Best way of handling top level domains (with a local twist)

[cmscss]

Hi There,

We're about to develop a new website for a small company who operates in both New Zealand and Australia. The company has a foot in the door with major Australian distribution so is keen to build their brand there - almost all of the marketing budget will go into Australia this year.

1. Domains and websites:

We're thinking of using separate country domains (.co.nz and .com.au) along with the CMS to create 2 sites that will have:

• Content common to both countries and sites (about, story, product info)
• Country specific content (contacts, tastings, competitions and other promo)
• Headers and footers of each page will contain different content for each site

I guess we're worried about creating a duplicate content issue as both sites will have several pages that are identical (although different info will be in the headers and footers on every page).

Also, using www.brand.com/aus might not be a great option (perception-wise) when the competition will be using .com.au. And creating and maintaining different content for both sites will drain too much budget away from Adwords and marketing.

2. The effect on SEO and Adwords:

If the www.brand.com/aus approach is simply better, are there any implications if all the advertised domains (especially in Adwords) redirect like this?
www.brand.com.au -> www.brand.com/aus
www.brand.co.nz -> www.brand.com/nz

How would everyone recommend approaching this?

As you can tell, we're a bit unsure and want to get this right from the start - any pointers in the right direction would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

Ben

[Nlevi]

1. Domains

If the page content is identical, then yes, you will probably face duplicated content issues.
You could use rel="canonical" tag to inform Google which version of the page is original. As you probably know rel="canonical" is not bullet proof, it's more like a recommendation for G.

BTW. On Google Webmaster tools you can specify which country you are targeting, although this will not erase the duplicated content issues, it might be worth to use.

2. Adwords

It's a bit unclear for me what you meant with redirecting AdWords traffic.
I would do different campaigns for different domains. If the domain changes, just update the URL's to your AdWords campaign.

[katemorris]

1. It sounds like you are actually targeting the different countries. Just be aware that the duplicated page will not perform well. As long as you are aware of that, you should be okay. Duplicate content is not a penalty, just means that the pages won't perform well. Just remember to target geographically in Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.

2. And this question is negated by my answer above, but if you did go with the other option, no you can't have a display domain as .com.au and have the destination URL to another domain. It won't work.

Stick with the TLDs and with trying your best to target each site at it's intended audience.

[cmscss]

Thanks Kate - sorry for the late response.

It looks as if Google doesn't account for the local, feel-good factor when people in certain countries see their TLD.

e.g. New Zealanders feel better if they see .co.nz because the company seems more local and similarly with Australia - but the content could be identical.

And then when you have countries with a healthy rivalry like New Zealand and Australia (or US and Canada) Australians might react differently to seeing NZ's TLD (albeit subtly).

I'm not sure I fully understand the downsides to multiple TLDs and duplicate content as which is the original and which is the duplicate depends greatly on which country you're in - it's perception-based.

I realise Google doesn't see things this way but is that what Nlevi was talking about with Webmaster Tools - you can tell Google to always serve .com.au to Australians?

Anyway, I'm not sure I'm fully understanding the situation as we haven't worked on a site that targets multiple countries specifically before.

It seems like it's safer to go with .com because that's what's best for Google even if that's wrong for the customers - especially New Zealanders who feel a loyal sense of ownership with the brand if that makes sense.