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.

1. Multinational SEO
#multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti

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

7. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
With a sustainable organic traffic growth

8. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Generating actual customers,
conversions & profit from them

9. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
But often you can’t compete with the
selected International Web structure
VS

10. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Avoid using scripts or cookies showing your
international Web versions with the same URLs

11. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
As well as parameters for your
international Web structure

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

24. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Check if you’re suffering from this already!

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

31. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Suggest the relevant international
version instead

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

44. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Without changing the canonical tags
configuration

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

47. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Beware of including incorrect hreflang values
hreflang="en-gb"

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

65. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
To diversify your profitability multinationally

66. #multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti
Thank you!
#multinationalSEO at #SMS2017 by @aleyda from @orainti