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That little checkbox for “geographic targeting” in Google Webmaster can be quite helpful in some situations (affiliate marketing, anyone?) Here are some quick tips about this feature, and some insight into why you just might want to isolate your site to a specific country.

In case you haven’t heard of it before, Google Webmaster has an option that lets your website “target” a specific country. This feature may give your site some preferential treatment in the country you choose. Located in Site Configuration > Settings, you’ll be able to click a checkbox next to “Target users in:”, unlocking a massive drop-down of countries. Choosing one will geographically target your site to that country.

This won’t mean that you’re guaranteed anything, or that you’ll get boosted in that country’s SERPs, but it does help Google associate your site more specifically with that region. One thing it might do is put LESS importance on your site in other countries.

One of the most helpful cases where the geographic targeting feature makes sense is in affiliate marketing. Say, for instance, you’re running an eBay affiliate site within Canada. Knowing how eBay Publisher Network (eBay’s affiliate program) evaluates your performance in terms of clicks vs. earnings, you’ll want to keep your clicks as low as possible. That means being “unseen” in as many countires outside of Canada as possible, as any of those international clicks will never amount to a sale on eBay Canada. It’s especially beneficial to a Canadian webmaster running a .com site, instead of a .ca site.

I’ve done this myself: using a .us domain name (which is automatically geo-targeted to the USA, like it or not), my site only received occasional visits from Canada and the UK, with an overwhelming majority in the US. That’s exactly what I wanted, too, since all of my affiliate links were strictly going to eBay – not eBay Canada or eBay UK.

Note that if you’re using any other country specific domain extension, Google Webmaster will automatically bind your site to that country. There are a few exceptions, including .tv and .me, which can be geographically changed to any other country you want.

With the rise of localization this year, expect “being local” to be one of the biggest deals in internet marketing. Got plans to go international? Create subdomains like uk.mysite.com, fr.mysite.com, etc., and geo-target each one specifically to a seperate country in Google Webmaster (remember, subdomains count as seperate domain names!)

Let the geographic targeting feature be an initial step toward getting the visitors you really want, and remaining a little more hidden to the rest.