Local cTLD site not showing up in local SERP
-
I have 1 website with 2 cTLD. 1 is with .be another .nl. Both are in Dutch and pretty much with the same content but a different cTLD.
The problem I have is that the .nl website is showing up in my serp on google.be. So I'm not seeing any keyword rankings for the .be website. I want to be able to see only .nl website serp for google.nl and .be serp on google.be
I've already set up hreflang tags since 2-3 weeks and search console confirmed that it's been implemented correctly. I've alsy fetched the site and requested a re-index of the website.
Is there anything else I can do? Or how long do I have to wait till Google will update the serp?
-
Update: Still no improvements in the results even after all the changes have been implemented. Anyone with other suggestions perhaps?
-
Hi Jacob,
Don't use the canonical across both countries. Google will figure out the correct country targeting eventually. If you do this, it will only hurt you.
You won't be penalized for duplicate content, but you can be omitted from search results (per page) if Google has not figured out the country targeting yet. It might think it is the same content, but be patient.
Another thing you can do is enable people to toggle between the .nl and .be site, and accept (for the time being) that you rank with the 'wrong' site.
I'm pretty sure the fix you mentioned below will help you!
- The canonical url doesn't point to the NL or vice versa. It did have another URL as we're getting data from a different system and using wordpress to generate the userfriendly URL. So The canonical still has a different URL. I've made the change to make it exactly the same as the one shown in the URL. I hope it will help in some way.
-
Hi Linda,
Thanks for the feedback.
- The hreflang format is corret, i just checked again. nl-nl and nl-be.
- The canonical url doesn't point to the NL or vice versa. It did have another URL as we're getting data from a different system and using wordpress to generate the userfriendly URL. So The canonical still has a different URL. I've made the change to make it exactly the same as the one shown in the URL. I hope it will help in some way.
- Geotargeting config was set correctly for each account in Search console from the beginning.
- All backlinks are from .be domains except the one with a high spam score. I've already made the request to remove them.
I'm also thinking about referring the canonical url of both nl and be website to the .be domain as the content is the same. What i'm thinking now is that there is a case of duplicate content and perhaps the .be website is somehow being penalized as the one with the duplicate content which is why the nl website is showing up higher than the .be website. Would this help? I mean if I do this, would Google show the correct domain in the correct engine despite both having same content?
-
Hi Antonio,
I actually meant that if you have duplicate content of some kind, your page example.be/xyz may have:
- a canonical to example.be/xyy
- your hreflang might point to example.be/xyz and example.nl/xyz - this should also be example.be/xyy
Did you also check if you used the right format for the hreflang (nl-be)?
And for geotargeting, it is not set by default, so I'd recommend to set it anyway. It can't hurt.
-
Yes, canonicals maybe are pointing to the .nl site, good point Linda. In the same SF crawl Jacob you can check that.
If the domain is .be, Google Search Console will automatically target the domain to Belgium.
-
- This item it's OK
- Yes, you can check it on Crawl stats under Crawl menu. Just to be sure, check the log. There's any user agent detector that can redirect Googlebot to other page?. Check that using "Fetch as Google" under the same menu, or change the useragent in Screaming Frog and crawl your site if there's a differente between the default SF user agent and Googlebot
- Yes, you should use one method, if the tag under head doesn't work (but should), try with the sitemap annotations
- The Spam score should be addressed, but the quality links are from Belgium? (or Belgium oriented sites?)
-
My experience tells me you might need to wait a bit longer.
Other problems you might have:
- Canonicals not pointing to the same URLs as the hreflangs.
- Geotargeting settings in Google Search Console.
- Belgium backlinks (from .be sites) - but this has been mentioned by Antonio.
-
Hey Jacob:
- Do you use Screaming Frog? would be great to double check if there's any directive with noindex that it's hurting your .be visibility (about a few of your pages are being indexed). The "site:" command it's pretty useful to use it on-the-fly, but I would recommend always to check if the URLs in the sitemap.xml are being indexed. Wait 1-2 days to see if after submiting your sitemap there's any change
- I assume you are using Wordpres in a Apache server running php, so, in your File Manager (cPanel) or your FTP software, go to the root directory (one level up to public_html), you should have a "logs" folder with a couple of compressed files. Un-zip them and open it with Notepad or any text editor. Search for Googlebot in the logs and see the most recent request from Googlebot
- Yoast it's a good plugin, I use it, but for this case, maybe should be good to deactivate this feature of the plugin and search for another than can handle hreflang, or do it manually
- Yes, maybe your .be ecosystem is pointing to the .nl site, check it with Open Site Explorer and if this is the case, request a change of domain of each site owner. If not, you should begin to build those links in a proper way
-
Thanks for the reply Antonio.
- Checked the robots and it's not blocking anything. All pages are being indexed as well. when I use site:website.be I do see the results. It's just that the .nl website seems to overtake the .be results.
- Where could I find the log files from Googlebot?
- I'm using Yoast SEO pluging for the XML sitemaps and there's no indication of the language there. i'll double check again.
- Concerning the backlinking, do you mean link building?
I've submitted my sitemap to search console and I did notice that only a few of my pages have been indexed. But When I use "site:" I do get the pages.
