The Toll Men

Can Google Really Deliver Country Specific Searching?
By: Martin Lemieux

This is a serious matter, can Google really deliver top quality search results for other countries? The answer so far is “sort of”. In this article I will use Canada as an example of the quality or lack of thereof, that is delivered by Google’s search results.

Let’s take a look at Canadian search results by Google.ca:

When you highlight “Canada” through Google search results and then start searching, you may be surprised at the amount of companies that aren’t really Canadian. All of this also applies for the UK and other major markets as well…

In fact, many of the “paid results” come from American companies. Now some would argue that this is to be expected, coming from American companies with large budgets but I would disagree because a lot of the bulk of the “Canadian specific” results are also American companies.

It is quite evident that this is a growing concern with business owners residing in different countries.

As an owner not from the US, I would rather compete with companies that are more local than not, simply because the results would then be relevant. Irrelevant results equal to poor results and less people take the search results seriously when they keep sifting through poor quality results online.

For example; If you highlight “search in Canada” and search for “web design”, the top 2 results seem not to be from Canada. This is a serious issue. What if people click on “I’m feeling lucky”, they are redirected to a company outside of Canada. The average person won’t know what to think about that and may disregard searching through Canadian results any further.

The more content specific the results are, the more people will search through those results. The more people will tell their friends & peers to search through those results. See, as web marketers, we do have the power to create a search term that people get familiar with. Just look at “Blogging”. A couple of years ago, if you asked people to search online for “blogging” sites, you would have had a lot of confused faces staring at you. Nowadays, if you search for blogging, there are more than 900,000 results found in Google and to top that off, there is more than enough paid advertisers as well.

What do we see changing in Google?

The #1 thing we are now seeing more and more is search results listing websites with country specific domain name extensions. Here’s what I mean by that….

If you were Google and you wanted to deliver better search results for Canada, how would you go about doing that?

I would look at 2 things:

1) Does the domain name end with .ca? (Ex. www.smartads.ca)
2) Does the “contact” information about the company match the country - Street, City, Province/State, Country. Are all of these factors listed within the contact page?

These are very important factors, evidenced to the fact that, I see Google weighing your “contact” page higher than anything else within your website other than your front page. So the moral is, make sure to list EXACTLY where it is that you do business within your contact page. Your website will rank higher for local searching when this technique is utilized.

Second, make sure to buy a domain name(s) that is country specific. If you live in Canada, buy a domain with the extension (.ca). If you live in the United Kingdom, make sure to buy a domain name with the extension (.uk). If you live in the US, make sure to buy a domain name with the extension (.us).

You may be asking, what if I don’t want to concentrate on just local searching? Create a separate website to target different areas. There is nothing with .com, in fact most people automatically type in .com but, if you truly want to target locally, you have to play locally.

The future of search engines is local searching! We are seeing an increasing amount of evidence to sustain this claim. Targeting locally is a great start and will ultimately help you to target internationally later on!

I hope this article helps you out!

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About the Author

About The Author:

Martin Lemieux
Smartads Advertising Network

International: http://www.smartads.info
Canada: http://www.smartads.ca

Canadian SEO Consultants Directory: http://www.seoconsultants.ca
Canadian Search Engine: http://www.smartadsearch.ca

The article describes electromagnetic propagation and how RF
engineering concepts can be applied specifically to 802.11 Wi-Fi
WLANs. The popular formulae often applied to wireless networking
are explained in clear, concise terms, with the math and physics
being included. These include free space path loss, Fresnel zone
calculation, and even an introduction to the Maxwell wave
equations. The official title of the paper is, “I’m Going to Let
My Chauffeur Answer That.”, an allusion to a humorous story
explained in the paper. The full text of the paper is available
on the Connect802 website, in the Literature section at:
www.Connect802.com/literature

One of the best ways to sharpen your child’s mind and provide fun entertainment at the same time is to have plenty of children’s board games on hand. Considering the fact that board games are a challenge for many adults, you can easily picture how much interest they generate in small children. They are a great way for kids and their families to get together and have some fun especially on a cold, rainy day.

Board games for kids are divided into three major categories. The first category refers to board games for preschool kids that are very simple and colorful. The main purpose of these games is to get have preschoolers begin exploring shapes, colors and simple movements. The next category introduces symbols, numbers and letters to children between 4 and 6 years old. For ages 6 and over, games are designed much like those played by adults, i.e., Monopoly, Scrabble, Battleship, etc.

Other popular kid’s games include the classic board game “Connect Four,” that is much like Tic Tac Toe. It is played vertically, and the goal is to get four checkers in a row first, while preventing your opponent from doing the same. Twister is an action filled, fun game that involves a mat with different colors. Players spin the spinner that gives instructions on what color disc is to be selected on the mat, as well as whether a hand or a foot goes on the spot. By the end of the game, depending on the number of players, everyone is piled up in a twisted ball - the player still standing wins.

These are all excellent board games with kids who want to have some serious fun with family and friends.

Did you know that the sales flyer is the most important tool in selling a house?

Even if your home is listed with an agent, check the flyer that your agent has created, to see if you can jazz it up. Examine it closely, to make sure that all your amenities are listed. For instance, a real estate agent made up a flyer for our home and forgot to list “waterfront property!”

Most real estate agents use a standard format for making their flyers. They list features, amenities, price, and contact information (usually with a big photo of themselves). But buyers don’t care how beautiful your agent is! They want to know why your home is better than every other house in the neighborhood.

The one sales technique that most real estate agents fail to use effectively when they make flyers is listing BENEFITS. Like the sales letters you see on websites, a powerful selling flyer will concentrate on a home’s benefits to the buyer.

Here’s a sampling of possible benefits:

1. Enjoy your private park-like garden
2. Get the space you need to spread out
3. Live in a romantic hideaway
4. Sleep without traffic noise
5. Walk to schools, parks, and shopping
6. Seller will help pay your closing costs
7. Buy with no money down
8. Move in without having to paint or fix a thing
9. Swim in your own private lagoon
10. Enjoy your own personal luxury spa

Do you see the pattern? Each of the above examples features an action verb, followed by a benefit.

Don’t underestimate the power of a strong sales flyer. Creating sizzling sales flyers that concentrate on benefits to the buyer will go a long way toward selling your home quickly, and for more money.

Cheers to your successful sale!

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm