Website won't rank in home country (but does in others).
-
I have a bit of an odd scenario for you.
I'm working with a content marketing company based in Sydney, AU**.** Oddly, this web property ranks for almost 4x as many keywordsin the US than the AU. (See attached). It also ranks much more favorably for target keywords in NZ.
This is despite having an AU ccTLD, proper geolocation targeting in GSC, and Google My Business and other NAP citations pointing towards an AU address.
To add to this geo-targeting issue, the site has absolutely bombed in search visibility over the past year. We are talking more than halving our search exposure.
**What's been done: **
- Sitemap created and submitted.
- All versions of GSC created and verified.
- New site structure for top level landing pages.
- Redirects okay.
- Internal link structure okay.
- Robots.txt and other indexing issues fine.
- Google My Business fixed (Incorrect NAP previously).
- No duped content.
- No known penalties
- Site crawl - no major issues.
- html lang changed from "en-US" to "en-AU".
- Reduced load speed by over 100%.
- Fixed an issue with Yoast creating duped pages for media files (same title tags on orphaned pages).
- Currently auditing and working through citations.
- Removed .js banner causing indexing issues.
- Removed a sitewide footer link from an external site, sending 20k inbound links w/same anchor.
- http --> https redirects okay.
- Title tags structured properly, and targeting well-researched KWs.
**Despite these necessary corrections, I haven't seen a blip of life. **
TL;DR,
- Poor visibility in general, especially over the past year.
- More favorable rankings in foreign search (not AU).
- Stumped!
-
It's quite puzzling when a website fails to rank well in its home country but performs better in other regions. To address this, start by analyzing your website's SEO strategy, ensuring it's optimized for local keywords, backlinks from domestic sources, and relevant content for your target audience in your home country. Consider consulting with SEO experts familiar with your region's search trends and algorithms to fine-tune your approach and improve your website's visibility where it matters most. I am also working on a website named capcutgeeks.
-
@effectdigital said in Website won't rank in home country (but does in others).:
https://d.pr/i/ddx8Jt.png (Ahrefs screenshot)
Certainly seems like a possibility but would need a lot more work to prove. Basically download all backlinks for the site from all sources (SEOSpyGlass, Moz, Ahrefs, Majestic SEO etc) and then re-crawl to see which ones are live. Split them by origin country, then put metrics (Page Authority, Citation Flow, Trust Flow etc) against all the links and see what 'region' most of the 'authority' (not the link count, the sum of SEO auth) is coming from
That's what I'd do nextYes, this is an interesting question. Indeed, it is possible that the volume and quality of links from Australia are smaller or smaller than incoming signals from other regions. This could explain why sites from Australia tend to rank lower in search engines.
To prove this, you will need to collect data on all backlinks to sites from Australia. You can do this by using various SEO tools such as SEOSpyGlass, Moz, Ahrefs and Majestic SEO. Once you've collected the data, you'll need to analyze it to determine which links are active and have the most authority.
-
There are several reasons why a website may not be ranking well in its home country. These include:
-
Competition: One of the main reasons for low ranking could be high competition within the same industry or niche. If there are already established websites that have been around for a long time, it can be difficult for newer websites to compete and rank well.
-
Poor SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for website ranking. If a website is not optimized properly, it will have difficulty ranking high on search engines. This includes factors like keyword usage, content quality, and backlinks.
Technical issues: Technical issues such as slow page loading speed, broken links, and duplicate content can also negatively impact a website's ranking. -
Lack of local relevance: Search engines often prioritize locally relevant content. If a website does not have enough local relevance, it may struggle to rank well in its home country.
Inconsistent or incorrect information: If the information on a website is inconsistent or incorrect, search engines may have difficulty understanding and ranking the site properly. -
No social media presence: Social media can also play a role in website ranking. Without a strong presence on social media, a website may struggle to gain traction and rank well.
Lack of mobile optimization: With the increasing use of mobile devices for internet browsing, websites that are not optimized for mobile may have difficulty ranking well. -
Limited or poor quality content: Content is king when it comes to website ranking. If a website has limited or poor quality content, it will not be able to rank well on search engines.
