domains and the country of origin?

[dylanphelan]

Hello

I'd like to know how the search engines determine what area you are in?
My site is registered as mysite.com and i'm in south africa. I suppose .co.za would be better.
I'm in the process of totally redoing the site, as a beginner i did the original site with tables... and not knowing much registered a .com domain.

So, should i now register a new .co.za domain? will this have a positive effect on SEO? I am targeting the South African market specifically...

Thanks!

[ben_tambling]

it isn't matter whether your tld's is .com or .co.za.. it is how you promote and optimize your site...

search engines can detect your location.. putting content where your site are from can easily be determine...

are you focused on your region only?

[dylanphelan]

Hi

Yes, I'm focused specifically on the south african market at the moment.

I see some of my competitors rank well when you search from google.com as well as google.co.za - and i don't see much location specific content on their pages.

Should I include 'South Africa' in the copy? Or what would you suggest?
would a .co.za domain not have any advantages.

Thanks

[ben_tambling]

Hi

Yes, I'm focused specifically on the south african market at the moment.

I see some of my competitors rank well when you search from google.com as well as google.co.za - and i don't see much location specific content on their pages.

Should I include 'South Africa' in the copy? Or what would you suggest?
would a .co.za domain not have any advantages.

Thanks

as I've said, TLDs is not that important in your market.. I believe it is much better to use .co.za in an organization or in local government to determine that site is specifically targets your region, but if you're in product selling or services,, it's fine to use either .com or .co.za ..