UK site, UK hosted, ranks better in Google Hong Kong

[lee_sufc]

Evening all!

Haven't posted for a while (which usually means things are going well for me). However, today, I noticed something very strange.

Basically, my site is UK hosted, with UK geo set in GWT, primarily linked to / from UK sites etc., however, it ranks poorly for my primary keywords in Google UK, but brilliantly in Google.HK ?

Anyone here know why this could be?

[rainborick]

There are several possible reasons why you rank well in HK, but if your target is the UK, it really doesn't matter. The issue is your poor rankings in the UK. You've got the geo-location issues covered, so concentrate on the other factors.

[HuskyPup]

Anyone here know why this could be?

Because the G.co.uk SERPS has been a mess for ages in many sectors. Whomsoever is doing the switch flicking or the knob turning hasn't a clue.

I've recently changed a couple of UK registered and hosted .coms into .co.uks and they now seem to be doing much better than they were.

The UK is definitely targetted by many non-UK sellers using lots of nefarious tactics that G seems incapable of catching.

[Kenneth2]

My speculation is you may have a lot more social fans or likes from Hong Kong than in UK this is why your site is ranked well on HK but not UK.

One of the worst solutions : Burn a few grands on Adword or facebook ads, get your social likes and rank well on UK again. Oh Yes!

[johnhh]

see my post over in Google Updates and SERP Changes - Mar 2012

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