Status
Not open for further replies.

DerekMoy

New Member
I'm currently developing an ecommerce website in Ireland but the market is too small here and want to target the UK.

I'm aware of the issues regarding, having an .co.uk domain and also having the server hosted in the UK but what other pointers could anyone give me to build up a business in the UK online market.
 

MOH

New Member
Do you mean from a business point of view? Off the top of my head:

- You'll need to register for VAT in the UK and charge it at UK rates if you hit the UK threshold. Under that you won't need need to charge it to UK customers
- If you're selling a physical product, you'll have transport costs etc if you source it here, or storage costs if you source it in the UK
- Bear in mind that prices are generally lower in the UK so you probably can't charge as much (and again, bad if you're sourcing stock here)
- Are you talking about having a .ie and a .co.uk ?
 

DerekMoy

New Member
Clarification

Apologies, I was meaning how to dominate google rankings in the UK even though we are a Irish based business. Steps been suggested so far a) .co.uk b) server based in UK d) ensure seo for keywords d) link building and article submissions with UK sites ... any other suggestions would be appreciated?

– Does google penalise you for having an Irish address in your Contact Details?
– Does google penalise you for having two sites duplicated but with .ie and co.uk?
– Competition being stronger in the UK, is the ability to conquer the UK google rankings much tougher than Ireland?

Thanks in advance
 

link8r

New Member
Apologies, I was meaning how to dominate google rankings in the UK even though we are a Irish based business. Steps been suggested so far a) .co.uk b) server based in UK d) ensure seo for keywords d) link building and article submissions with UK sites ... any other suggestions would be appreciated?

– Does google penalise you for having an Irish address in your Contact Details?
– Does google penalise you for having two sites duplicated but with .ie and co.uk?
– Competition being stronger in the UK, is the ability to conquer the UK google rankings much tougher than Ireland?

Thanks in advance

You don't need to have a UK server.

Google doesn't "penalise" you unless you've done something quite wrong - then you just don't rank. There's no other types of penalties per se.

Google is a bit complicated when it comes to duplicate content. It doesn't penalise you but does select one site of the other, which may look like you're not ranking and some people feel they've been penalsied. You should really localise content - it makes sense for users. If it makes sense for users, it'll make sense for Google.

Google won't penalise you for your Irish address, but depending on what you're selling, UK customers might...if they're looking for a local company.

Please respect people/the web when it comes to filling the web up with spammy articles/links just to promote your own business.

The UK has more sites - and they'll already have authority - therefore you'll be coming from the back. So it will be a lot more work. But the UK market is bigger too - so if you don't focus on vanity serps you may get enough traffic without the 2-keyword searches that so many people just have to have - probably mostly people who've never checked their keywords in analytics

Interestingly, in Yahoo & Bing (who still haven't learnt from Googles lead) your UK site may displace your Irish site in Irish searches (which happened with a few of my sites).
 

MOH

New Member
Just came across this today, might be of use to you, throws up some options to consider and the benefits of each.
 

peterarmstrong

New Member
Pointers to consider would be:
- If you want to sell to people in the UK then you should provide pricing in Pounds.
- If you have a business phone number then you should consider getting a UK voip number forwarded.
- Take into consideration the pricing of your competitors in the UK.
- Take into consideration any delivery costs if you are posting goods to the UK. Find the cheapest courier.
 

Wild Thing

New Member
I think your eye is totally off the ball, if you are in ireland you should be targeting a world wide market place including uk and europe, as for domination of google uk why bother if you cannot compete in a UK marketplace. Distribution costs are going to kill you dead if it is physical products you sell. More info required on product before final judgement can be made
 

DerekMoy

New Member
Thanks to MOH

Had been searching for some information on this topic for some time ... thanks to MOH best I've been given yet.
 

DerekMoy

New Member
Wild Thing, your spot on the reason for only specifying Ireland and the UK is the distribution cost. Shipment to Europe or US would not make the business viable. But the market I'm in means the UK market is 400% larger than the Irish Market, harder to crack but could be a little goldmine if successful.
 

peterarmstrong

New Member
Have you had time to compare the Irish to UK courier costs? I think there is quite a difference in price (and quite a saving to be made) between different courier companies.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top