Penalization by search engine: In some cases, a website may have been penalized by a search engine for violating its guidelines. This can significantly impact its ranking and even lead to being removed from search results entirely.
In order to improve website ranking in its home country, it is important to address these issues and make necessary improvements. This may include enhancing the website's SEO, fixing technical issues, creating locally relevant content, and building a strong social media presence. Regularly monitoring and analyzing website traffic and performance can also help identify areas for improvement and track progress. By addressing these factors, a website can increase its chances of ranking well in its home country and reaching a wider audience.
-
-
There are several reasons why a website may not be ranking well in its home country. These include:
Competition: One of the main reasons for low ranking could be high competition within the same industry or niche. If there are already established websites that have been around for a long time, it can be difficult for newer websites to compete and rank well.
Poor SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for website ranking. If a website is not optimized properly, it will have difficulty ranking high on search engines. This includes factors like keyword usage, content quality, and backlinks.
Technical issues: Technical issues such as slow page loading speed, broken links, and duplicate content can also negatively impact a website's ranking.Lack of local relevance: Search engines often prioritize locally relevant content. If a website does not have enough local relevance, it may struggle to rank well in its home country.
Inconsistent or incorrect information: If the information on a website is inconsistent or incorrect, search engines may have difficulty understanding and ranking the site properly.No social media presence: Social media can also play a role in website ranking. Without a strong presence on social media, a website may struggle to gain traction and rank well.
Lack of mobile optimization: With the increasing use of mobile devices for internet browsing, websites that are not optimized for mobile may have difficulty ranking well.Limited or poor quality content: Content is king when it comes to website ranking. If a website has limited or poor quality content, it will not be able to rank well on search engines.
Penalization by search engine: In some cases, a website may have been penalized by a search engine for violating its guidelines. This can significantly impact its ranking and even lead to being removed from search results entirely.
In order to improve website ranking in its home country, it is important to address these issues and make necessary improvements. This may include enhancing the website's SEO, fixing technical issues, creating locally relevant content, and building a strong social media presence. Regularly monitoring and analyzing website traffic and performance can also help identify areas for improvement and track progress. By addressing these factors, a website can increase its chances of ranking well in its home country and reaching a wider audience.
-
If you're frustrated with your website's inability to rank in your home country, don't panic! There are steps you can take to improve your website's visibility and gain traction in your local market. Even though Aus is good country to rank. First, evaluate your website's content and ensure that it aligns with local search terms and language preferences. Next, leverage the power of local SEO techniques and create local listings to improve your visibility on search engines. Additionally, consider partnering with local influencers and businesses, as this can increase your credibility and authority within the community. With some effort and persistence, your website can make its mark in your home country, just like it has in others. My gaming website is not rank I emplement all thing that you do.
-
If your website is ranking well in other countries but not in its home country, there could be several factors at play. Here are some common reasons why this might happen:
-
Content Relevance: The content on your website might not be optimized for the specific keywords or topics that are relevant in your home country. Ensure that your content is tailored to the language, culture, and preferences of your local audience.
-
Local Competition: The competition for specific keywords and phrases in your home country might be more intense than in other countries. Analyze your competitors' websites and strategies to understand how you can differentiate your website and content.
-
Local Search Trends: Search behavior can vary between countries. What is popular in one country might not be as relevant in another. Research local search trends and adapt your content to match what your home country's audience is searching for.
-
Technical Issues: Technical issues on your website, such as slow loading times, broken links, or poor mobile optimization, can negatively affect your rankings. Make sure your website is technically sound and user-friendly.
-
Backlink Profile: The quality and quantity of backlinks from websites in your home country can influence your rankings. If your backlink profile is stronger in other countries, it might be worth focusing on building high-quality local backlinks.
-
Local Citations: Citations (mentions of your business name, address, and phone number) from local directories and websites can improve your local SEO. Make sure your business information is consistent and accurate across these platforms.