-
In my experience this should take no more than 2 weeks after checking href lang are set up properly (but will depend if Googlebot crawl both sites frecuently), the questions I will ask myself in this case are:
- It's pretty dumb, but sometimes we forget the basics, like: are you blocking the site with the robots.txt? noindex tags? something?
- Double check if the href lang is properly implemented
- In your log files there's any presence of Google bot on both sites?
- Assuming you are using tags in the header for href lang: Have you tried to force the href lang implementation with sitemap.xml? https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en
- Have you tried to backlink the .be domain from business partners in Belgium?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
HomePage Stopped Ranking For Brand on Aged Site
I've got an odd issue (that I've never encountered in 27 years in SEO). Our home page stopped ranking for our brand "BlowFish SEO" and is no place to be seen when searching our brand. I do get the knowledge panel on the right-hand side of the page. and our about page now comes up number #1. Technically the on-page SEO is correct This page has ranked for many years for our Brand. If I search blowfish SEO west palm beach I get the home page and all the nice site links. And other various variations of branded search. Our company has lots of mentions across the web and branded backlinks. No manual penalty has been placed on us. Im starting to think some type of negative SEO attack but I can't find it. I do know someone is using my name and brand along with many other companies in cloaked doorway redirected pages to gain SEO leads.. Yeah I know I've complained about it to Google they do nothing about it.. Other things I've checked: No one else seems to be using my brand Home page canonical tag points to itself Title tag contains brand name at the front (rest of site it's at the end) No manual penalty XML sitemap contains home page (and accurate for other pages) To make this even more confusing, if you search the brand name the physical location appears on the right rail with an accurate URL. Ive added an image of the search result when I search BlowFish SEO Please note the top result is PPC the about page is 1st organc Any other ideas that I may be missing? BT8F1fD.png
Local Website Optimization | | BlowFish-SEO0 -
Page Title Local SEO - 2 places
Hello guys, I am from azores are 9 islands in portugal. I live in São Jorge is one island. My question is. If one person seach by Azores Canyoning or São Jorge Canyoning. Because Azores is one region and São Jorge is one island inside Azores. And i want have this two exact keywords in title page. Canyoning is a service. Azores Canyoning - São Jorge Canyoning | Brand Name what is best way to write this title? Or is not good?
Local Website Optimization | | Flaske0 -
Local SEO: thoughts on driving users to a homepage or to a local landing page?
I work with a client who is about to launch a local landing page for one of their locations. They're worried that the new local landing page will cannibalize some of the keyword rankings for the homepage. Any advice on how to have a local presence but still drive people to the more valuable homepage?
Local Website Optimization | | jrridley0 -
Duplicate Content - Local SEO - 250 Locations
Hey everyone, I'm currently working with a client that has 250 locations across the United States. Each location has its own website and each website has the same 10 service pages. All with identical content (the same 500-750 words) with the exception of unique meta-data and NAP which has each respective location's name, city, state, etc. I'm unsure how duplicate content works at the local level. I understand that there is no penalty for duplicate content, rather, any negative side-effects are because search engines don't know which page to serve, if there are duplicates. So here's my question: If someone searches for my client's services in Miami, and my client only as one location in that city, does duplicate content matter? Because that location isn't competing against any of my client's other locations locally, so search engines shouldn't be confused by which page to serve, correct? Of course, in other cities, like Phoenix, where they have 5 locations, then I'm sure the duplicate content is negatively affecting all 5 locations. I really appreciate any insight! Thank you,
Local Website Optimization | | SEOJedi510 -
Recommended blogs and sites about local seo
HI.
Local Website Optimization | | corn2015
Can you please tell me some great blogs/sites to read daily about local seo? I'm really wanting to beef up my knowledge in this area to assist local businesses. Corn1 -
Localize Homepage, or service pages?
Hi so I am curious if a homepage may carry the most link juice, then if you service an entire state, do you include the state name as a keyword in your homepage title to get noticed, or the company brand, resulting in adding service area pages to cater to unique each city that you service? I am just not sure if Google is smart enough to know you service a state? I have my local page with a service area, but is this all I need? So I would not need to add a state name. Like I build horse barns, pole barns, metal buildings, and indoor riding arenas. So I am curious if you would do a title tag like Colorado Builders - Barns, Buildings, and Arenas Or maybe Colorado at the end? Or not at all Thanks for any tips.
Local Website Optimization | | asbchris0 -
Local Rank riddle
Here is a very odd scenario which to me makes very little sense. How can a site rank on Page #1 of Google for let's say "Boston party planner" yet on Page#2 for "party planner Boston"?? Would love some insight on this one. thanks, Chris
Local Website Optimization | | Sundance_Kidd0 -
Out of State Local Search
I've noticed when traveling that a local search (be it city, region, or state) yields different results depending on my physical location. This is very anecdotal, but with an incognito search in my clients city I'll get one result, in a different city about 30 miles away I'll get a slightly different result, in a different state but still only about 30 miles away I'll get another slightly different result, and many states away the result is different still. This isn't very scientific data, but I think something is going on. Have people experienced this? Is anyone aware of research or has an understanding of what can bias a local search in different directions depending on the distance from the area represented by that local search? These don't seem to be fluctuations in ranking, the results are widely different, but mostly constant in their respective locations. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Local Website Optimization | | Oren.0