I’ve got a .co.uk domain website, and I run adwords to target the UK. My site geotargets to US customers as-well. So, I want to run adwords targeting the US market too, however I don’t want to have my .co.uk domain name in the display URL.
I have purchased a slightly different .com version of my main domain, and have that automatically re-direct to the .co.uk if entered in the address bar.
So, I was wondering does anyone have any suggestions about the best/correct way to write ads using the .com domain name? I don’t think it’s allowed to put the .com name in the display URL if, when the link is clicked, the site automatically re-directs to the .co.uk site. Or am I wrong?
You are correct. Your site will either need to have redirect pages that don’t auto forward (landing pages) or mask (two domains running at once). Both have SEO implications to consider but otherwise will get your issue solved.
Masking is very dangerous for organic SEO. What do you see as a downfall for marketing to the United States on the same domain? I don’t understand why you would not be building a brand rather than worrying about domain names…
The reason why I’d want a .com domain would be for PPC advertising, as I think having a domain which fits into your target market, e.g. the US could be beneficial. The brand remains the same, the only difference would be the .com extension at the end…