HELP! SEO EXPERTS How to rank a Swiss site in the UK (and the rest of the world)?

[Capide]

~
I'm helping a friend with a relatively new website (1 year old)
which is hosted in Switzerland and has a Swiss 'geo domain extension, .ch'
(not sure of the correct term )

i.e. UnderperformingSwissSite.ch

The site is in bad need of back links, SEO, SEM etc if it
is to start ranking in the search engines.

I have told the site owner she needs a Wordpress blog
and my intension is to plug WTG into it once the 'location'
of the blog is decided.
=======================================

My dilemma is this:

The potential customers for this site are definitely not in
Switzerland. They are mainly in the UK (but potentially worldwide.)

Let's say their main keyword is 'Chinese Courses'.

Anyone googling 'Chinese Courses' from the UK \
is going to get a whole lot of UK sites presented to them.

The site might eventually rank for 'Chinese Courses Switzerland'
but (almost) nobody in the UK is searching for this term.

So how do i get them ranking in the UK?

My belief is that if I install a WP blog on their site
i.e. www.UnderperformingSwissSite.ch/bog
I am still going to struggle to get them ranking in the UK
with that .ch extension.

Am I right?

==================================

My possible solution is to create a separate blog with a .com
extension i.e. chinesecourses.com which then links back to
UnderperformingSwissSite.ch and then concentrate all my link
building efforts on the new site (chinesecourses.com)

Good or bad idea?

The problem then of course is that the site owner is not getting
any direct links to his original site which is what he wants.

It's all a tad confusing

Any tips, tricks or fabulous solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Chris

[c14h20o4]

Hiya Chris

Foreign domains aren't really that big of a problem...

My belief is that if I install a WP blog on their site
i.e. www.UnderperformingSwissSite.ch/bog
I am still going to struggle to get them ranking in the UK
with that .ch extension.

I deal with the same thing with Japanese/English sites and have not had any problems. Now about getting more exposure, I really like guest posting. That's contacting preexisting and well established sites and asking if you can put a post of yours on their website in exchange for a link back to your site. They get content they can monetize and you get a link.

I've also noticed in webmaster tools, that Google seems to like twitter and facebook links so I republish content through my facebook pages. And also don't discount the authority already in your site. Using internal links, you can push up your own posts.

Hope that helps,
Chris

[Capide]

Thanks Chris,

That does help somewhat.

When you say:

I deal with the same thing with Japanese/English sites and have not had any problems.

Are you saying that even with a .ch extension I could
get the site showing up in google/UK with the right on
page optimization (i.e. Titles, description and content)?



RE:

Now about getting more exposure, I really like guest posting. That's contacting preexisting and well established sites and asking if you can put a post of yours on their website in exchange for a link back to your site. They get content they can monetize and you get a link.

Do you mean a post of yours that you don't publish
on your own site or anywhere else? i.e. You write them a
keyword rich article that they supposedly benefit from
with organic traffic?



And re:

I've also noticed in webmaster tools, that Google seems to like twitter and facebook links so I republish content through my facebook pages.

Is that just a general SEO tip or are you able manipulate that
for geo targeting?


Sorry for so many more questions and sorry too if they sound
ridiculous but I am just a tad 'challenged on this' and I really do
appreciate your advice.

Thanks again

Chris

[c14h20o4]

Hiya Chris,

Are you saying that even with a .ch extension I could
get the site showing up in google/UK with the right on
page optimization (i.e. Titles, description and content)?

It's really going to depend on the keyword(s) you're wanting to go after. Google offers UK users the option to filter results locally or globally. If the UK is 100% crucial, I'd say get a .uk extension domain. You'll probably notice that big companies, Mcdonalds, Disney, Coke etc., all use localized domains--not just by domain extension but localized for culture and language. Now what I was saying before about a .ch ranking in the UK is valid but it's going to be onpage plus lots of backlinks, depending on the competition strength.

Do you mean a post of yours that you don't publish
on your own site or anywhere else?

I am saying that. Contact other webmasters and ask them if they'd be willing to let you write an article, for them to post on their site, that will be all original to their site, in exchange for a keyword rich backlink to your site. When you make this request, be prepared to have other stuff on the net and a great site to be linked to. The article doesn't have to be keyword rich but rather should compliment the other content they have on their site.

You write them a keyword rich article that they supposedly benefit from
with organic traffic?

Maybe I'm reading into it, but that statement seems loaded with skepticism. They should benefit. After all, you're benefiting by boost in authority their link provides. Does that mean the article you write for them has to be in competition with you? Nope! An article on a different subject, but using your keywords as the anchor in the link back is perfectly fine. And what benefit do you think you'll get if you have a bunch of domains with .uk extensions linking back to your site with your keywords? No site is an island.

Is that just a general SEO tip or are you able manipulate that
for geo targeting?

That's just a general SEO tip. Webmaster tools lets you see some of the sites that link to yours and I've found it interesting that my shared to face book and twitter content shows up. How much weight the big G puts on it is another question.

Let me know if you have any other questions
Chris

[Capide]

Chris,

Thanks very much for helping so concisely on this!

You have been a big help!

re

You write them a keyword rich article that they supposedly benefit from
with organic traffic?

Maybe I'm reading into it, but that statement seems loaded with skepticism.

Don't know about loaded but I guess there was a 'smattering'

I think I was looking at it from a 'glass half empty' angle and from the point of view of someone contacting me to write a post on my site that would (again, from my skeptical, 'glass half empty' viewpoint) not be good enough, not relevant enough etc. and that they would be the main beneficiary.

But having pulled my head from my cynical undercarriage and rethought about your tip I can now see the benefit from both parties point of view. i thinks it's a great idea if you can convince a suitable site to allow you to write for them.

re

That's just a general SEO tip. Webmaster tools lets you see some of the sites that link to yours and I've found it interesting that my shared to face book and twitter content shows up. How much weight the big G puts on it is another question.

I think you are spot on again on this! And just in case you haven't read this one, you might find it interesting: What Social Signals Might Search Engines Use - Graywolf's SEO Blog

Thanks again, Chris, your help is much appreciated


Chris