Choosing the best domain according to keyword targeting

[seo99]

Hi

Is it better to target a same GEO targeted TLD domain if my targeted search keywords contains the territory/geographic term but a different targeted territory/location. For example:

Targeted Location: Australia(Google.com.au)
Targeted Keyword: Web Design India

So, is it better to target .com.au domain (Australia hosted) or .co.in domain (India hosted) or vice-versa. Because the keyword contains india, so would google give advantage to a .co.in domain or .com.au domain because of the location target.

Also in the webmaster tool, would it be better to set targeted location "India" or "Australia"?

[tedster]

Let's take those in reverse order. If you have a country code TLD, then you do not have the option in Webmaster Tools to target a different country. So .com.au is stuck with Australia, and .co.in is stuck with India.

I think that answers your first question, too. Even if you have "location" in the page title and in all the usual spots, a .com.au domain will have a tough time ranking outside Australia.

[seo99]

Thanks for your response tedster, so its better to use .com.au domain targeted Australia even if the targeted keywords contain "India".

But when I search "web design india" in google.com.au, I don't see any .com.au domain in TOP 40:

[google.com.au...]

[Simsi]

Sidenote if it's relevant, some local domain charters are very strict. For example, I think to own a .com.au you have to be an Aussie registered business and if it's a commercial website, you have to offer highly targetted content relevant to the domain. The example they use is shoes.com.au. It's not acceptable to sell clothes even if you have a shoes category on that domain.

I looked into this and decided a .com would be a better bet, hosted in Aus and geo-targetted in WMT.

[seo99]

Did you mean it needs to be GEO targeted to Australia in WMT?

[Simsi]

Thats what I would do, yes.