Why You Should Choose Country Specific Top Level Domains

Your website is the connection your business needs to the world at large, and choosing the right domain name can make your website more visible and gain consumer trust.

1. Search Engines Benefits

If you're at all concerned with search engine optimization (SEO), then you might consider making your next domain purchase one with a country-specific TLD. Search engines like Google use specific TLDs as a strong signal that your website originates from and caters to a specific location. When people search for Dentists in the UK, your website can show up higher in the SERPs if you're using a country-specific extension. 

On the other hand, Google has no idea where you're located if your British company uses a generic TLD. Plus, you've got the leg up over the competition that doesn't use a country-specific TLD.

2. Your Visitors/Customers Come From Your country

Both the UK and Canada use country-specific TLDs more than some other countries. When Internet users see a generic top-level domain, they don't know where you're located, but a country-specific TLD lets them know they've come to the right place. Their search is done. On the other hand, people who need local services will know that you can't help them when they see that your domain ends in ".ca" or ".co.uk". On the other hand, you may not want to drive away consumers based on location. Perhaps you're based in the UK but your company has recently decided to branch out to the United States.

Having country-specific TLDs allows you to redirect visitors to the website that offers the information and is in the language that they speak. For this to work, you'll need to detect your visitor's location and redirect them appropriately. Of course, many companies purchase both generic and country-specific TLDs to cover all their bases.

This way allows you to appeal to local and international customers without alienating anyone. When visitors go to the country-specific domain, you also get a little more information about them, which allows you to cater to their needs.

3. Gain Visitor's Trust

Not everyone trusts every website on the Internet, and showing that your business has a physical presence in a country can encourage the trust you need to make a sale. Buyers who are worried about spending money online but see a country-specific extension, instead of a generic TLD, know where they need to go if the deal goes south.

Having a local presence can mean the difference between a purchase or a bounce from your site. It also makes sense if your businesses target market is local (e.g. flower delivery). Having a local presence in your city or town can immediately help geo target your customers and allow your business to penetrate through other online competitors. It is also more logical for businesses like this to have a country specific domain extension.

4. Requirements for TLD

For most country-code top level domains, you are required to have a local presence, meaning your business/company should have a local address. Upon registering for the country specific TLD, you are also required to input a local address and name to show your physical presence in that country.
Some countries have more strict guidelines. Take .cn for example (http://www.domainraccoon.com/tlds/cn). They require a very extensive list of documents and ID's.

Greg Mosk is editor at domainraccoon.com, and constantly writes about domain registrars and how they can help you achieve better rankings in search engines. His blog talks mainly about domain registrars and help potential domain owners find the best and most effective domain name registration.