Should an IP address in Canada affect my site?

[MissDot]

I switched to a dedicated server with a hosting company in Canada and so got an IP address located in Canada and them my stats went down in goggle.
I just realized my site show well ranked for some keywords only when the visitor is in Canada but the same keyword will not rank the same or at all in the US
Do i have to change to a host in the US?
Also i read on this site about checking to make sure an IP is not on a spam list how do I do that.

[bwnbwn]

I am pretty sure the ip change isn't the cause of the drop.

I have a question you need to answer.

1- how was the change of servers handeled.

what I mean did you research on the proper way to move your site or did you allow the hosting company to do it without telling them how you wanted it done..

This needs to be answered before anybody can tell you the cause of the drop...I don't believe it is ip address...

[MissDot]

Thanks bwnbwn
I did not research about moving servers.
I just made them move it, I had no idea, I had to research.
What exactly do I have to look for and do?
Thank you

[bwnbwn]

MissDot
This is called a self distruct move were you didn't tell Google or any of the bots you were moving your domain so they visit the last known home (IP address) and it is closed with no forwarding address so they take you out of the system.

this is like a store moving without leaving a new address in the window they can't find you now.

Some reading [google.com...]

How long has it been since you moved the site?

[MissDot]

I think i moved somewhere in March and that is when i saw a huge drop in goggle and I have not been able to pick up again

[edited by: MissDot at 3:48 pm (utc) on Oct. 26, 2007]

[Philosopher]

You should definitely have picked up by now if it was just a DNS issue.

You also may be somewhat accurate about the IP. Google is definitely doing more localization of searches based on where the site is located and where the searcher is.

It usually is the opposite of your issue though with the .com version of Google being the free-for-all, and the country specific versions being harder to rank in without a site local to that country.

From what I have seen, Google usually uses the sites IP, any country specific TLD, and possibly even nameservers to decide the location of the site.

You said, your site ranks well for those in canada, was that on the main .com version or the google.ca version?

[bwnbwn]

Philosopher
I have been on a Ca based server going on now 5 years and I still rank better in the google.com than the google.ca

I have some 1# terms on the .com and in .ca I am 3-4 place or not there at all.

In my meta tags I put the country I am in so this may be why I am doing better in the .com and not the .ca

<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">

put this in you meta tags maybe it might help get the site back in the correct country.

[Philosopher]

Yeah, it's definitely not a given.

With your domain, there could be lots of possibilities. While the site is on a CA server, does a geolocation lookup of the IP show in CA? Does a tracert lookup show the hops ending in ca? What about the nameservers...in CA?

It also could be a combination of factors in your (and her) case (or just because of the meta tag, but I doubt it's only due to that).

It may be something else entirely, but I've seen some quirky things due to localization and geolocation over the past couple of years.

[MissDot]

I rank well in the goggle ca but not so well in the general google.com

[Philosopher]

and prior to the move you did rank well in google.com?

was anything else done to the site except for the move?

I'm betting it is because of the hosting issue.

Here's an older thread about someone else having the same issue.

[webmasterworld.com...]

here's another with some confirmation from one of the google techs on this issue as well.

[webmasterworld.com...]

[edited by: Philosopher at 4:55 pm (utc) on Oct. 26, 2007]

[bwnbwn]

Philosopher
yes Ip location Ontario Canada.

[dickbaker]

So, it's the IP and not the physical location of the server that affects rankings?

The reason I ask is that my newest site is hosted on a server in the US, but the hosting company is using an IP that was part of a bunch of IP's purchased from Canada.

If I go to google.ca and search for widget dealers in a particular US state, my site is #18. If I go to google.com and search for the same term, my site is anywhere from #50 to #80.

Since my niche is very competitive, I need every advantage I can get, and don't need any disadvantages.

[MissDot]

Okay now i have great news,
my google PR now dropped one point,
on most datacenters it has dropped but not changed only on 2 meaning those 2 are yet to catch up.
DO I really need to change hosts, because this is frustrating

[The Contractor]

So, it's the IP and not the physical location of the server that affects rankings?

It is the registered "purchasers" address for the IP which makes the difference. Meaning if you look up the IP and it is owned by someone residing in Canada (your hosting company) - it is a Canadian IP, regardless of where the servers reside/datacenter location. Those that visual tracert to an IP location (datacenter) - this has nothing to do with it. If the datacenter is in Canada, but the IPs are registered to someone in the USA - your site will not come up in google.ca with "pages from Canada" selected.

If it is indeed a Canadian IP when you search on google.ca with "pages from Canada" selected you should find your site and it should rank much higher than the same search term in google.com (less comp).

[edited by: The_Contractor at 11:43 am (utc) on Oct. 28, 2007]

[The Contractor]

Okay now i have great news,
my google PR now dropped one point,

Along with most everyone else [webmasterworld.com].

[dickbaker]

The Contractor, I looked up the IP, and it's definitely Canadian. However, the DNS is US, and the server is US.

Since my site is new, and Google is finally starting to do some good things with it (like increase its pagerank), I don't want to damage my progress. Would switching IP's do that?

By the way, I rank much higher on Google.ca than on .com for the terms I'm ranking for now.

[The Contractor]

I don't want to damage my progress. Would switching IP's do that?

I would leave things alone and concentrate on building out the site. I have never found that you rank lower on google.com because your IP is based in Canada and the Canadian traffic can only help unless you are doing ecom and you do not sell/ship to Canada...

[edited by: The_Contractor at 7:21 pm (utc) on Oct. 29, 2007]

[dickbaker]

The Contractor, my site is focused on the US market.

Maybe it's a question of my site ranking better on Google.ca because of less competition for keywords.

[The Contractor]

Maybe it's a question of my site ranking better on Google.ca because of less competition for keywords.

Yep, I do the same ;)

[bwnbwn]

MisDot didn't know if you have seen this or not but if you don't have a webmasters account in Google I would get one you can now set the perferred country and or area you want to target.
[webmasterworld.com...]

This should keep you from having to move again as moving the site again isn't a good thing to do too anyway.