Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much region specific words your cram into your website.
When your rank isn’t moving up or down for local searches around Malaysia and Singapore, something other than your SEO must be affecting the score.
A local .my or .sg domain name may be exactly what you need to get the rankings that you have worked hard for.
Benefits of Going Local
When you are optimized for your local region, such as Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, you are able to draw high-quality traffic to your website.
Chances are that, without a local domain name, someone can search for a shop related to your niche in other places and wind up calling you for information although you are located no where near there.
Depending on the keywords you use, such an instance may be avoided.
However, this doesn’t work as it should all of the time.
The best option is to include the location of your business in a top-level domain (TLD), which helps Google and other search engines figure out exactly where you are.
People Buy Locally
Let’s face it. While you might be purchasing from online websites like Amazon as the rest of the world does, most of the time you purchase local goods.
When a customer sees that your website ends in either a .my or .sg, it is giving the clear sign that you are nearby and more likely to deliver.
Also, people like completing transactions in their native currency.
This has to do with the user experience.
Google and other search engines are weighing the user experience more heavy than ever before.
Link Building
When potential partners in your local region see that you are from the same area they are, these sites may be more willing to link up with you.
International relationships are great, but having support from local is excellent for building a reputation and authority in your region first.
Creative Spark
Wouldn’t it be great if you could add your brand’s flair to your domain name?
With TLDs, you can do what is called a domain hack.
This is when the company or brand uses a word and name that is formed when the domain name and ccTLD are read together.
For example, check.in or help.us.
If you have a company that can combine it’s name with either .my or .sg, you suddenly have a flair that makes your stand out against competitors!
In Short…
Having a .my or .sg is going to appeal more to your customers in the local sector, while having a .com is better for those businesses that plan on having a global outreach.
If you want to boost your local reputation, consider switching over to a local domain as soon as possible.
Simply letting search engines being able to instantly geotarget your location is a huge boost for SEO.
Even if your business is built on .com, obtaining a .my or .sg domain extension is still a wise decision to secure your brand assets.
