SEO: Does Google care about domain extensions? (.es , .co.uk... etc etc)?

Question

For example, would a .es domain be better for google.es

Or would a .co.uk domain be better for google.co.uk?

if you have a .com domain, can you optimize it for google.es , google.co.uk or does google prefer domain name extensions from the same area?

Also... would it matter where the site is hosted? Or does Google only look at the domain itself?

Answer 1

Country extensions do matter for local search engines likes google.es. Also the location of your server is important for local searches.
But both aren't as important factors in your ranking as things like keywords and links. For instance links from other .es websites would help as well.

Answer 2

Google is not the only search engine in internet world. So care even for other smaller, lesser advanced search engines who could get you good traffic for long tail keywords. you never know, when luck will struck you.

So always go by the rule, that local/country extensions will fetch you good results in most search engines.

Remember you can always optimize domain name with any extension for any area. But google.co.uk would by name itself means its related to UK, hence will be given a bit more prominence and it would be easy to be accepted by other sites for links too.

Think of overall picture while choosing domain name and also the extension you want.

It doesn't matter where ever the site is hosted.

Answer 3

Adding specific keywords will allow search engines to index your site faster and rank better in the search engines. Yes, your backlinks will also work, but your keywords, particularly those that have undergone proper research will be a lot helpful if you want your site to get noticed too. Plus, these will be the words that searches will type in when they search for something, and if possible you have to be on hand with these keywords so you'll come out in the search pages.

Answer 4

Well.. the domain does not matter as much as your location of your Hosting server.

But does add value to your user. If you have a .co.uk domain and hosted in india. People would still think as it being a UK website.

regards
Praveen
http://www.praveenkodur.com/blog/

Answer 5

B!!!!! How are you, honey?!
I keep meaning to email you guys, but I've put that list of everyone's email address somewhere for safe keeping and don't remember where...

hmm... that's not a very good answer to your question, is it... My answer is that I don't think it makes a significant difference on Google, but you probably know better than I do these days since I haven't read up on any SEO in ages. (okay, still a crap answer. lol)