It’s quite obvious that a website with a URL ending on .be focuses on a Belgian audience. Same applies to .uk for the UK. You want to break through this by using a .com or .org domain name? Don’t assume, because it’s the internet, that borders don’t matter. They do. For .com and .org websites, the country where your site is hosted counts.

Why does it matter?

With 40% to 80% of visitors coming through search engines, it matters a lot. The ultimate goal of a search engine is to provide search results that you find most interesting. Often you are looking for information in your language and from shops or companies near you.

For instance, Google will try to detect where you are and adjust the results accordingly. In the UK, websites ending on .uk will be treated favourably. Same goes for .be in Belgium.

What about .com or .org?

By default Google will look at the country where the website is hosted. If your target audience is based in Belgium, but your .com website is hosted in the US, you can try telling Google and Bing explicitly to consider your site to be Belgian.

Want to focus on more than one country?

Your best bet is to set up a site for every country. But be careful not to upset the search engines by redirecting sites or duplicating content too much. Break the rules and all your efforts may backfire as your site could be removed from search results entirely.

Further reading

• Google Webmaster Tools
• Bing Webmaster Center

Want to know more?

Content is still king. But many additional elements can improve exposure, while others simply can have your content removed from search engines. Get in touch if you have any questions on how your content is treated in your country, or how to improve your cross-border online communication.