1. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT#GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
OPTIMIZING YOUR ONLINE STORE FOR
INTERNATIONAL SEARCH MARKETS
AND HOW TO IMPLEMENT IT IN TOP ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS

2. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://CDN.SHOPIFY.COM/S/FILES/1/0898/4708/FILES/THE_GLOBAL_ECOMMERCE_PLAYBOOK.PDF
Selling abroad can be a great way to diversify your
ecommerce business and scale your shop revenue…

3. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
There’s an
important
ecommerce
organic search
traffic
opportunity
outside the US…
SIMILARWEB

4. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://MARKETFINDER.THINKWITHGOOGLE.COM/
Tools like Google’s
Market Finder will
suggest potential
opportunities

5. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WWW.ALEYDASOLIS.COM/ENGLISH/INTERNATIONAL-SEO-TOOLS/ROI-CALCULATOR/
However, you
should take into
consideration
your own
expected ROI to
prioritize them

6. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WWW.NEWSBREAK.COM/NEWS/0OYISZHM/NOMAMES-KMARTS-EMBARRASSING-MAMASTE-AD-WAS-UNINTENTIONAL-COMPANY-SAYS
DON’T
DO THIS
… while
delivering the
best localized
search experience
in a language you
don’t speak

7. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Is the assessment positive?
It might be time to go abroad …
>
Yes No
Might be too early
BUY & SECURE
YOUR CCTLDS
FOR FUTURE
ACTIVITY
CREATE
CUSTOM
ALERTS
TEST SELLING IN
EXISTING
MARKETPLACES
YOUR INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC POTENTIAL
AND OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY
VISITS & CONVERSIONS FOR A BREAK-EVEN
CONTINUE WITH THE
INTERNATIONAL WEB &
SEO PROJECT

8. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
You need to tackle the most common
international SEO implementation challenges
HOW TO SCALE
LOCALIZATION OF
CATEGORIES AND
PRODUCTS WITH
LITTLE RESOURCES?
WHAT’S THE BEST
INTL WEB
STRUCTURE TO
TARGET NEW
MARKETS?
HOW TO
IMPLEMENT
HREFLANG TO RANK
WITH MILLIONS OF
URLS WITHOUT
TRIGGERING
ERRORS?

9. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
… Let’s see how to do this in 3 of
the most popular e-commerce platforms

10. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
WHAT’S THE BEST INTERNATIONAL WEB
STRUCTURE TO USE TO TARGET NEW
MARKETS?
#GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT

11. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
For example, SoleRebels supports international
shipping & multi-currency w/ the same URL structure
Not the best
to scale
targeting
multilingual or
localized search
potential
Good first step
for international
shopping support

12. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Are your top
competitors in
new target
markets using
ccTLDs?
Yes
Yes
USE A NEW
CCTLD FOR
THE NEW
COUNTRY
MARKET
No
No
USE GEOLOCALIZED
SUBDIRECTORIES IN
YOUR CURRENT GTLD.
IF YOU CAN’T, USE
SUBDOMAINS IN
CURRENT GTLD.
… if you need a differentiated Web structure to target
a new country, what should it be?
You’re using a ccTLDYou’re using a gTLD
Are you using
a gTLD or
ccTLD for
your existing
market?
Yes
Yes
No
No
USE GEOLOCALIZED
SUBDIRECTORIES IN
A NEW GTLD. IF YOU
CAN’T, USE
SUBDOMAINS IN
NEW GTLD.
Is the popularity/
authority of your
competition very
high?
Are your top
competitors in
new target
markets using
ccTLDs?
Is the popularity/
authority of your
competition very
high?
USE A NEW
CCTLD FOR
THE NEW
COUNTRY
MARKET

13. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
JD Sports target countries via ccTLDs, which
are by default geolocated to each market
Geolocated
by default but
split authority
between
different
properties

14. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Asos target countries w/ sub-directories under a gTLD…
Needs
to geolocate
each in the GSC
but consolidates
authority in a
single domain

15. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
… each sub-directory (or subdomain) needs to be
geolocated via the Search Console to its relevant country

16. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Don’t target
continents as a
whole: their
geolocation is not
supported and
language/search
behavior is likely
different per
country
HTTPS://SUPPORT.GOOGLE.COM/WEBMASTERS/ANSWER/182192?HL=EN&REF_TOPIC=2370587

17. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
If you are
required to use
continent
versions,
implement as if
they were
gTLDs, enabling
country
subdirectories to
be geolocated…

18. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
…otherwise it may be difficult to geolocate your EU
version and achieve a positive ROI
What countries
should this EU
version in English
target if there’s
already a UK version
in English?

19. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
How to implement these international Web structures
in the most popular e-commerce platforms?

20. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://HELP.SHOPIFY.COM/EN/MANUAL/SELL-ONLINE/MULTILINGUAL-ONLINE-STORE
Shopify supports multi-language targeting, relying
on translation apps and compatible themes

21. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://APPS.SHOPIFY.COM/BROWSE/STORE-DESIGN-TRANSLATIONS
You’ll need a few Freemium apps like Translation Lab
and Weglot…

22. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
…they allow you to
enable sub-
directories for each
targeted language
via the translation
app in the store
admin
HTTPS://APPS.SHOPIFY.COM/CONTENT-TRANSLATION

23. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
However, Shopify doesn’t
support a “multi-country”
configuration. You’ll need to
create independent stores to
geolocate via subdomains or
independent domains
HTTPS://WWW.SHOPIFY.COM/BLOG/SHOPIFY-STORE-MULTIPLE-COUNTRIES

24. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Like they have done

25. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Woocommerce has
WordPress multilingual
and multi-country
plugins support, so
there’s more flexibility
to target multiple
countries or languages
HTTPS://WORDPRESS.ORG/PLUGINS/TAGS/MULTILINGUAL/

26. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WORDPRESS.ORG/PLUGINS/TAGS/MULTILINGUAL/
Many of these multilingual plugins offer specific
Woocommerce integration

27. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WORDPRESS.ORG/PLUGINS/POLYLANG/HTTPS://WORDPRESS.ORG/PLUGINS/POLYLANG/
These allow to select from sub-directories,
sub-domains or domains for international versions

28. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
… Supporting
also country
versions, besides
languages
HTTPS://WORDPRESS.ORG/PLUGINS/POLYLANG/

29. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://DOCS.MAGENTO.COM/M2/CE/USER_GUIDE/STORES/STORE-LANGUAGE-ADD.HTML
Magento also supports multilingual and country stores
versions through different “Stores” or “Store Views”

30. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://DOCS.MAGENTO.COM/M2/CE/USER_GUIDE/STORES/STORE-LANGUAGE-ADD.HTML
For which you can use different domains,
subdomains or subdirectories

31. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
HOW TO SCALE CATEGORIES AND
PRODUCTS CONTENT LOCALIZATION WITH
LITTLE RESOURCES
#GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT

32. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Going native can make
or break global sales
HTTPS://WWW.SHOPIFY.COM/ENTERPRISE/INTERNATIONAL-ECOMMERCE-ISSUES

33. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
The localization of your content is key to connect with
your international audience preferences/behavior

34. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
The goal is to
localize the
different user-
facing areas of
your shop, from
URLs, navigation,
metadata,
descriptions,
slogans,
notifications…

35. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Like this

36. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
But how you can do it with dozens of countries,
hundreds of categories and thousands of products?

37. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
It’s about having an iterative/incremental approach,
from translation to localization up to transcreation…
HTTPS://WWW.LIONBRIDGE.COM/BLOG/TRANSLATION-LOCALIZATION/TRANSLATION-LOCALIZATION-TRANSCREATION-WHAT-YOU-NEED-AND-WHEN/

38. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Audience Search Behavior Research Per Country by Native SEO/Marketer
… aligning it within your Ecommerce International
SEO process based on your available resources
Phase 1
All Website
Pages Per
Country Version
for the Launch
Phase 2
Top
Website Pages
per Version
(Categories,
Brands,
Products)
Automated translation via
plugin/app integration
Native human validation of app translation
using audience search behavior research
Rest of the
Website Version
Pages
Relevant Pages
Per Country
Version
Phase 3
On-Demand
Localization/
Transcreation efforts

39. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
<Characteristic> <Main Keyword> in <Location>:
+<No. Of Items> by <Brand>
<Palabra Clave> <Característica> en <Ubicación>:
+<No. de Products> por <Marca>
English Title Spanish Title
Establishing multi-country patterns to generate
the main content elements for each page type

40. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
How to follow this process with
the most popular e-commerce platforms?

41. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WWW.DEEPL.COM/QUALITY.HTML
Leveraging the highest quality of new generation
of AI based translation solutions like DeepL …

42. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WWW.DEEPL.COM/PRO-TOOL_INTEGRATION.HTML
Some of these tools will also offer integration with
CAT tools for translators to accelerate their work

43. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://APPS.SHOPIFY.COM/COLLECTIONS/APPS-FOR-STORE-LANGUAGES
These platforms have also supported third-party
translation apps featured in apps/plugins marketplaces

44. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://APPS.SHOPIFY.COM/COLLECTIONS/APPS-FOR-STORE-LANGUAGES
Like Translation Lab for Shopify, that offers direct
Automated Translations

45. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://MARKETPLACE.MAGENTO.COM/EXTENSIONS/CONTENT-CUSTOMIZATIONS/TRANSLATIONS-LOCALIZATION.HTML
Something similar
happens with
Magento translation &
localization
extensions, although
most of these are paid
(not-freemium, unlike
Shopify)

46. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
And then also with WP/Woocommerce translation
plugins, allowing by default manual translations…
POLYLANG & WPML

47. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Integrating with third-party translation solutions, both
automated as on-demand services

48. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WORDPRESS.ORG/PLUGINS/WPDEEPL/
The most
powerful
solutions like
DeepL offer paid
APIs and plugins
that facilitate
connection with
WordPress/
Woocommerce
multilingual
plugins too

49. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
HOW TO IMPLEMENT HREFLANG TO RANK
WITH THE RIGHT PAGES WITHOUT
TRIGGERING ERRORS WHEN YOU HAVE
MILLIONS OF URLS?
#GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT

50. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
The goal of hreflang
annotations is to
specify which is the
relevant page version
that should be shown
in each country/
language market in
search results to avoid
misalignment

51. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Indexable URLs in different languages & countries
versions should be tagged w/ their relevant values
HTTPS://SUPPORT.GOOGLE.COM/WEBMASTERS/ANSWER/189077?HL=EN

52. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
They can be implemented via the HTML head, HTTP
header or XML Sitemap, which have pros & cons
BETTER FOR SMALL
NUMBER OF
VERSIONS TO TAG
AND WHEN USING A
PLATFORM THAT
EASILY EDITS THE
HTML HEAD
HTML Head
BETTER FOR BIGGER
SITES WITH A HIGH
NUMBER OF
VERSIONS TO TAG
AND/OR WHEN YOU
CAN’T EDIT YOUR
HTML HEAD
XML Sitemap
WHEN SPECIFYING
HREFLANG FOR
NON-HTML
DOCUMENTS LIKE
PDFS, DOCS, ETC.
HTTP Header

53. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
Unfortunately, implementing hreflang annotations
without triggering errors is also complex

54. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
English for the US
Default
English for The US
English for the UK
<link rel="canonical" href=“https://www.shop.ch/fr/chaussures/“ />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://www.shop.ch/fr/chaussures/" hreflang=“fr-ch" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://www.shop.com/shoes/" hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href=“https://www.shop.co.uk/shoes/" hreflang="en-gb" />
<link rel="canonical" href=“https://www.shop.com/shoes/“ />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://www.shop.ch/fr/chaussures/" hreflang=“fr-ch" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://www.shop.com/shoes/" hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href=“https://www.shop.co.uk/shoes/" hreflang="en-gb" />
shop.ch/fr/chaussures/
shop.co.uk/shoes/
shop.com/shoes/
French for Switzerland
<link rel="canonical" href=“https://www.shop.co.uk/shoes/“ />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://www.shop.ch/fr/chaussures/" hreflang=“fr-ch" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://www.shop.com/shoes/" hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href=“https://www.shop.co.uk/shoes/" hreflang="en-gb" />
This is because every page should include its language
& country targeting, and point to its other versions

55. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
… and can easily become a complex implementation in
scenarios that are found in ecommerce sites
HIGH NUMBER OF
URLS PER COUNTRY/
LANGUAGE
VERSIONS
HIGHLY DYNAMIC
INVENTORY OF
PRODUCTS
LACK OF PARITY
BETWEEN
PRODUCTS AND
COLLECTIONS
BETWEEN
INTERNATIONAL
MARKETS

56. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
It’s then critical to
prioritize hreflang
implementation
based on your
characteristics and
needs

57. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITSEMRUSH
Use the Search
Console and
Analytics or SEO tool
of choice to ID if
your pages are
ranking in non-
relevant markets (eg:
UK pages in the US)

58. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
How can you implement hreflang annotations
in the most important e-commerce platforms?

59. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
WP/Woocommerce multilingual plugins include hreflang
if there are alternate pages versions for that URL

60. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WWW.MAGEWORX.COM/MAGENTO-2-SEO-EXTENSION.HTML
Hreflang is also
supported by
Mageworx Magento
2 SEO extension,
that allows you to
specify in which
types of pages they
should be included,
as well as values

61. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://SHOPIFY.DEV/TUTORIALS/DEVELOP-THEME-LOCALIZATION-ADD-HREFLANG#WHAT-IS-A-HREFLANG-TAG
Shopify allows to edit the theme.liquid layout page to
include hreflang pointing to each version canonical URLs

62. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITHTTPS://WWW.HREFLANGBUILDER.COM/
If you want further
flexibility and implement
hreflang annotations via
XML Sitemaps, you can
use also paid solutions
like the hreflang builder

63. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITRYTE & SITEBULB
Crawl the implementation before and after releasing
to identify potential hreflang validity issues

64. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMITCONTENTKING & LITTLE WARDEN
Set alerts to warn whenever hreflang
configurations are changed

65. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJESUMMIT
By following these steps you’ll avoid the most
common International SEO Challenges
SCALING YOUR
CATEGORIES AND
PRODUCTS CONTENT
LOCALIZATION WITH
LITTLE RESOURCES
SELECTING THE
BEST
INTERNATIONAL WEB
STRUCTURE TO
TARGET THE NEW
MARKETS
IMPLEMENTING
HREFLANG TO RANK
WITH THE RIGHT
PAGES WITHOUT
TRIGGERING ERRORS

66. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
While taking into consideration the features and
constraints of the most popular e-commerce platforms…
PLATFORM FEATURES & FLEXIBILITY SHOPIFY WOOCOMMERCE MAGENTO
INTERNATIONAL WEB STRUCTURE
NO SUBDIRECTORIES SUPPORT
FOR COUNTRIES
SUBDIRECTORIES,
SUBDOMAINS AND CCTLDS
SUPPORT VIA PLUGINS
BUILT-IN SUBDIRECTORIES,
SUBDOMAINS AND CCTLDS
SUPPORT
CONTENT TRANSLATION/LOCALIZATION PLUGINS/EXTENSIONS PLUGINS/EXTENSIONS PLUGINS/EXTENSIONS
HREFLANG ANNOTATIONS VIA PLATFORM CODE EDITION PLUGINS/EXTENSIONS PLUGINS/EXTENSIONS

67. #GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJSUMMIT
…To successfully scale and diversify your conversions
across different countries and languages

68. #youtubeseo at #smxadvanced by @aleyda from @orainti
Thanks! Questions?
#GLOBALECOMMERCESEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI AT #SEJESUMMIT
I’m Aleyda Solis
* SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti
* SEO Speaker at +100 Events in +20 countries
* Author “SEO. Las Claves Esenciales.”
* Crawling Mondays YouTube SEO Video Series Host
* #SEOFOMO Newsletter Wrangler
* Blogger in Search Engine Land & Search Engine Journal
* Featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post
* European Search Personality of the Year in 2018