My .com site is not targeting anyone in the UK ?

[Red_Ken]

Hi,

This is probably a beginner's error,but I would really appreciate any constructive help.I have a feeling I can't see the wood for the trees and I am getting really confused.

I have a .com website which is hosted on a US server.
I am based in the UK.

My website basically advertises 2 (sister) co's - one of which is global in appeal (ie,focused on UK and other countries) ,the other which is domestic in outlook (ie,focused towards the UK ONLY).On the homepage,the user is given the option of clicking either left or right to enter the business they are interested in.

I have labelled all of my pages correctly in terms of no of characters,keyword placement and,from having done adwords for a year now,I think I know what makes my customers' tick - or at least what search terms they are interested in and what makes them come to my site.
I should point out that I have not yet added ANY meta tags (description or keywords) AT ALL ,though I have included plenty of SEO friendly content on the homepage for both biz's encompassing these terms .
(*haven't added them yet as have been doing overhaul of site)

My homepage title includes what I know to be the most popular searched for term for the UK oriented biz and also the most searched for term for the more global biz.

Now,the problem I have is that for my business which is oriented towards the UK market ,even though I have labelled ,eg,my homepage correctly,when I type in to google what I know is my most searched for term for this UK oriented business (which is included in the homepage title),the website itself does not appear in ANY of the UK pages of Google.

Yet when I type in this same term into Google 'all the web' , my site is no.6 on the 1st page. (*which is OK - but I am not aiming this biz worldwide - only in the UK !)
Similarly,when I type in the most searched for term for the global biz into into Google 'all the web' , my site is on page 4 (not great really,but nevermind for the mo) and NOWHERE at all when I type this into Google UK.

Now,I know someone is probably going to come here and say "yes;well that is because you have your site on a US server and it is a .com , not a .uk" - but what makes me really,really confused is that the no1 result in BOTH google worldwide and Google UK for my UK focused term is held by a .co.uk which (as I have checked) is hosted on a UK server.

I really don't understand.
How on earth can I straddle this problem ????? will everything 'get better' once I have my meta description in place,which will pick up on and reiterate the titling and page content ? or ???

I'm a little reluctant to post the site up here, but if anyone is able to help at all ,I am very happy to show them . I have worked so hard on the site that I'm at the point now where I am literally pulling my hair out. My hotmail is
kenjitomoyawatanabe@hotmail.com

thanks
K / L

[glengara]

*..is that the no1 result in BOTH google worldwide and Google UK for my UK focused term is held by a .co.uk which (as I have checked) is hosted on a UK server.*

Not quite sure why this should confuse, for a UK focused term a.co.uk site is under little handicap in the worldwide results.

You basically need UK hosting.....

[Red_Ken]

i see what you are saying, but as i have tried to explain,the site is not just purely focused on the UK .
Problem is there are 2 sister biz's sharing the one site , with each biz having a different geog focus.

If I completely moved the hosting to a UK server,wouldn't that impinge negatively on my worldwide search results then ?

[glengara]

*Problem is there are 2 sister biz's sharing the one site , with each biz having a different geog focus.*

It does sound like a separate site for each may be best long-term, but switching hosting may be worth trying first, it may have less impact on the non UK location.

[Duncan Pollock]

I don't think there's any (useful) answer save for an explanation from Google -- and I can't begin to see that forthcoming.
Nevertheless, I don't think the URL extension (.com or co.uk) makes any real difference nor does it matter which country you're hosted in.
Rather, it seems to be a "puzzlement" that you (and many others) are simply forced to live with.
In my own case -- a .com URL hosted in Canada (which is my geographical location) -- my site shows well in "the web" (one of two search choices in the Google Canada page that presumably my Canadian host [MSN/Sympatico] has elected to show all the time whenever I do a search in their address bar for "Google" -- no quotes), whereas it turns up only sporadically if I choose "pages from Canada."
To add to the puzzle, if I use the Google address bar (which I've installed on my hosted home page), it takes me to the Google homepage (no addition of Canada) and searches on my main keywords vary once again.
What I do know, though, is that people in all corners of the globe find me and I'm reasonaby sure it's because they use Google's homepage (no country added) to do so.
In contrast, the "pages from Canada" searches appear to favour my competitors, the majority of whom have .com URL extensions and are also hosted in Canada.
Fortunately, my marketing target is enquiries from here, there, and everywhere rather than the "local yokels" that most of my competitors are trying to reach.
An explanation of it all, though? Who knows? I certainly don't. Nor am I at all sure that anyone (except the aforementioned Google) does.
About the only suggestions I can make are two:
1. Make sure you're listed in Google Local -- even though this limits you to your precise geographical city/town/village and, as far as I can tell, will produce only a mere handful of searches.
2. Use AdWords, especially by including your location focus in the wording -- because mine turn up in all three (or is it four?) Google versions (home, Canada, the web, pages from Canada) and I'm sure it's because they all include the community I'm aiming at (i.e. "real estate in such-and-such a place" -- without the quotes).

Duncan
PS. In rereading all the above, I suspect I've done no more than make things curiouser and curiouser!!!

[Red_Ken]

Thanks Duncan.Yes;it is bizarre isn't it, but it is nice to know I'm not alone !
On reflection,my 'global' focused business has more $ potential , so I am content to leave hosting as it is for present.
Re my locally based 'domestic UK focused' business ;well,as you suggest,I've been doing adwords for about a year now for that biz and it has worked out well.

I've also since had another idea which looks likely to come to fruition and could help solve or somehow help the domestic UK focused biz. A sports team I am involved with is setting up a website (.co.uk hosted in the UK) and is granting me a page on this to do with what I want.

The question is,can I use exactly the same meta title/description for this page on this separate website (which obviously has a separate url , is a .co.uk hosted in the UK) as the homepage for my own .com website (which doesn't currently show up in UK listings for my most popular search terms for this UK focused biz) ? I will obviously NOT duplicate page content itself ,but create a good 'taster' for my own .com site. I am hoping that I can try to garner as much UK traffic as possible using this site to my own website which is failing spectacularly at showing up in UK listings when searching using the most searched for terms for my UK focused biz.

[cyanide]

but what makes me really,really confused is that the no1 result in BOTH google worldwide and Google UK for my UK focused term is held by a .co.uk which (as I have checked) is hosted on a UK server.
That is a good question.
It could be a few things. maybe a recent move and change in the site that google hasn't caught on yet or maybe a google glitch?

Duncan: Which domain are you referring to, not showing up in Canadian results? duncanpollock.com ?
If so, from what I see, this site is located in the UK, which would explain.

[Red_Ken]

strange isn't it.I'll have to make sure that I piggyback / copy ALL their links where poss to see if this makes any difference.