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An accurate approach for multilingual, multi-geo-locational and international websites with SEO consideration

Published by admin in Search engines (SEO, SEM) at November 3, 2009 | 0 x discussed | | | | |

I have many times considered an challenging situation when i would be asked to advice regarding website structure/domain/geo location/seo/ip - isuues. Namely: how to optimise (a new project) website(s) when targeting different geolocations, with differetn languages,..

http://www.seoguru.nl/seo-blog/update-seo-tutorial-on-geo-targeting-and-language-targeting/

 

This is a valuable resource, since the whole situation is systematicaly thought through.

let me backup the table here :):

 

Explanation used variables in design model

# The number of the variant discussed
Description Short description of the variant
Eg (Geo/Lang) An example described by Geographic location / Language. In the examples, especially The Netherlands and Belgium are used, since in both countries Dutch is spoken. Belgium’s second language is French.
TLD The Top Level Domain (eg. .com, .eu, .nl, etc.). Country-neutral TLD’s are .com, .eu. .net, etc. World-wide TLD’s are .com, .net, etc.
URL The URL
GT The Geographic Target, which is an input field in Google Webmaster Tools. This field is disabled for country-specific TLD’s.

More info:
- better-geographic-choices
- targeting-geographic-location
IP Requirements on the IP-address, which means: the server location. This column in the design model describes why none of the variants have limitations on the server location, since Google is able to determine the specific country without needing the IP-address.

More info: server-location-cross-linking

 

Design model for websites targeting multiple countries and/or languages

#
Description
Eg (Geo/Lang)
TLD
URL
GT
IP
1
One country,
one language
G=Netherlands/ L=Dutch
.nl
www.domain.nl
Disabled
doesn’t matter
(country by TLD)
2
One country,
several languages
G=Belgium/
L=Dutch, French

 

 

 

 

2a
Solution I:
subdomains

 
.be
nl.domain.be,
fr.domain.be
Disabled
doesn’t matter
(country by TLD)

2b
Solution II:
subdirs

 
.be
www.domain.be/nl
www.domain.be/fr
Disabled
doesn’t matter
(country by TLD)
3
Several countries, one similar language
G=Belgium, Netherlands/ L=Dutch

 

 

 

 
3a
Solution I:
multiple domains

 
.be, .nl
www.domain.be
www.domain.nl
Disabled
doesn’t matter
(country by TLD)
3b
Solution II:
subdomains

 
country-neutral
be.domain.eu
nl.domain.eu
be.domain.eu:
“Belgium”

nl.domain.eu:
“Netherlands”
doesn’t matter
(country by GT)
3c
Solution III:
subdirs

 
country-neutral
www.domain.eu/be
www.domain.eu/nl
www.domain.eu/be:
“Belgium”

www.domain.eu/nl:
“Netherlands”
doesn’t matter
(country by GT)
4
The world
G=Belgium/ L=Dutch, French

G=Netherlands/ L=Dutch

G=France/ L=French

 

 

 

 
4a
Solution I:
multiple domains

 
For every country apply #1 (when country has one language) or #2 (when country has multiple languages)
4b
Solution II:
one domain
country=subdomain
language=subdir

 
world-wide
be.domain.com/nl + be.domain.com/fr

nl.domain.com
fr.domain.com
be.domain.com:
“Belgium”

nl.domain.com:
“Netherlands”

fr.domain.com:
“France”
doesn’t matter
(country by GT)
4c
Solution III:
one domain
language=subdomain
country=subdir

 
world-wide
nl.domain.com/be + fr.domain.com/be

www.domain.com/nl
www.domain.com/fr
nl.domain.com/be:
“Belgium”

fr.domain.com/be:
“Belgium”

nl.domain.com:
“Netherlands”

fr.domain.com:
“France”
doesn’t matter
(country by GT

 

Does that make sense?