The document discusses best practices for multinational SEO. It recommends selecting the appropriate international web structure like ccTLDs, subdirectories, or subdomains based on the target country or language. It also stresses the importance of fully localizing all content, design, and metadata for different international audiences. Proper implementation of hreflang tags is highlighted as critical for specifying the language and country of each page version to avoid traffic cannibalization across versions.
2. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Hello Sydney!
#multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
3. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
I’m Aleyda Solis
#multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
4. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
ORAINTI.COM @ALEYDA FB.COM/ALEYDASEOTIPS/
I Do SEO
BITLY.COM/LIBROSEOALEYDA
I PublishI Share
I’m Aleyda Solis
#multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
5. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
I Blog I Speak I’m Featured
I’m Aleyda Solis
#multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
6. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
I help companies to connect with
potential customers all over the world
12. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
If you’re country targeting, select between
ccTLDs, Subdirectories & Subdomains
www.yourbrand.es
www.yourbrand.es/categoria-a/
www.yourbrand.com/es-es/
www.yourbrand.com/es-es/categoria-a/
es-es.yourbrand.com/
es-es.yourbrand.com/categoria-a/
ccTLDs
Sub-directories
w/ gTLDs
Sub-domains
w/ gTLDs
13. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Each have pros & cons to country target
* Need less technical resources
* Need less efforts to grow popularity
* More chances to get all versions penalized if something goes bad
* Need more efforts to geolocate
* Need more technical resources
* Need more efforts to grow popularity
* Better than sub-directories to organize larger & more complex sites
* Need more efforts to geolocate
*Ideal alternative to geolocate if competition is not too high
*Need more technical resources
*Need more efforts to grow popularity with a new domain
ccTLDs
Sub-directories
w/ gTLDs
Sub-domains
w/ gTLDs
14. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
If you’re language targeting, select between
using subdirectories or subdomains
Sub-directories
www.yourbrand.com
www.yourbrand.com/es/categoria-a/
Sub-domains
es.yourbrand.com/
es.yourbrand.com/categoria-a/
15. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Which also have pros & cons to language target
* Need less technical resources
*Need less efforts to grow popularity
*Generates a deeper url structure
*More chances to get all versions penalized if something goes bad
* Need more technical resources
* Need more efforts to grow popularity
* Generates shorter URL structure which can be better for larger sites
Sub-directories
Sub-domains
16. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Take into consideration that Google only
supports countries to geotarget
17. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Verify which Web structures are used
by the top sites in the desired market
13 ccTLDs
vs.
7gTLDs
18. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
As well as those rankings for the
potential top queries in that market
https://serpchecker.com/
7 ccTLDs
vs.
2 gTLDs
19. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
What’s the authority of those top ranking sites?
Can you compete with a new ccTLD?
20. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Yes
Choose your international Web structure
accordingly to make it competitive
What’s your international target?
Country Language
Are your top
competitors using
ccTLDs?
Yes
Is the domain
authority of your
competition higher
&
a concern?
Yes
Use ccTLDs
No
No
Use Geolocalized
Sub-Directories
YesNo Do you need a
flatter & more
differentiated URL
structure?
Use
Sub-Directories
Is the domain
authority of your
competition higher
&
a concern?
Use
Sub-Domains
No
21. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Avoid ranking with a non-relevant Web version
in your international search results
com.au
com.au
com.au
com.au
com.au
com
22. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti#InternationalSEO #12A
Not only with country versions, but also
language ones that cannibalize themselves
Searching from Google Spain
23. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Misaligned pages will have worse rankings,
CTR, user experience and conversions
This happens with a UK ccTLD
25. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Verify which domain extensions are treated
as generic by Google to geolocate if needed
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922
26. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Register & geolocate in GSC each
sub-directory or sub-domain to country target
27. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s better to avoid automatic
redirects based on the IP location
28. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
As you might assume too much and
give a negative user experience
29. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Check which are the IPs of Google’s search
bots and how you treat them via your logs
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6144055
30. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Avoid redirecting them all to the same country
version, which will end-up hurting … like this!
Starts Non-Relevant IP Based Redirects
Redirects are fixed and starts a “slow” recovery
32. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Verify for yourself how you’re doing it
by using a proxy
https://www.hidemyass.com/
33. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Localize every aspect of your
Web content & design
URL
Meta Description
Currency
Menu
Title
Images
H1
34. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Including the URLs. Use transliteration for
non-latin characters.
NO YES
35. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti#InternationalSEO #12A
Get native support to optimize the content
using the relevant terms of the target markets
NO
36. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Automated translations won’t provide the
actual terms used by the target audience
37. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
This is one of the critical areas major brands
often overlook with international markets
YES
38. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Not only the content, but also the design;
based on local preferences & culture
In Japan In the UK
39. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Create a matrix with patterns to generate
your main content elements for each version
<Characteristic> <Main Keyword> in
<Location>: +<No. Of Items> by <Brand>
<Palabra Clave> <Característica> en
<Ubicación>: +<No. de Products> por <Marca>
English Title Spanish Title
40. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Indicate your international targeting
with the meta & html lang tag
http://bit.ly/binglang
41. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
As well as specifying your pages language
and country alternates with hreflang
bit.ly/hreflangannotations
42. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Every page should include its language &
country target, and point to its other versions
English for the US
Default
Spanish for the US
English for the UK
<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.brand.com/dogs/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/dogs/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/perros/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/dogs/“ />
<link rel="canonical" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/perros/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/dogs/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/perros/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/dogs/“ />
brand.com/dogs/
brand.co.uk/dogs/
brand.com/es/perros/
English for the US
<link rel="canonical" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/dogs/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/dogs/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/perros/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/dogs/“ />
43. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Using ISO 639-1 values for languages
and ISO 3166-1 for countries
45. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
You can add them in the HTML Head or in
XML Sitemaps, as well as HTTP Headers
Add them in XML
Sitemaps in non-
flexible sites with
a high number of
versions
Add them in
HTML in sites
with lower
number of
versions & coding
flexibility
46. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Start with only the necessary ones checking
traffic misalignment if there are too many
48. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Adding a country without a language,
which is mandatory
hreflang="pt-br"
hreflang="en-ca"
Not supported
hreflang="es-mx"
hreflang="en-us"
49. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Using underscores instead of dashes to
separate language & country values
hreflang=“fr-ca”
50. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Forgetting to self-refer by specifying
the current URL in the hreflangs
51. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Not referring back at all from one language
or country version to another
52. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Adding non-indexable, canonicalized, error,
redirected or blocked URLs in hreflangs
53. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s critical to avoid these errors so the
hreflang tags are not ignored…
54. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Obtain the correct annotations
with the Hreflang Generator Tool
bit.ly/generatorhreflang
55. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Generate the XML sitemaps along
hreflang tags with the hrefbuilder
hrefbuilder.com
56. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s critical to organize XML sitemaps as granular
as possible to facilitate troubleshooting
Country
Language
Category
57. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Validate the hreflang implementation using
crawlers like Botify that supports it
58. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
With OnPage.org that allows to segment
each international version issues
59. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Or DeepCrawl that verifies hreflang
implemented in XML sitemaps too
60. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Monitor the existence of remaining issues with
the GSC International Targeting report
61. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Prioritize fixing those errors with the
highest number of pages affected
62. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
If you follow these generation & validation
steps you’ll be able to specify them effectively
63. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
And grow your international search visibility
with effectively geolocalized Web versions
64. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Focusing on increasing not only your traffic
but also revenue
seomonitor.com