Ranking A .CO

[retired_member34]

So, I have a single page site on [companyname+service].co.uk that ranks number 2 for a crappy, almost never typed in geo+service term, and ranks number 1 for companyname+service, and has done for years.

As I am broadening the services offered I change the website onto companyname.co, register it under webmaster tools, specify that it is targetting the UK, 301 the old domain to the new, and install the same website.

Leave it a few weeks and what happens? It now ranks around page 5 or 6... jeez.

 

[accelerator]

Sorry to hear this ... how will you try and rectify it?

 

[retired_member34]

Sorry to hear this ... how will you try and rectify it?

No idea. Six months ago I would have chucked a juicy link or two at it, but now?

 

[accelerator]

No idea. Six months ago I would have chucked a juicy link or two at it, but now?

Try social network promotion, particularly Google+.

 

[Blossom]

How does it rank in google.com, out of interest? (and compared to before, if you know).

 

[retired_member34]

How does it rank in google.com, out of interest? (and compared to before, if you know).

First time I've tried that in a while, and G's obviously been changing things. Nearly all results were .co.uk, just a few international results. The site ranked slightly worse in comparison to google.co.uk.

No idea how it ranked on google.com before.

 

[bermuda]

Well, if you are still going to target those terms, that apparently you are not, then after doing the redirect, the old ranks will return back but it seems you have bigger other plans in mind and that's the main reason for the transition. Welcome the challenges because you site will act like a newly launched one, still demanding optimization and links, especially if there are sharp difference between the keywords targeted.

 

[retired_member34]

Well, if you are still going to target those terms, that apparently you are not, then after doing the redirect, the old ranks will return back but it seems you have bigger other plans in mind and that's the main reason for the transition. Welcome the challenges because you site will act like a newly launched one, still demanding optimization and links, especially if there are sharp difference between the keywords targeted.

I am still targetting those terms, the website is identical, the old domain is 301d to the new. The only differences are that the old site was on a domain [companyname+service].co.uk and the new is on [companyname].co.

Now 2 months later, it still does not rank. Conclusions (on a crappy sample size of 1)? Google does not like .co, geographically targeted or not.

 

[namealot]

How does it fair with different browsers opera, firefox, Internet Explorer, chrome etc also search engines bing yahoo google etc did'nt new launch site fall within the first major panda updates? have you changed host are you on dedicated or shared hosting. Its changed "keyword" from “company name service” to just "company name" might need some tweaks there ?You may have lost the supposed emd bonus changing to just companyname? Servers globally even nationally may not have all updated (alot of people say three months?) meaning some incoming links etc do not score yet, others may have been penalized in the updates also?

Is it targeting a specific geograhic location in the uk are you in it or if not do you have someone there ? Do you have someone in a different parts of the uk 2 -3 hundred miles away that can see how it fairs

 

[Admin]

re-opened thread

 

[retired_member34]

So I left the website on the .co for 6 months, see if a bit of age helped. It didn't, the exact same website that ranked top of page 1 for "geo+service" and "companyname+service" on a .co.uk languished on page 6 on a .co (with the .co.uk 301d to the .co)

As a test I then removed the 301, placed the exact same website back on the .co.uk, and within 48 hours the rankings were back.

These are totally uncompetitive search terms, it really shouldn't have been difficult to rank for them.

Last time I ever try to use a .co!

 

[dashu1]

So I left the website on the .co for 6 months, see if a bit of age helped. It didn't, the exact same website that ranked top of page 1 for "geo+service" and "companyname+service" on a .co.uk languished on page 6 on a .co (with the .co.uk 301d to the .co)

As a test I then removed the 301, placed the exact same website back on the .co.uk, and within 48 hours the rankings were back.

These are totally uncompetitive search terms, it really shouldn't have been difficult to rank for them.

Last time I ever try to use a .co!

I think what you've observed might be because the old domain had the company name and the service word in it.

I know there's a lot of huffing and puffing about EMDs, but if you read the patent what they are actually after with EMDs are to derank domains containing words that have "commercial intent" - i.e. you're likely to make money from it and they want their slice.

They actually look up the words in the domain against tables of words that are worth money.

If the company name + service is an uncomeptitive, non-commercial term (in terms of numbers of searches per month, etc), then the EMD (or rather domain containing the words) probably gave you a boost.

I've seen quite a lot of .co's on page 1 for a variety of results