Internationalisation and SEO

Internationalisation and search engine optimisation is a prevalent technical issue for multinational companies or even for smaller companies hoping to take their product to international…

Internationalisation and search engine optimisation is a prevalent technical issue for multinational companies or even for smaller companies hoping to take their product to international countries. Realistically it should be an easy issue to solve but, unfortunately, each different solution has it’s own pros and cons. Below is a break down of the three different options available for internationalisation.

ccTLD’s

One of the most obvious solutions available is to use a ccTLD. A ccTLD is a type of top-level domain which is country-coded, for example: and .fr. These are ideal when a site has a very different design and structure for each different country.

Advantages

  • They make a lot of sense for local SEO, particularly when combined with hosting in that country.
  • A, usually, instantly recognisable country of origin, so great for usability.
  • Great chance of getting links from directories in that country, amongst other links.
  • Perfect for separating country-specific content in an obvious way to both users and search engines.

Disadvantages

  • Has a completely different profile to all other domains, so needs a unique SEO strategy – all links pointing to other international websites with the same name don’t mean anything.
  • It can sometimes be a lot more work to maintain multiple domains and servers.
  • Some ccTLDs come with a hefty price tag which makes the cheapness of .com domains incredibly enticing.

Subfolders

An option taken by companies like Apple is to use subfolders (http://apple/uk/) which is a fantastic option for people who prefer the neatness and value of only using one domain.

Advantages

  • Despite being on an individual domain, separate folders can be targeted using Google Webmasters.
  • The domain will likely be a standard, so linking to it will be easier when compared to different ccTLDs or subdomains.
  • All off-site SEO effort pointing to the website will even count towards the power of the subdirectories.
  • A cheaper option than purchasing a load of separate domains.
  • More easy to manage, especially with features like multiple site control emerging in open source software like WordPress.

Disadvantages

  • On larger sites, the URL anatomy can be quite messy (though if handled well, it can look very slick).
  • Could be confusing to people looking for international versions of the site with other methods (ie, trying – though purchasing separate domains and redirecting is an option).
  • Unable to benefit from hosting each different part of the site in the country of origin.

Subdomains

Utilising subdomains is similar to subdomains, it means only purchasing an individual domain and is great for people who are looking for a flat architecture. This is something seen in use by companies like Reuters (http://reuters/).

Advantages

  • Low cost – all good hosts put very few restrictions on subdomains so there could potentially be no limit to the number of subdomains allowed on a site, so only one domain is required.
  • Each subdomain can be hosted in the targeted country easily.
  • Easily recognisable country from the domain, so great for usability.
  • Each separate subdomain can be easily controlled from Google Webmasters.
  • Some of the value of links to the root domain are distributed across to the subdomains and vice versa.

Disadvantages

  • Some value is lost from links that aren’t pointing directly to the subdomain so extra link building is required.
  • The rist of people mis-typing links is much higher as people are more like to accidentally link to the root domain.
  • Maintaining several subdomains can be different, especially if servers are different.
  • The similarity between each domain is minimal, so if the link structure is different it can be confusing to the user if they try and find the same page on a different international website.

Bonus: Other Problems You May Encounter and How to Solve Them

It’s easy to forget the basics when there is something as complicated as international SEO involved, so below are a few basics to keep in mind.

Duplicate Content

Remember, if you’re heading a country like America or Canada there is a significant risk of penalty because of duplicate content, so you must make sure that the content on each site is unique or you have correct canonical tags in place. Obviously if the content is in a completely different language there shouldn’t be too much chance of penalisation, but make sure a professional copywriter fluent in that language is hired for the job. That way text can be improved for readability on the different sites for each country.

Lower Rankings Caused by Hosting

This is a big one – it’s been found that having hosting located in the target country is likely to aid rankings, so make sure that this is top of your list. Of course, another option is to head into Google Webmasters and set the “Geographic Target” by hitting “Settings”, checking “Target users in:” and selecting the correct country from the dropdown.

Local links in target country

This will be a massive aid in ranking for local searches in the target country, so try and get plenty of links from people in the target country. Algorithms are clever enough now to know when there are a lot of links coming from the target country, then it should probably rank well in that country when someone searches from an IP address there.

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Jason John MillsWritten by Jason John Mills

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