Finally, you’ve decided to take your business online. The first step is to get a domain name for your online presence, which the technical experts call a URL or Universal Resource Locator. It’s important to get a domain name with appropriate extension. Generally, the first extension that’ll come to your mind is .com, but if your target audience is essentially, local or national, there is little point in going for a .com extension. Country specific domain extensions, like .co.uk for UK, .us for USA, .com.au for Australia, are better suited for such purposes.
1. Better SEO: Almost all the major search engines have tweaked their algorithm to give due consideration to country specific domain extensions. Earlier, when you are living in UK and wanted to search for a web design company in the country, the search engines routinely listed out the .com extension on top of their results page without giving any priority to the web designing firms in the UK. But now, with improved algorithm, the same search will give priority to the country from which the search query originated and list out on top the relevant results from country specific domain extensions as well.
2. Better Confidence Levels Among Buyers: The typical mentality of a buyer is to source the products/services locally. Even on the internet, most buyers prefer local sellers or service providers rather than relying on international merchants. A country specific domain extension gives the buyer an added confidence that you are located in their own country and can be reached easily. The buyers will be able to relate to the local sellers in a better way as compared to, say someone sitting in Canada trying to sell their wares to UK buyers. Although it’s perfectly viable to ship the products with better transportation facilities, but the confidence among buyers is missing when a listing from non-local seller gets displayed in their screen.
3. Better Strategy and Product Tailoring: With a country specific domain extension, you are telling your target audience that you are a co-countryman and fully understand the requirements of local businesses. Being a fellow national, you know the peculiar requirements of the local populace, which will surely help you in tailoring your products or services to better suit the requirements of the target audience. And once you understand the nerve of your customers, you can strategise your business moves accordingly.
4. Better Understanding of Demographic Analytics: A website with a country specific domain extension, undoubtedly, attracts more local and national traffic than the unintended international clicks. This gives better demographic analytics for internal research and site improvement purposes. Moreover, you have lesser data as compared to a .com site, which can generate reams of demographic data out of which only a fraction is useful.
If you need any help in choosing a domain - get in touch with us today and a member of our team will be happy to advise you.
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