Q and A: How do I get my .com site recognized by search engines as Australian?

Dear Kalena...

I have launched a website for my father's Australian-based architectural business but am having a few problems getting it listed with search engines as an 'Australian' site.

Although the site is a .COM (not .com.au), the site is listed under Australia in DMOZ, and the word Australia is mentioned quite frequently throughout the META and home page.

Any tips on getting the site recognised as being Australian without a .COM.AU domain name? (e.g. on google.com.au or ninemsn.com.au)

Many thanks
Ian

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Ian

Search engines use a couple of different methods to determine country of origin:

1) IP address the site resides on (physical location of host servers)
2) Domain extension

The physical location of the server that stores your site can have an impact on how search engines treat your site. Even if your site is hosted by an Australian firm, if they use server space located in another country, that is usually the country search engines will associate with your site. Check with your host about server location if this is an issue for you.

Also, use of a .com domain can automatically put your site at a disadvantage if a searcher selects "sites from Australia" as their default search option in Google.com.au, because Google naturally gives preference to sites with a .com.au domain extension for regional searches.

Some Australian-based search engines won't even include sites that don't have a .com.au domain extension, so you might want to consider purchasing the regional domain for submission to such engines and have the regional domain point to the IP address of your main site via domain parking.