I want to use a .net and host it in the UK - where I already have hosting but I want US targeted search results, will I have problems doing this, of course I also want Bing and Yahoo to do the same thing so webmaster tools wont be a solution.
topr8
11:18 pm on Feb 11, 2011 (gmt 0)
hasn't Bing got its own version of webmastertools?
rainborick
4:45 pm on Feb 12, 2011 (gmt 0)
For generic TLDs like a .com or a .net, the major search engines assign geo-location using the location of the server that hosts the site, based on its IP address. So, if you have a .net domain hosted in the UK, the search engines will consider it to be located in the UK and you'll face an uphill battle in ranking in the US. You may be able to influence this a bit by getting links from US-based websites, but the influence seems small to me, and it will vary in effectiveness among the search engines. On the whole, I think it would be well worth whatever expense and bother it may require to have this site hosted in the US.
