Forum Moderators: phranque
If a site redirects from the homepage of a site to a specific page within that site, could this have any negative effects on the sites Google listings?
This site targets visitors from outside Ireland, but also has a partner sites that target visitors from within Ireland. In the case of visitors to their site, they want to set up a redirect for visitors from Ireland to their partner site. Where visitors to their partner site are from outside of the Ireland they want to redirect them to their site. Will this have a negative impact on their Google rankings? If the Google robot (hosted probably outside Ireland) visits the site will it automatically redirect to the other site, thus destroying the visibility for the site being redirected from.
I don't suppose that there is any way that a site can be prevented from appearing on a particular google regional engine?
Thanks for your help.
Since your question deals ranking issues and with Google specifically, I'd recommend you post it to the Google forum.
> destroying the visibility for the site being redirected from.
Yes, but...
I wouldn't use the word "destroying" because the server's HTTP redirect response protocol is doing what it is intended to do -- telling the user-agent (robot in this case) that the content has been moved. Since that does not "fit" with your goals, another method is called for.
If this were my project, I'd spend time optimizing each regional version of the site for that site's targeted locale and language. Then I'd create subdomains and/or subdirectories for each region, and "suggest" content from each subdomain depending on the user's HTTP_ACCEPT language settings -- NOT their IP. Basically, detect the visitor's language preferences and dynamically include prominent links targeted to those preferences. I'd also provide a direct and easy method for the user to change to a different regional version by clicking a link, and then save that setting in a cookie on their machine. Even if they have a misconfigured Accept_Langauge setting and don't accept cookies, they still have the option to change regions and languages at will.
Generally, auto-selecting of regional sites can be very annoying to people -- say an Irishman working in Japan. He may not want to see the Japanese version of the site, and it would annoy him to have it forced upon him just because he's coming in on a Japanese IP.
A "manual" override is necessary even with the language settings. That hypothetical user would get the .ie site using his own computer set to en-ie language preference, but would get the .jp version if he borrowed a computer or used one at a local internet cafe. So a manual override is always a good thing.
The bottom line is "Let the visitor choose."
The idea is to have all the regional pages indexed on their own, and not try to fool or specfically redirect users or search engines. Try to take advantage of the natural difference in regional search keywords to rank one above the other in specific regions.
The search engines will do what they want to do with respect to listing and ranking regional sites; there's not much we can do about it, and you might as well take a step back and play to their game rather than trying to force the issue.
Your question touches on a deep subject. I found quite a bit of useful material in the top ten results doing an unquoted search for "http accept language en-gb". Examples can be had by examining how some of the global players like Google, Yahoo, and others set up their own locale-based sites. Take a look at some major EU sites as well; they have to deal with all sorts of locale issues and are probably even better at it.
Just some thoughts from a technical guy... Again, you'll probably get better answers posting specific questions in specific forums here.
Jim
