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In the SEO Office Hours podcast, Google’s Gary Illyes addressed a query regarding whether sites with country-specific domain names receive a ranking advantage over those with non-country domain names. He clarified how the use of country-level domains impacts search rankings compared to other types of domain names.
Domain names that are tailored to specific countries are known as ccTLDs (Country Code Top Level Domains). These domains are designed to target users in particular countries, such as .de for Germany, .in for India, and .kr for Korea. Unlike domains targeting specific languages, ccTLDs focus solely on geographic regions.
However, some ccTLDs are treated by Google as if they were regular gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domains), which are not tied to any particular country. For instance, .io is technically a ccTLD for the British Indian Ocean Territory, but due to its common usage, Google treats it like a standard gTLD.
Gary Illyes addressed a question regarding the ranking advantage of ccTLDs compared to generic top-level domains (gTLDs).
The question was:
“When a Korean user searches Google in Korean, does a .com.kr domain perform better than a .com domain?”
Gary Illyes responded:
“Good question. Generally, local domain names, such as .kr, tend to perform better because Google Search favors content that is local to the user.”
For those aiming to improve their rankings in a specific country, using a country-specific domain name can be an effective strategy. Google often gives a ranking boost to sites with ccTLDs over those with generic domains that aren’t targeted at a specific country.
Gary further explained the ranking difference between ccTLDs and gTLDs:
“That’s not to say that a .com domain can’t perform well—it can. However, a .kr domain usually provides a slight edge, though the difference isn’t huge.”
Lastly, Gary noted that matching a site’s language to the user’s query is often more influential than the domain name itself.
He elaborated:
“If the language of a site aligns with the user’s query language, that likely has a greater impact than the domain name alone.”
Targeting a specific language allows a site to reach users regardless of their location, while a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is designed to target users in a particular country.
Gary did not mention that using a ccTLD can also foster trust among users from the targeted country. For example, a user in Korea might perceive a .kr domain as more relevant and trustworthy, while a user in Australia might be more inclined to click on a .au domain.
Original news from SearchEngineJournal