-
Google My Business (GMB) Profile: Having a well-optimized Google My Business profile is crucial for local rankings. Ensure that your GMB listing is complete and regularly updated with accurate information, photos, and reviews.
-
Language and Cultural Relevance: If your website's content is not culturally relevant or accurately translated, it might not resonate with the local audience. Make sure your content is culturally sensitive and aligned with the language and preferences of your home country.
-
Server Location: The physical location of your website's server can affect its local search rankings. If your website is hosted on servers located outside your home country, it might impact its local visibility.
-
Algorithm Differences: Search engines might have different algorithms and ranking factors for different countries. What works well in one country might not work as effectively in another. Study the local search engine's guidelines and best practices.
To address this issue, consider taking the following steps:
-
Keyword Research: Conduct thorough keyword research for your home country and optimize your content accordingly.
-
Local SEO Optimization: Focus on local SEO techniques such as optimizing for local keywords, creating location-specific landing pages, and getting listed in local directories.
-
Quality Content: Create high-quality, relevant, and engaging content that addresses the needs of your local audience.
-
Backlink Building: Build authoritative and relevant backlinks from websites in your home country.
-
Technical Audit: Conduct a technical audit of your website to identify and fix any issues that might be affecting your rankings.
-
Local Engagement: Engage with local online communities, forums, and social media platforms to increase your website's local visibility.
-
Google My Business Optimization: Optimize your Google My Business profile to ensure it is accurate and up-to-date.
-
Monitor and Adjust: Continuously monitor your rankings and traffic, and be prepared to adjust your strategies based on the results you see.
Remember that SEO is an ongoing process, and it might take time to see significant improvements in your rankings. Patience and consistent efforts are key to achieving success in SEO, especially when addressing challenges related to local rankings.
Warm Regards
Rahul Gupta
www.suviditacademy.com -
-
Has the website previously experienced positive rankings and substantial traffic in Australia? Is there a specific point in time when this situation started to decline, or has the gaming website consistently faced challenges in this region? Your insights into the historical performance of the website in the Australian market would be valuable in understanding its trajectory.
-
Still, after so many times, this problem happens with every home website. I have tried many methods of SEO to rank like Onpage and LInk building but face the problem.
-
Am still following this by the way, seems to be quite the mystery!
-
That only goes back to 2017, any data before then? Is there any information before the 2017 changes? I doubt they tracked it, but here is to hoping.
I truthfully don't like the average position metric site-wide, at least for my business. It doesn't tell a complete story. What does the average rank look like over time for 1) the homepage and 2) a product page like https://www.castleford.com.au/amplify/social-media/
Also, I tried to find blog/article content and came across a 404. Resources >> Content Marketing Library >> Under Ads "Read 25 tips for better Google Ads campaigns."
https://www.castleford.com.au/whitepaper-adwords-campaign-download - broken
Are there articles still?
-
No they never performed all that well. Here's a chart of the avg. keyword position and impressions for AU-based searches over the past 16 months.
Strangely, here's the average keyword position for NZ-based searches (where we don't target at all).
-
Did they ever see good rankings and traffic in Australia? Do you have a date that things went south or has it always been like this?
-
They changed the blog URL pattern, and changed to secure in around November of 2017.
-
When did you change the URLs on your site? A crawl is showing some older URLs so I'm curious.
-
Woo, thanks for the help!
We have not changed the domain, except for switching over to a secure site in November of 2017. The footer link was removed about 30 days ago.
-
Huh. Okay, we are going to figure this out.
Did you change the domain recently? Within the last year? When was that footer link removed?
-
I took a deeper look. This doesn't seem to be the issue. My competitors have similar inbound link profiles by region origination. Scratch that one off the list!
-
- Demand in AU for the targeted terms is sufficient (I'm really only targeting the AU) - the demand is definitely there. See image.
- Competition - as shown above, the terms I'm targeting have an average difficulty of 21, our DA is a 42. In looking at the domains ranking for each target term, we should have zero problem ranking in the top 5 for each.
- **Local Pack - **We now rank in the local packs. There is a significant amount of competition for our HQ in Sydney. Lots of content marketing agencies in the same area, and ranking in the local pack and maps.
- **Technical - **I'm 99.9% sure this is technical problem rather than a competition or demand problem. I just can figure out what it is.
Correct, this content does not exist on any other domain.
-
Huh. Let me be clear, this seems odd. Here are some questions to see if we can narrow a few things down.
1. What's the demand like for these terms US vs AU vs NZ? Do you have a set list to compare the three countries?
2. What is the competition in each country? About the same or are there new players in each one?
3. What are the local packs in each country for each term? Strong, weak, or non-existent?
I'm trying to get down to if this is a competition and market problem or a technical problem bc it sounds okay technically.
And to be 100% clear, none of your content exists on another domain right?
-
That's good thinking. I took a cursory look in AHREFs and found the inbound links to be fairly similar in origin to local competitors, but I didn't really evaluate them as thoroughly as this. Thank you!
-
That's interesting, makes me wonder if it's the volume and quality of links from AU being smaller or lesser than inbound signals from other regions
- https://d.pr/i/ddx8Jt.png (Ahrefs screenshot)
Certainly seems like a possibility but would need a lot more work to prove. Basically download all backlinks for the site from all sources (SEOSpyGlass, Moz, Ahrefs, Majestic SEO etc) and then re-crawl to see which ones are live. Split them by origin country, then put metrics (Page Authority, Citation Flow, Trust Flow etc) against all the links and see what 'region' most of the 'authority' (not the link count, the sum of SEO auth) is coming from
That's what I'd do next
-
I don't think that would be the problem because we are only targeting the AU and English language, so we never set up any regional redirects (there would be nothing different to redirect to). We only use the ccTLD '.com.au'
-
If you have regional redirects in place which are snatching up first time users and pushing them to their own regional page(s) or sub-site(s), those can interfere with Google's crawling which in turn affects rankings and indexation.
I answered a slightly different (yet highly similar) question here: https://moz.com/community/q/branded-product-dropping-from-1st-position-why#reply_392487 - so this answer might help you too!
Basically Google was crawling their site from the wrong data centre and then their bot was being bounced away, stopping a certain page from indexing very well. Google were even caching a page from one language, as the same page from another language :')
Could be that you need to exempt user-agent GoogleBot from your regional redirects. It's been floating around as an issue for a few people lately so... may be worth checking?
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
-
GMB Account Fallen Off Rankings in past 24 hours
My map pack presence has fallen off the face of the earth over the last 24 hours. My location The Escape Game Chicago was top 3 yesterday for 'escape room chicago' and now they only show up when searching for the exact brand name. What's weirder is I still rank #1 organically for that keyword.I have looked through the account, nothing seems to be totally amiss. Google has not notified me of any issues or penalties. I have no clue what happened.Can anyone point me in the right direction or provide some insight as to how I can recover my ranking?
Local Listings | | danieldaher0 -
Can't get past the 15th page of Google SERPs
I've been doing Local SEO for 9 years and have never had an issue that frustrated me as much as this one. I have a client who I can't get past the 15th page of Google's SERPS for their #1 KW. Here are the details: The domain is 4 months old In that 4 month span the site has gone from a DA 1 to a DA 24 Spam score is a 0. I know this doesn't mean a ton but I can tell you from closely reviewing their AHrefs report, there's no influx of spammy links or anything like that. The design is a custom wordpress design The content is 100% unique and professionally written content The backlink profile (in my opinion) is full of high DA and PA sites from authority sites with high trust flow ... in my opinion their backlinks are superior to all but maybe a handful of competitors. I was not expecting 1st page results by now but I would have expected top 50 results a the very least. But to not crack the top 15 tells me there's some major issue here. I really need some insight as to what could be holding me back here ... I don't want to share the domain publicly but but I will PM you it if you're interested in taking a crack at it. I will seriously pay someone a small fortune if they can help me figure this out.
Local Listings | | BrianJGomez0 -
Top Local Organic Rankings, But Nowhere to be found on Google Snack Pack
I've been working with a local gym for a while now. We successfully got the gym to beat out all its competitor and now it consistently ranks in the 3rd or 4th result for all major local industry keywords. For example "gym in [city]". The only thing above us is Yelp and other directory sites. The problem I am running into is we do well organically, but when it comes to Google Snack Pack we aren't in the top three or even 10. You have to go deep into the next pages of the map to find our business. I did find that we use to be categorized as health club in Google My Business, but I changed that three months ago. Some more additional info, the site when I got the account moved to a different url. So many directories and sites that linked to us in the past link to the old url. The old url is 301 redirected to our current url. I haven't found much info about this topic and am looking for any experience or insight?
Local Listings | | JasonKhoo0 -
What's the 20/80 rule in local SEO as it relates to health care organizations
Hello all, I'm in charge of local SEO for a health care system that covers the entire state of Nebraska, with dozens of clinics all over the state, but mainly Omaha and Lincoln. I'm trying to build a cohesive local strategy for our organization, and a big part of that is figuring out what are the 20% of the actions I could take that will get me 80% of the benefit. Based on your experience as a local SEO specialist or ideally someone who does local SEO in a health care setting, what are the key things I should focus on? I'm not new to local SEO (just new to health care). My guess would be to focus in on getting a good local page on our website for every clinic/location etc., and getting a good Google Page listing for each one as well. But I figured I'd seek out advice on this before I plunge ahead.
Local Listings | | Patrick_at_Nebraska_Medicine1 -
Local Search and Schema.org - Do I need to tag up the "same as" Property to all my citations to help with local rankings?
Hi All, We have implemented Schema.og on our website and this also includes the local business schema for all of our branches.However I've read an article (see below ) which says we should also be doing "same as " property and linking this to ALL of our citations such as google plus page , yelp , bing places, city search etc etc as this will help with citations. I am wondering if anyone has done this ? - And if so , has this helped with local rankings etc - I don't really want to invest the extra costs to get this done if I can't find anywhere that says its made a difference - The article from whitespark - says - "when you create new citations for your business (or for your client’s), it’s a waiting game hoping that Google and the other search engines will find your new citations quickly and make the connection between those listings, the business, and the website. The “sameAs” property can help make that process much quicker _and _easier. Schema.org explains that the “sameAs” property is used along with the “URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item's [or business’] identity.” By using the “sameAs” property in your NAP schema markup, you can tell search engines that the business you’ve marked up is the same one found at a certain citation URL Of course, Google+ isn’t the only important citation source. There’s also Bing Places, Facebook, Yelp, Citysearch and a few others. The nice thing about many schema.org properties is that you can use them multiple times in your markup." I am wondering what peoples thoughts were and whether they has implemented this and if so , did it help ? thanks Pete | [sameAs](http://schema.org/sameAs) | URL | URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity. E.g. the URL of the item's Wikipedia page, Freebase page, or official website. |
Local Listings | | PeteC121 -
Ranking Not Getting Up
Hello Every one, I have redesigned My website But still i am not able to make may ranking up, Alll going still down , It is Very Good in Yahoo & bing , but in google not getting good rankings.. Did i make any mistake in On page ? My Domain is : http://goo.gl/J6vndh. I Am Not Able to understand Where site is having,, ? please help to make my Ranking Up Any One can help?
Local Listings | | bhavita0 -
Problems ranking in St Louis
Hello everybody We have noticed that when tracking several keywords across the United States, the keywords in St. Louis are almost always ranked the lowest. We rank on the first page for 46/47 locations for several keywords, but St. Louis ranks on page 4 or later. Any ideas? One thought we've had is the different spelling of the city name, St Louis, St. Louis, Saint Louis. Should this have any bearing on the problem? Thanks in advance, I look forward to any insight you can provide!
Local Listings | | PM_Academy0 -
Does submitting Citations for National website help much at all?
Curious if submitting a national website info to the top citations is helpful at all when ranking a national website?
Local Listings | | surfsup0