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
-
Adding Multiple Country Locations for Google Business Listings
Hi Moz community, I hope everyone is well. I would like to ask for your advice on how to show a Google Business listing in both the UK and US for our brand. I understand that you can add multiple locations to your Google listing under the 'Manage Locations' tab but I wasn't quite sure how it worked in practice. I have a couple of questions below: If we have 2 registered locations/offices (one in the UK and one in the US) are we able to create 2 separate locations that will show our business listing correctly in the right-hand margin when people search for our brand in the US and UK respectively? If so, when a user finds our business listing in the US, are we able to serve them our US website version when they click the 'Website' button, as opposed to showing them our UK website? Our US website has been created as a sub-directory from our main UK site and can be seen as: www.example.com/us/ I hope someone is able to help, and thank you in advance.
Local Listings | | Katarina-Borovska
Katarina0 -
Local Ranking with No Physical Address in New Service Area - How to Rank?
OK, SO, I am a wedding company in Maui, Hawaii and have an established business on one island with a physical address. http://simplemauiwedding.net We have started a new team in Oahu, Hawaii http://simpleoahuwedding.com and we provide service there and have a full team in place. How can I rank for Local Search on that Island with no physical address? I would love to hear some proven strategies. Thank you 🙂
Local Listings | | photoseo10 -
Our website ranks first in SERP but is not listed in google local list
Hi, Our website is currently (and has been) ranking 1st for a number of keywords but is not listed under the Google Local list. I have double check that all the (physical) info is correct. I do not have a duplicate page. When I order the Google Local results in rating order, we then appear on top! Has anyone come across such a situation and would you have tips on how to solve this issue? Thanks!
Local Listings | | GVZH1 -
Rank English Terms in Swiss Google Google.ch
Happy New Year! I have a .com site that does well on Google.co.uk. But we would like to rank on Google.ch (switzerland) for English terms. There is a large expat community, living in Switzerland that would benefit from our services. Any ideas how I can improve organic SEO on the Google.ch SE? Many thanks! PM me for website. Otherwise I'll get lots of spam to my client 🙂
Local Listings | | SolveWebMedia0 -
Don't Let Your Google My Business Dashboard Become Inactive
Google's Jade Wang has offered some important clarification on the scenario of set-and-forget Google My Business dashboards - Google could determine that they are inactive and un-verify the listings they contain. She writes, "In some cases, we may contact Google My Business users via email to confirm that they are still actively managing a business page. If a user is unresponsive to our attempts to contact him or her and has not logged into Google My Business for a significant length of time, then we may unverify pages in the account. We're doing this in order to continue to provide users with the best experience when they’re looking for local businesses like yours. If you find that a page in your account has been incorrectly unverified, please contact support to get assistance restoring verification. It's a good idea to keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Google My Business (Locations) account. It's also a good idea to regularly log into Google My Business (Locations) to confirm that your business information is current and accurate." Mike Blumenthal initially posted that it was necessary to perform a null edit (a tactic in which you view the edit screen of your Google+ Local listing and hit 'save' without making any changes), but Mike has since updated his post to clarify that a null edit isn't actually necessary. According to what Mike learned, you can simply log into the dashboard once every few months, or if you have to make real edits or you post on your page, that should provide an adequate signal to Google that the dashboard is still being actively managed. In the past, an agency with a limited contract with a local business could create the company's Google+ Local page and step away from it. Of course, it's the ideal that your clients are actively posting to their Google My Business page, if it's the right social strategy for them, but many clients don't do this. And so, they'll likely be getting an email from Google one of these days asking if they are still active. If that's the case, you may be hearing from past clients asking if the email is real and what they should do. Fortunately, they should be able to make the the quick visit to the dashboard without help. But for agencies with large numbers of long-term clients, this business of keeping track of how often you've logged into the clients' dashboards could be a bit of a hassle. Just one more task to add to the to-do list. Google has been going through some growing pains recently. With the lock-down of the editing function on Mapmaker and the further removal of Google+ links from more places, many Local SEOs and local business owners are wondering where Google is headed in the local space. To my mind, the fact that they are trying to police active vs. neglected listings is a bit of a sign the Google remains serious about delivering Local quality. And for all of us ... that's a good thing!
Local Listings | | MiriamEllis4 -
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 -
Any ranking success with Moz Local?
In the last three months, our Tampa office has gone from a listing score of 2% to 72% and is considerably higher than everyone else on the first page for Moz Local...but we are on the 13th page! We have not improved at all, even though our score has dramatically. I know that the listing is only a part of the local equation, but it just a little shocking to me we haven't moved up even one page. Anyone have any success with this tool that translated to increased rankings for local? If so, how long did it take you to see results? Thanks, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Google won't index my site?
Hi, I've just signed up and am new to SEO. I placed my site live around mid December 2013. Initially I got 2 pages indexed but now not even they show up for site:www.traditional-cleaning.co.uk. According the Moz analytics I have 3 pages with duplicate content which are: http://traditional-cleaning.co.uk/http://traditional-cleaning.co.uk/index.htmhttp://traditional-cleaning.co.ukProblem is I have no idea how to fix this, don't know whether Google isn't indexing my site because of this and generally am a bit stuck! Can anyone have a quick look at my site and give me a push in the right direction?
Local Listings | | EdwardoUK0