For years it has been common practice for many global websites to use geo-location to target site visitors to country-specific versions. The question is: should you employ these methods for your own visitors?  Could you be alienating users by doing this? Here are some aspects to consider before you jump in and begin geo-targeting your site traffic.

Is it different based on country?

Do you have country-specific content on your site?  Would a visitor receive the identical content regardless of which country specific version of the site they visit?  If the content is identical, the risks will probably outweigh the benefits,  especially when you could have issues with duplicate content (a major no/no with search engines).

Languages

If you offer your site in multiple languages be sure to offer a choice (especially if you target a country where there are multiple languages spoken).  Nike.com is a great example of how to do this right.

Pricing

Showing country-specific pricing and products is one of the main reasons sites use geo-targeting.  You should use geo-targeting to default to those country currencies, so Canadians will see Canadian pricing with CDN after the price, while the US pricing will have USD.  Depending on how your site is laid out, it could be easy for someone to switch between formats.

Product specifics & availability

Is your product restricted in certain countries or states?  With geo-targeting you could ensure your visitors see the correct information only they need.  Likewise, perhaps you must have specific information for a product sold in Canada but not the US.  For example Amazon has sites for .com, .ca and .co.uk (along with others) — each site contains product pages customized for each location, such as pricing and country-specific shipping information, along with product specifics for the location the product is being sold to. The same tactics could easily be deployed on affiliate landing pages.

Choices

If you decide I am from Canada, feel free to send me to the Canadian version of the site but give me the option to go to the US version if I so please.  Expedia.com will ask you if you want the Expedia.ca version of the site if you are coming from a Canadian IP.  Other sites, such as Softmoc.com, will not allow anyone from a Canadian IP to go to the US version of the site, even if clicking on a US specific URL

Never assume

If you are geo-targeting your traffic, don’t automatically assume you know where countries you don’t target will automatically go. Our Canadian friends despise when sites forward them off to the .co.uk site instead of the US version. It is better to play it safe, and send people to the version where the company is based, and let them decide from there. Consumer choice equals power.

Allow the default option

If your site has the potential whereby visitors will return repeatedly and might always want the US version, give them the option to set it as default. Geo-targeting can be an extremely useful tool for sites to deliver relevant content to visitors based on what country they reside in.  While there are obviously a lot of avenues one should take into account before blindly turning on a geo-targeting feature, if you approach it logically and troubleshoot for the above examples, you can turn geo-targeting into a successful business and marketing tactic.