The document outlines essential considerations for scaling SEO internationally, emphasizing that localization differs from simple translation and that there are various approaches to target multiple languages and countries. It explains the use of different domain structures (ccTLDs, subdirectories, and subdomains) for specific scenarios, highlighting the importance of hreflang implementation to avoid duplicate content issues. Ultimately, there is no single correct strategy for international SEO, and businesses should choose the approach that best aligns with their resources and objectives.

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Everything You Need
to Know Before Scaling
SEO Internationally

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2014 201920172015

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“Optimization”

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Localizsation ≠ Translation

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“Trainer”

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“Trainer”
“Runner”

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“Trainer”
“Runner”
“Sneaker”

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“The Loo”

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“The Loo”
“The Bathroom”

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“The Loo”
“The Bathroom”
“The Restroom”

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“Football”

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“Football”

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“Football”

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“Football”

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“Soccer”

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And this is just English.

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Swedish: ananas
Danish: ananas
Dutch: ananas
Turkish: ananas
Polish: ananas
German: ananas
Norwegian: ananas
Finnish: ananas
Latin: ananas

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Swedish: ananas
Danish: ananas
Dutch: ananas
Turkish: ananas
Polish: ananas
German: ananas
Norwegian: ananas
Finnish: ananas
Latin: ananas
English: pineapple

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Do I need to be a polyglot to do International SEO?

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Do I need to be a polyglot to do International SEO?
If a Brit can do it, anyone can.

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There’s no “one correct way” to do
international SEO.

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Targeting Options
Language
Your sales process isn’t impacted by the country of your customer.
There isn’t a huge amount of country-level demand in search.
Country
Your sales process is impacted by the country of your customer.
There is significant demand within each country for key search
terms related to your business.
Country + Language
There is significant demand in each country, and there are also
enough opportunities in search to capture demand from multiple
languages that are spoken in that country.

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ccTLDs
(domain.es)
*not applicable for language targeting
1

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Subdirectories
(domain.com/es/)
2

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Subdomains
(es.domain.com)
3

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Do not mix and match.

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ccTLD Country Targeting
1
www.tripadvisor.fr

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ccTLD Country & Language Targeting
(with a subdirectory)1
www.wayfair.ca/fr/

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ccTLD Country & Language Targeting
(with a subdomain)1
fr.airbnb.ca

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When to Use ccTLDs
You have large audiences in each target country.
Resources to develop and maintain multiple web properties.
Resources to run local link building campaigns.
You want to boost the appearance of a local sales presence.
You want to build your brand presence in each target country.
You have different product/service offering in each region.
Resources to develop localized content for each target country.

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Subdirectory Language Targeting
2
www.shutterstock.com/pt/

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Subdirectory Country Targeting
2
www.apple.com/fr/

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Subdirectory Country & Language Targeting
2
www.microsoft.com/pt-br/

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When to Use Subdirectories
You don’t have the resources to build and maintain individual sites.
You don’t have the resources for local link building.
Your product/service offering doesn’t differ much by region.
You want to keep costs low.

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Subdomain Language Targeting
3
fr.yahoo.com

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Subdomain Country Targeting
3
ca.gsk.com

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Subdomain Country & Language Targeting
3
fr-ca.myprotein.com

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When to Use Subdirectories
You don’t have the resources/ability to acquire and manage
individual ccTLDs.
You aren’t able (for tech reasons) to go with subdirectories.

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ccTLDs Subdirectories Subdomains
Geotargeting High Low Medium
Authority Distribution Low High Medium
UX/Conversion High Medium Low
Architecture High Low Medium
Implementation/Maintenance
Ease
Low High Low
The 3 Options Compared

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Hreflang.

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Hreflang
Needs to be set up no matter how you chose to structure your
international site(s) - i.e. ccTLDs, subdomains, subdirectories,
etc.
Used to tell Google which pages are translated/localized
versions of each of your pages.
You can also assign a version as the default URL for all other
country/language variations not specified.
Prevents duplicate content issues across localized content.
It’s very easy to mess this up.

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Example: ccTLD Country Targeting
domain.com (USA)
domain.com/page-b/ (USA)domain.com/page-a/ (USA)
domain.fr (France)
domain.fr/page-a/ (France) domain.fr/page-b/ (France)

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domain.com (USA)
domain.com/page-b/ (USA)domain.com/page-a/ (USA)
domain.fr (France)
domain.fr/page-a/ (France) domain.fr/page-b/ (France)
(purple dashed lines are hreflang links)

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Implementing Hreflang
1. Link elements in the <head>.
2. HTTP headers.
3. XML sitemap annotations.

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Link Elements in the <head>
<link rel="alternate" href="https://trafficthinktank.com/page-name/"
hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://trafficthinktank.fr/page-name/"
hreflang="fr-fr" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://trafficthinktank.es/page-name/"
hreflang="es-es" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://trafficthinktank.com/page-name/"
hreflang="x-default" />

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HTTP Headers
Link: <https://trafficthinktank.com/document.pdf>;
rel="alternate"; hreflang="en-us",
<https://trafficthinktank.fr/document.pdf>;
rel="alternate"; hreflang="fr-fr",
<https://trafficthinktank.es/document.pdf>;
rel="alternate"; hreflang="es-es"

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HTTP Headers
<url>
<loc>https://trafficthinktank.com/page-name/</loc>
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us"
href="https://trafficthinktank.com/page-name/" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr-fr"
href="https://trafficthinktank.fr/page-name/" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-es"
href="https://trafficthinktank.es/page-name/" />
</url>

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Hreflang: Implementation rules.

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Rule 1: content doesn’t need to be an exact
translation to have hreflang added.

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Rule 2: you only need to add hreflang on
pages where you have an alternative.

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domain.com (USA)
domain.com/page-b/ (USA)domain.com/page-a/ (USA)
domain.fr (France)
domain.fr/page-a/ (France)
(purple dashed lines are hreflang links)

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Rule 3: the same hreflang code must be
present on all alternate versions of the page.

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domain.es/page-a/ (Spain)domain.com/page-a/ (USA) domain.fr/page-a/ (France)
(purple dashed lines are hreflang links)
<link rel="alternate" href="https://domain.com/page-a/" hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://domain.fr/page-a/" hreflang="fr-fr" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://domain.es/page-a/" hreflang="es-es" />
This code is in the <head> of all three of the above pages

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Rule 4: only add hreflang to the canonical
version of the page.
Exception: AMP URLs.

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domain.com (USA)
domain.com/page-b/ (USA)domain.com/page-a/ (USA)
domain.fr (France)
domain.fr/page-a/ (France)
(purple dashed lines are hreflang links)
Canonical

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domain.com (USA)
domain.com/page-b/ (USA)domain.com/page-a/ (USA)
domain.fr (France)
domain.fr/page-a/ (France)
(purple dashed lines are hreflang links)
Canonical

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Rule 5: use x-default to state the version of the
page to be served to all languages/countries
not specifically listed.

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domain.es/page-a/ (Spain)domain.com/page-a/ (USA) domain.fr/page-a/ (France)
(purple dashed lines are hreflang links)
<link rel="alternate" href="https://domain.com/page-a/" hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://domain.fr/page-a/" hreflang="fr-fr" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://domain.es/page-a/" hreflang="es-es" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://domain.com/page-a/" hreflang=“x-default” />
x-default is the default ‘catch-all’ page for any location/language not listed explicitly
X-DEFAULT

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Remember: There’s no “one correct way”
to do international SEO.

65. @matthewbarby
Where you can find me: