Display URL Using Different TLD, And do .com's acheive higher CTR Options

[kestrel]

Hi,

A site has been running on PPC for quite some time using the .com version. The target is UK only. We now want to start work on the organic SERPs. There is a .co.uk version of the site (not duplicate) that is ranking way above the .com and is also considerably older.

Also, as it's the Google.co.uk SERPs i'm tackling, so it makes sense to use the .co.uk version.

So I want to SEO the .co.uk domain.

My issue is that if i change the PPC ads to display the .co.uk TLD that the ads will have changed and thus be considered new ads and lose their CTR score.

I'm also concerned by comments like this that say .com's get a higher CTR on PPC, even in UK markets.

What would be nice is if i could continue to display the .com URL in PPC ads but link to the .co.uk version of the domain, but as i understand it, this is against adwords guidelines.

Is this defo a no no?

It would also be interesting to here others experience with regard to CTR and .com's or .co.uk's

Cheers,

K

[JohnMu]

Test it and tell us

My guess is that for PPC, where the URL is displayed, a .co.uk could do better if your product is specific to the UK market.

Just do a split test, it's easy to do with Adwords.

John

[kestrel]

Hi John,

That article advised .com performed better even though it was a UK market. I guess it might be niche dependant also.

From my experience, the less savvy think that a .com is more important/impressive than a .co.uk - "it just sounds better!" i here them say

If we assume that its the less savvy users who click on PPC ads then that might explain why .coms do better than .co.uk's in the UK market.

As you say, will need testing.

But what about displaying a .com and pointing to a .co.uk? Is this allowed if they are the same domain?

K

[kevingibbons]

I ran a UK targeted test a while ago and found that a .com ad had a higher CTR than the .co.uk version:
http://blog.seoptimise.com/2007/03/adwords...ouk-vs-com.html

This was quite a limited test though as the total clicks weren't very high. It's always worth split testing the ads for things like this to see which works best for your site.

[kestrel]

Hi Kevin,

That's the article I was discussing. I also asked on your blog whether displaying a .co.uk but directing to the .com was against Adwords guidelines. Perhaps you'd like to share your experience here?

What if the .co.uk permanantly redirected to the .com?

K

[JohnMu]

Hi Kestrel
I haven't done .com/.co.uk domains, but I have used .com domains that were redirected to other TLDs and used the .com domains in Adwords (this was no problem, even after a review by my Adwords rep, though I don't know if there are any official statements for it).

John

[kestrel]

Hi John,

If that is the case, and it is true that .coms get more clicks, then I have the ideal solution.

Don't adjust ads so no loss of performance
Don't waste 2 character spaces by displaying .co.uk (i use folder names in my display url for branding and keywords so another bonus)
Redirect .com to .co.uk so I can SEO the .co.uk for the natural SERPs

So logistically how do you do this? Do you:

(in adwords)

Display URL = somedomain.com
Destination URL = somedomain.com

(On your server)

somedomain.com -> 301 redirect -> somedomain.co.uk

OR

(in adwords)

Display URL = somedomain.com
Destination URL = somedomain.co.uk

??

K

[kestrel]

In case you're still wondering, the response from Google is that this would NOT be acceptable.

K

[PPCblogger]

Keep the adverts as they are, directing traffic to the .com as the ad destination url & a .com display url.

Just change the keyword level destination urls to the .co.uk and these will take precedence.

Because the advert has not been altered, you will not go under manual review like you normally do when amending adverts.

Strictly speaking this is not allowed, but you are not doing this for fraudulent/naughty reasons so I wouldn't worry.

This might get picked up on in the long run, but I have had a site doing something similar for way over a month without an issue.

[kestrel]

Hi PPCblogger,

I agree you can probably get away with it. Google hinted it would be manual check. And you're right, it's not malicious.

However, i'm going to be changing the ads anyway so will be taking a hit on performance. If I don't change the URLs further down the line and they do check then that will be two hits on performance overall.

So i'll make all the changes in one go as it's not my money

K

[e-Zen]

Hi,

Just ask your Google AdWords representative permission to show another TLD. When they see it's about the same brand, they give permission to display another TLD then the one used in the destination url.

Best regards