International Website: Which Structure to Choose?

[shaownhasan]

Which domain to choose for a multilingual site
As usual, the first question to ask yourself before setting up any international SEO strategy is not very different from those we should ask ourselves every day: who is my target? In this specific case, we can decline it as:


How do I want to identify the audience I want to reach, by language or country?

A multilingual website is when a site “offers content in multiple languages. For example, a Canadian company has English and French versions of its site. Google Search tries to find pages that match the user’s language.”

A multi-regional website is instead:

a site that is specifically targeted to users in different countries. For example, a usages of car owner database manufacturer that ships to Canada and the United States. Google Search tries to find the page in the correct region for the user.

— Google Search Console Help

In the Google guide you will find all the information for managing multi-regional and multilingual sites .

Analyze any market

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To learn more, you can read the post: How to study a new market: the 3-step guide .

Choosing Country Targeting (ccTLD)
Traditionally, country targeting was considered the best and was the most recommended, as it allowed for granular audience segmentation and provided a user experience designed to meet the specific characteristics of a country. The most suitable structure for country targeting is obviously the Localized Top Level Domain (ccTLD) .

On the other hand - with the introduction of the hreflang attribute and the setting of target countries from Search Console - Google has made it much easier to transmit correct geographic signals, even if you own a generic domain.

However, choosing a ccTLD is not always the most appropriate choice, and this happens for example when:

The site is new , or in any case it cannot yet count on a strong Trust, therefore it would be more useful to try to increase its authority while keeping the domain unchanged.

You have an audience spread across different countries where the same language is spoken.

There is not enough resources to purchase and maintain localized domains for each country.