the default geo targeting in USA.
FYI - I have have excellent success with .ca sites ranking in Canada. The competition is SO much less than in the USA. It takes very little work to get a .ca domain ranked in google.ca, but then again the traffic is just not there.
You say it is a Canadian company, but is it a local type business or is is global, do you ship to the US?
If you ship to the US you will find a lot more business there and ranking in Google.com in the US is much more beneficial. If you do ship to the US, then I would suggest not being obvious about the fact that you are a Canadian company or people will be more hesitant to purchase from you. But in reality a Canadian company can easily ship to the US unlike some further countries where shipping cost is much higher and time takes much longer. It all depends on your type of business.
-
Why would adding the site in local directories hurt the US ranking? Doesn't make sense to me unless you spammed the heck out of a few hundred Canadian directories.
An additional thought...some people believe that getting backlinks from dot ca's will benefit you more on G.ca than G.com. I don't know that anyone has tested it, but it makes sense to me.
-
Have you checked in Google Webmaster Tools where this site is set to target?
-
From what you say it seems you are talking of a canadian site that does not have .ca territorial extension.
In fact, that way, it would have been ranking for the Canadian Google and probably not so good for the .com/USA one.
And it seems that never the site, being probably, a generic domain (.com, .net...), has been geographically targeted toward Canada.
I say this because geotargeting seems an objective for your client.
If it is so, then optimizing the site with geotargeting signals (and saying to Google that your market is Canada), then there is a chance the rankings in google.com will start to be lost
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Knowledge Graph is ranking for Brand+Location keyword, but not for Brand name.
Hi, for my brand Knowledge Graph is ranking for Brand+Location keyword, but not for Brand name. Do anyone know why?
Image & Video Optimization | | danielax1 -
Can anyone recommend an Link building agency that has possibilities to publish article or infographics on very strong travel related sites?
We're looking for an Link building agency. We are looking for possibilities to publish article or infographics on very strong travel related sites.
Image & Video Optimization | | Aftle1984
Can anyone recommend reliable contacts?1 -
Changing / editing street view picture of premiss without drop in Google places ranking
Ive finally got a site quite high in the relevant Google places listings, after a year or so of trying. What ive noticed is that the auto generated street view image of the business is showing a row of garages round the back of the building, rather than the building entrance. Is there a way i can update the auto generated street view images of the business without risking the google places ranking / need to submit a move of address. Has any one had any experience with doing this in the past ?
Image & Video Optimization | | Sam-P0 -
Can i use base64 images (URI) for better SEO performance - faster site loading?
Hi, Do you think the use of image data URI is SEO friendly? I got 20 JPG icons on each site, but use too many HTTP requests. So can i use base64 (URI) images for my small icons? Thank you for answer!
Image & Video Optimization | | Termex0 -
Local listing sites - are they better than directories and is there a list?
Do you guys know of any local listing sites that are better quality than general directories that still give you a link back. I know a lot of them for local citations, but I'm wondering if there is a list somewhere of ones that include a link. Thanks.
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW0 -
[local seo] How to compete against e.g. yellowpages on Google Rank 1 - 4?
Hi Folks, How to compete against the big SEO-powered pages like Yellowpages in the SERPs? I mean, they have thousands of Rd -> Rd Links as well as super Page and Domain Authority. How has a let's say Dentist or Electrician a decent chance to compete against those? Does Google give credit to them because of the Content they have on their page? These yellowpages totally take the fun out of it for my clients. Answeres would really much appreciated. Thank you. For me it feels like Don Quijote.
Image & Video Optimization | | gooddy1 -
How much does a link from a YouTube video to a site affect its pagerank?
How much does a link from a YouTube video to a site affect its pagerank?
Image & Video Optimization | | JLAW0 -
Ranking Penalty in Google Places for Primary Cell Phone Number?
Say a business runs out of a home (so, technically, the address of the business has a land line). But the business owner works outdoors all day long and so really runs his business off his cell phone. Is it OK in Google Places to list the mobile phone as the primary contant number, and list the home phone as a secondary number? Or will Google penalize the business's ranking in local search results for using a cell number as the main number?
Image & Video Optimization | | keethgee0