ranking different TLD's

[rich_bell20]

Hi,

Two quick questions here from a relative beginner.
I understand that you are able to geo target .com's and .net's for google UK search engine. Does google prefer a particular tld? e.g. would google give preference to a .co.uk over a geo targetted .com or .net even or do they all carry the same weight?


2nd question.

I've always been under the impression that google search results for around 5x that of overture. I've been hunting for a better keyword research tool than overture as of late due to the amount of bloody time outs! Upon browsing the forums i came across a post recommending keywordcountry. Keyword country rightly points out that my keyword has 61,000 overture searches a month, yet shows the google search results as 32,000??

Any help appreciated,

thanks,

Richard.

[gabs]

no1 .. .co.uk for the uk is best.. You can use webwaster tools and select a region now which is good.. Hosting is important to .. a UK ip with a co.uk will give you a bonus in the uk serps.. Simple as that..

no2 .. Keyword tools are great BUT in my experience the k/w that arn't "highly rated" in those tools are far cheaper and return higher no of clicks and great ROI..

wordtracker is good.. But remeber lots of people use these tools and the long tail can be a far better approach..

[rich_bell20]

cheers for the info. The reason i asked about the tlds was that the keyword im after is only available in .net. .co.uk will be a ridiculous price but i doubt it will ever get turned into a full site so i wont have to worry about the .co.uk outranking me. The other main competition, the .com is already targetted at the usa, so i'm left with the .net. But a keyword domain .net geo targetted to the uk will stand a good chance of ranking, correct?

cheers.

[gabs]

Its will be fine but your just have to work a little harder..

Ensure the site is on google map/local.. Ensure the contact page has a UK address with UK on it..

Baiscally give google all the signals you can to say "i'm from the UK" ..

Links too.. links from uk site help more in uk serps.. the logic is simple..

Hope that helps..