.com links for .co.uk domains

[linkbuildings]

Hi,

I was wondering whether .com links from the US for .co.uk domains increase the search engine visibility of .co.uk domain in the UK just as much as .co.uk links for .co.uk domains (assuming they are all top quality content links)?

(Context: I have heard that it does from someone who should know, but I would like to double check on that)

If half of the backlinks for a .co.uk domain are from .com domains in the US is this a dangerous pattern Google would pick up on?

[lee_greenhill]

Hi

I've found that the more local you keep the links the more relevant they become, irrelevant of .com or .co.uk

If a .com domain who uses keywords of say, London Car dealers, and your website is (for example) London Car Parts, then the domain suffix becomes less significant. The link's relevance becomes higher because they are directly related.

If your keywords are London Car Parts, and you get a link from Shanghai Carpet fitters .com then both sets of criteria become irrelevant.

That's what I've found in my experience. Others may have another slant on this.

[YannickVeys]

Good points from Lee. Adding on that, in general: if you get more .co.uk links, you'll be better found in the UK than in the US. If you get a lot of .com links, your findability will be less in the UK and higher in the US. Google will determine that, considering the things Lee said, you might be relevant to US searchers.

And then there is the IP. A .com domain can be hosted in the UK. Adding more to your UK relevance than your US relevance.

And than you have the links the .com domain receives... Same thing...

So not so straight forward to answer.