Best domain strategy for a "country-specific" site that plans to expand to other countries in future.

[Execute]

I'm starting a new project that has been long overdue.
It's a site that aims to become the dominant authority site in a particular niche in a specific country.
Eg think finance in France for example.

I want to use a country-specific domain name, that's a cctld, because that's where I can get very good brand names now. As getting a brand name of that same quality in .com will cost an arm, a leg and possibly a testicle, lol. So I'll rather be putting that much money towards content and links rather than towards just a domain name.

Problem is, once I grow, gain traction and dominate the niche in this country, I will need to expand to other countries to increase the valuation of the site. These countries will be on the same continent (Africa), and all speak the same language (English).

Is there a way I can get Google to show my country-specific domain name to other countries (to rank in other countries)?
Or to geotarget a continent from a cctld, instead of just a country?
Or even globally to the world....so that it can also rank if someone in US searches for its keywords?
My research by searching the threads on this forum on cctlds and their links to Google official documentation suggests this is not possible currently.

My solution is, when its time to expand to these other countries, I'll establish individual sites in each of those countries with their own cctlds eg example.jp, example.fr, example.hk, etc.
Problem with that is that they will be new sites that will still take time to establish their own authority, even if they have some links from the original country's site. And will also require some good resources to develop and take it to the level of the original site.

Is there a better way to go about this?

I've also considered subdomains (eg au.example.fr), and subfolders (eg example.fr/au), but those ones will require a .com to work well.
As the site will not likely rank in other countries as long as it's built on a cctld.
Besides it would look really weird to put other countries as subdomains and subfolders on a cctld instead of on a .com. (see the last examples above to see how weird it looks, don't think it can even work out at all).

If push comes to shove, I can get a .com if absolutely necessary.
But I think my strategy of cctlds is better.

What do you guys think?
What will you do if you are in my shoes?
Is there any consideration I'm missing?

Thanks.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Is there a way I can get Google to show my country-specific domain name to other countries (to rank in other countries)?

No, not unless they're really small and close together I think with the same language, or a person types in a modifier to their search to indicate they want those kind of results.

Or to geotarget a continent from a cctld, instead of just a country?

I don't think it's possible. In Search Console you can take a gTLD and "convert" it down to a ccTLD, but not the other way around. And I don't think there are any "continent-code" TLD's, just "country-code".

Is there a better way to go about this?

I think you need to accept that you'll be using a gTLD like com/net/org or any other, and you'll probably want to do sub-folders (not sub-domains as they're treated as new sites) for each language or country. And then use hreflang to signal to Google where it should be ranking.

But I think my strategy of cctlds is better.

I think it's ideal in some ways, but the biggest problem is exactly what you already mentioned about new sites needing age and links all over again, each time, on each one. You could interlink them all in the footer to at least share some of the juice you'll be creating, but it really does multiply your link building needs and budgets by X number of sites.

 

[Execute]

I think you need to accept that you'll be using a gTLD like com/net/org or any other, and you'll probably want to do sub-folders

Hmmm....food for thought. Major issue is the cost of getting a good brandable .com. Really needles me when I think I could be putting it towards content and links rather than splashing it on a domain name.
The other tlds (.org, .co, .net) are really really uncommon in most African countries for major sites, and unfamiliar to most people. Unlike in the West, where many people have seen at least one or more major sites using them. For most African people, it's either it's a .com or the country's cctld.
I'll think about it some more.

I think it's ideal in some ways, but the biggest problem is exactly what you already mentioned about new sites needing age and links all over again, each time, on each one. You could interlink them all in the footer to at least share some of the juice you'll be creating, but it really does multiply your link building needs and budgets by X number of sites.

