So how do I now do a little bit of firefighting to try and get my site listed in the uk only part? I'm UK based and would expect a few export sales, but the UK has a much more developed market for the specific industry i'm selling in.
I'm going to advertise in the only 3 magazines which service this market and so could hope that brand recognition means people will guess that my domain is mycompanyname.com, but I still don't want to cut out potential customers, especially as I suspect the majority won't be expert users.
You should simply switch the redirect so that .com redirects to .co.uk - that way whatever anyone uses they will end up at the site, and you will also be able to appear in uk-specific search engine results. If the site is new, now would be the time to make the change, otherwise it may need a a little more consideration.
my host has excellent support and fantastic uptime and a very reasonable price, so as it ain't broke i really don't want to have to try and fix it.
I have a number of sites hosted in the US (so cheap at the moment!) that have .co.uk as the primary domain and the .com version set with a redirect. It works just fine with all major engines, they recognise it as a UK site. Also, I suspect that a listing in the UK regional branch of ODP will help with this identification. Good luck with the switch.
my host made the switch yesterday so fingers crossed that when i finally appear in google it'll be in the uk version too. i already submitted myself to the ODP but can't remember if I put myself in a country specific part. If I'm not under UK it is easy to get yourself moved? I presume if I resubmit myself that would be very much frowned on.
I have the .co.uk and the .com (to stop poachers) but had thought it might seem more professional and global to have my main domain as .com and the .co.uk just pointing to the .com...
Just make them mirror domains and stop worry.
Not the best idea. Why risk getting a penalty? Google will ignore this but Inktomi won't. Go for the re-direct.
