In a recent episode of the SEO Office Hour podcast. Google’s Gary Illyes answered a question about whether sites using country code Google confirms giving ranking top-level domains (ccTLDs) enjoy. A ranking advantage in search results, and explained how these domains compare. To non-country-specific domains, once again highlighting Google’s emphasis on user-first SEO practices.
Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)
Country-specific domain names are called ccTLDs (Country. Code Top Level Domains). These domain names are specifically targeted at Internet kuwait whatsapp number data users in certain countries, such as .cn (China), .de (Germany), .in (India), and .kr (South Korea). They are not language-specific, only targeted at Internet users in a specific country.
Some ccTLDs are treated by Google as regular generic. Top-level domains (gTLDs) for ranking purposes, that is, domains that do not refer to any Google confirms giving ranking specific country. A typical example is .io, which, although technically a ccTLD belonging. To the British Indian Ocean Territory, is treated by Google as a regular gTLD due to the way it is actually used.
ccTLDs’ ranking boost
Gary Illyes responded to a question about the ranking advantages of ccTLDs: “When a Korean person searches Google in Korean, which domain performs better, .com.kr or .com?” Gary’s response: “Typically, local domains, like .kr in this case, perform better because the Google search engine tends to promote content that is relevant to the user’s region.”
Many people who wish to improve their what is the effect of featured snippet on site seo? rankings in a specific country find that registering a domain name specific to that country is a best practice. Google will give a ranking advantage to websites that are explicitly targeted to a specific country.
Gary further explained the ranking advantage Google confirms giving ranking of ccTLDs over generic top-level domains like .com, .net, etc.: “It’s not that a .com domain can’t do well, it can, but generally a domain like .kr has a slightly greater benefit, although not a huge one.”
Target languages and target countries
Finally, Gary mentioned that targeting the language of the user can have a greater impact than the domain name itself. “If the language of the website matches the language of the user’s query. This can have a greater impact. Than the domain name ja phone number itself.” The benefit of targeting the language. Is that the website will reach Google confirms giving ranking the user no matter what country they are searching from, while country code top-level domains focus on a specific country.
Although Gary didn’t mention it, using ccTLDs can inspire trust. In searchers from target countries, which may lead them. To be more likely to click on search results on Google that use geo-targeted ccTLDs. For example, users in South Korea may feel that a .kr domain is meant. Just for them; searchers in China may be more likely to click on a .cn domain.
