In a nutshell:
- International websites often fail due to geotargeting details—incorrect hreflang tags, unclear country structure, duplicate content.
- The result: Google displays the wrong language version.
- We’ll show you which structures work for multilingual SME websites and which technical pitfalls must be avoided at all costs.
Internationalization is also a hot topic in e-commerce, both to reach consumers in other markets and to build brand loyalty among them. If you want to optimize your website for the best possible SEO traffic in other languages and countries, you’ll need to make a few decisions upfront and meet certain requirements. Furthermore, with the right internationalization strategy, it’s possible to achieve profitable synergy effects between individual country sites.
Top-level domain, subdomain, or subfolder?
Anyone who has decided to launch their online presence in other languages and other countries should first decide how they want to host the new, foreign-language content. From an SEO perspective, each option has its pros and cons.
Subdirectories for all languages used:
The advantage of this option is that website hosting costs remain quite reasonable—since only one domain is used. Additionally, the root domain benefits from inbound links from external sites. However, this option has a drawback regarding geotargeting, as backlinks from different countries also accumulate on a single root domain. This results in ambiguous link signals for Google, which can lead to targeting issues for the correct country subfolder. Furthermore, country-specific top-level domains with country-specific domain extensions are not suitable for this approach, as they can be off-putting to international visitors, ultimately leading to lower click-through rates.
Example:
- www.companyurl.com/de
- www.companyurl.com/fr
- www.companyurl.com/es
Subdomains for all languages used:
With this option, hosting fees are also incurred only for the root domain, since any number of subdomains can be installed on it. However, subdomains behave like independent domains, so the power of external links is not fully passed on to the root domain. Consequently, links between subdomains act like external links, making country-specific link marketing necessary.
Example:
- de.companyurl.com/
- fr.companyurl.com/
- es.companyurl.com/
Country-specific top-level domains:
This option is the most administratively complex, but it makes the most sense from an SEO perspective, as it allows for targeted country-specific link building. Because all domains operate independently of one another, search results appear more credible to the user—since they are redirected to a country-specific top-level domain. While this option generally involves more effort and higher costs, it pays off in the long run from an SEO perspective. It also makes sense to avoid parameter-based language selection and JavaScript, as both are partially unreadable by Google or can cause confusion. However, it is now known—contrary to previous assumptions—that it is not necessary to host the respective language version of the website on a server in the corresponding target country.
Example:
- www.companyurl.de/
- www.companyurl.com/
- www.companyurl.es/
Different language versions within a single country
Anyone wishing to operate a website in multiple languages within a specific country should opt for a hybrid of the three options presented above. For example, if a Swiss company wants to create a website in both German and French, a hybrid consisting of a top-level domain and a subdomain is possible. Additionally, using Google Webmaster Tools, you can configure which subdomain or subfolder is assigned to which language for top-level domains such as xyz.com, xyz.net, or xyz.org. Furthermore, the desired target language can be communicated to search engines by using a meta tag in the website’s source code. The so-called “language” meta tag functions syntactically and, in relation to the example above, as follows:
Example:
- de.companyurl.ch
- fr.companyurl.ch
How to effectively link country-specific pages: “hreflang” tag title
Nevertheless, even when the measures described above are implemented, German websites may still rank higher than the specific country versions in Austria or Switzerland, for example, because they have greater relevance for Google and stronger SEO signals. As a result, Austrian customers of an online store, for example, may see the wrong currency, the wrong delivery area, or an inappropriate user greeting. Google was also aware of this issue and addressed it by introducing the hreflang attribute. This attribute allows the different language versions to be directly communicated to Google, thereby strengthening the country-specific versions for the relevant target country. For example, someone who operates an online store in Austria and has set up a country-specific domain for Germany can clearly communicate the existence of their language version to Google in the header section of their Austrian website using the hreflang attribute for Germany:
Example:
<link rel="”alternate”" hreflang="”ch”" href="”https://www.companyurl.ch/”">
This option can also be used in a multilingual country like Switzerland to tell Google exactly which language region the respective page is intended for:
Example:
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”de-CH” href=”https://de.companyurl.ch/” />
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”fr-CH” href=”https://fr.companyurl.ch/” />
Another advantage is that, with the introduction of the hreflang tag, the content of a German-language domain in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland does not necessarily have to be unique to prevent Google from penalizing it. Rather, Google recognizes that the different websites are intended for different markets, thereby justifying the duplicate content. However, this code must be implemented on every subpage that has an identical page on another domain.
Different countries, different customs – website content
However, it is not only the technical adjustments mentioned above that are crucial for creating the websites, but also their content. Thus, the content of the different language versions should not only be coherent but also align with the technical signals of the respective page for Google. Accordingly, it makes sense for all text containing titles and meta descriptions, as well as the URLs, to be written in the respective language of the corresponding domain. Only in this way can it be ensured that unambiguous signals are communicated to Google. Furthermore, keyword targeting should be adapted to the specific search behavior of the respective country. It happens that the same product or keyword has a very high search volume in one country but very little relevance in another. The reasons for this are varied, depending not only on cultural and climatic factors but also on the population of the respective country:
- Monthly search volume for the keyword “bikini” in Germany (Google DE): 90,500
- Monthly search volume for the keyword “Bikini” in Italy (Google IT): 14,800
- Monthly search volume for the keyword “Bikini” in Norway (Google NO): 6,600
Differences also arise when a language is spoken in different countries or regions, such as German in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, or French in France, Canada, and Switzerland. Due to varying cultural influences, this not only leads to different uses of words but also, in some cases, to different meanings. In Switzerland, for example, the word “Velo” is generally used for the term “bicycle.” For this reason, it makes sense to tailor keyword targeting differently for the various country domains, as this is the only way to account for regional differences.
Summary:
In general, it can be stated that a successful internationalization strategy requires, on the one hand, that certain technical prerequisites be met, and on the other hand, that the content of the websites or specific country domains be tailored to the respective target country. Unlike the technical setup, which requires a greater amount of work—especially at the beginning—and decreases over time, content creation is an ongoing process. This process should—from the very start—be tailored to the cultural characteristics and the needs of users in the respective target country. That is why it makes sense to take a closer look at the specific characteristics of the target country and consider collaborating with native speakers.