More food for thought when you put it this way.
Especially the two bolded portions.
I think I'll chew on it for a few more hours or days, and then decide.
One point though is that I think that as these are African countries still in their developing phase, they will have less sophisticated competition, and the number of links that will be required to rank should be substantially less than in the western world.
So I imagine it should not cost too much to develop those links, but I may be wrong.
I'll mull over it a bit longer and bite.
Thanks for helping me clarify my thoughts.... there's something about having someone else evaluate your thoughts and chime in on the important parts, that helps a lot.

Meanwhile, more input from any other takers is still welcome btw, while I mull it further, lol.
In case there are any other things that haven't been highlighted.

 

[Potatoe]

Major issue is the cost of getting a good brandable .com. Really needles me when I think I could be putting it towards content and links rather than splashing it on a domain name.

Just a quick thoughtL Don't be shy to reach out to the owners of the names that pique your interest and offer them quite a bit less than they're listed for.

If we're talking like a super premium .com, there may not be as much wiggle room, but if we're talking a "good brandable" and the owner has hundreds or thousands of other names sitting around collecting dust, there's a fairly decent chance that a 2-3k name could end up costing you just a few hundred, if that.

If you're ever looking at a name that's on Squadhelp for instance, it's worth it to sign up for a Squadhelp account and see if that same name is listed in their wholesale marketplace. It's "frowned upon" to buy names in the wholesale market if you plan on removing them from the platform, but *shrugs*. You'll find lots of names that are listed for sale at 3k, 4k, 5k publicly selling for $25, $100, $250 in the wholesale section.

 

[harrytwatter]

Subdomains unless the properties will be drastically different just aren't worth it. Language subfolders with page-level hreflang attribution is your best bet in terms of trying to communicate to G which nationality your intended audience is. You could build ccTLD links to your regional pages too (directories, local business shit) to try to re-enforce regional disparity.

Have you done some old fashioned proxy searches in your niche? Do the same English queries from neighboring African countries return drastically different results? If not maybe it's not too big of a worry?

 

[Siberian]

And I don't think there are any "continent-code" TLD's, just "country-code".

Not sure about other continents, but there is a .africa domain name that's open to the public. And .eu for, well, for the EU.

 

[uzz]

Another angle you can look at - build up the tld in your home country, and then once/if it gets to a point you like(making $$$), then you can justify spending more on a .COM and then 301ing to a country specific subfolder on the .COM.

ala Big Brands.

 

[Execute]

Wow, didn't know more people had commented on the thread after the initial response.
The forum really needs a way to notify users if someone replies to our threads or a thread we commented on. It helps build more forum engagement. (And if there's a way to do it, please kindly let me know).

Many thanks to everyone that has responded, and you all gave very helpful answers. Thanks a bunch.

I held on from doing the site so far, because around that time I realized Google had started doing its really crazy yoyo dance with content sites, and it was looking like content sites are on a downward spiral. So I put a pause on going ahead with the project, to see how things play out.

Though I may still go ahead with the site now, even though content sites are in decline, and do it as an omnichannel content brand spanning across the various social media and youtube in addition to the core website, rather than a regular content site that solely relies on SEO.

Might still create a lab thread on it.
Many thanks for all your responses once again, they're all very helpful.

 

[ToffeeLa]

(And if there's a way to do it, please kindly let me know).

Look under Preferences in your profile.

 

[Execute]

Look under Preferences in your profile.

Thanks, didn't know that.
I've looked in it and activated the content notifications.
Seems it's only email notifications for threads I've followed that are activated by default, but I don't use the email address I used for signing up for the forum frequently.

May I suggest to the forum admins that they make notifications for threads one created or has commented on to be activated by default rather than inactive, as it boosts engagement. A user can then turn it off in his Preferences section if he doesn't want it.

I understand that the aim is to reduce noise from unnecessary notifications, but I think the benefits for building community interaction outweighs the noise issue.
Especially since it's just notifications while ON the forum that will be activated by default, rather than email notifications. So you only see the notifications by default when you come on the forum, not clogging up your email.
My humble 2 cents opinion though...