Help - .ie vs .co.uk in google uk

[rufo]

We have a website that for years has attracted a high level of organic searches and had a very high level of links.  It has the .ie extension (Ireland) and did very well when competing in the niche market it is in on google.co.uk.  We have the same domain name but in .co.uk format and basically redirected traffic to it when people typed in .co.uk instead.  Since the latest panda update, we have noticed that the number of visits organically has dropped to a quarter of what it was and this is continuing to go down.  We have also noticed that the .ie version is no longer listed in google and has been replaced by .co.uk.  As we've never exchanged or submitted links for the .co.uk domain this means there are only links indexed in google.

Is there any way I can get google to re-index the site using the .ie domain rather than the .co.uk domain?  I am hemorrhaging sales now and becoming a much more withdrawn person by the day!!!

PS - the .co.uk domain is set up as a domain alias in plesk with both .ie and .co.uk domain dns pointing to the the same IP address.

Kind Regards
Steve

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hi Steve,

So just to be clear, is the .ie site hosted in Ireland or the UK? And this is the primary site with just a .co.uk pointing at it as a domain forward?

I don't think that Google would re-index the .co.uk as they know it's a forward but to err on the side of caution, remove the forward that is currently in place and concentrate on putting right any issues with with the .ie - I suspect duplication features heavily?

Andy

[rufo]

Hi Andy.  Cheers for that.

The site is .ie but is hosted by us in the uk.  The reason I'm asking about indexing, is that there are 3600 pages indexed for the .ie version of the site, but if I do the same (using site:) for the .co.uk version it shows 4.  Which I think is the issue.  Its as if Google overnight has decided because I'm in the UK and doing a search, it will only display the .co.uk version and nothing relating to the .ie version.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

What do you see if you hop on Google.ie Steve? I am inclined to think that the problem is related to the fact Google has dropped the site from the SERPs for whatever reason, but always a little hard to see exactly what is going on from this end.

So you still see 3,600 pages when you do a site:?

Try this for me:

site:www.site.ie -inallurl:www.site.ie (replace domain both times with your own)

How many pages do you see then?

[rufo]

Hi andy. On google.ie I'm getting over 10 pages plus listed. If I try the same on the uk version ( site:ie) I get the same results. If I try site and allinurl for domain.co.uk I get one page listed. I've gone on to webmaster tools in google and the domain geotag location is listed as Ireland, which I'd expect as its .ie. Is this the problem?

[Andy.Drinkwater]

OK so from 3,600 indexed pages, after typing site:www.site.ie -inallurl:www.site.ie you see 10?

That seems to suggest that a lot of pages have been dropped from the primary to supplementary index and if that's the case, it it more than likely an algorithm update that has caused this.

So just to understand, which site in WMT has the geotag set to Ireland? But to be honest, that isn't really much of a problem and wouldn't have caused a loss in traffic.

[rufo]

Over 10 pages of google indexed pages I mean. Not 10. The site listed in WMT is the .ie one. I've never submitted, referenced or mentioned the .co.uk version for anything, it's always just been a redirect, so I can't understand why google has started using that one instead.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hard to say without looking at everything in more detail Steven. Could be clutching at straws all day, but happy to have a chat in more detail if you want to get in touch.

I still suspect a penalty has happened that has knocked the .ie site off the radar.

Andy