Why do the .co.uk serps still display american sites?

[adamnichols45]

I find this most annoying as they are diluting the serps for the uk searchers and thus making my websites rank lower.

what do you think about this?

[dertyfern]

Why would displaying non-UK sites matter? If a topic on a Canadian site is more relevant than a UK site it should out rank it.

[georgeek]

If a topic on a Canadian site is more relevant than a UK site it should out rank it.

It's not more relevant if you are searching for a UK supplier. What use is one in Canada?

This is presumably why Google have the radio button "pages from the UK" or "pages from Canada".

The question is a good one. What are the reasons that make Google believe a page is from the UK when it is in fact from somewhere else?

I can think of a few; TLD, IP address, content-language meta, DMOZ and Yahoo regional listings.

There must be others?

[dertyfern]

I suppose if you're looking for a product or service then, sure, a local page would be best in most instances.

However, many searches are not commerce related. If searching for "multivariate testing" where the server is located is irrelevant so long as its content is in the same language where the searcher resides.

[georgeek]

If searching for "multivariate testing" where the server is located is irrelevant so long as its content is in the same language where the searcher resides.

Maybe the server is irrelevant but that is not the question. If the user has activated the "pages from the UK / Canada / Germany etc." why show pages from elsewhere?

[dertyfern]

I think we're both making assumptions as to the "pages from" selection. Perhaps adamnichols45 should clarify his question.

I'm assuming that his question is asking why there is less exposure for UK sites when the general serps are displayed--meaning no user selection of "pages from".

[adamnichols45]

Indead dertyfern you assume right!

I was thinking "commerce" when I posted the question.

It just bugs me when im searching for uk based sites for a certain product in my field and I have american sites out-ranking mine.

[dertyfern]

I think that ultimately search engines are user-focused and thus they will serve up the "most relevant" serps, where ever in the world they may reside.

I know it's frustrating. I'm currently abroad and my rankings--that are great in the US--are horrible! I know that's the opposite problem you have, but you get the point.

[Quadrille]

That's why .co.uk has a "UK sites only" selector.

You don't really want a Google that ignores the rest of the world, surely?

UK sites already have advantages, if they utilize .co.uk, use local hosting and / or have local content.

[Lord Majestic]

It's possible that non-UK site has got a lot of backlinks from .UK domains.

[ZydoSEO]

Dammit Lord Majestic. That was exactly what I was thinking reading through the post... But who knows. I can guarantee you there is a reason and some kind of logic behind those pages showing up.

Another is that .COM is the most universal extension if you want a single site to do international business. Although most .com's are likely registered and operating out of the US, many do business elsewhere in the world.

My guess is if Google only displayed .co.uk sites, then people would be complaining because the SERPs would read "Results 1 - 10 of about 237 for random search term". How much fun would that be?