How to avoid duplication across multiple country domains
-
Here's the scenario:
- I have a client currently running one Shopify site (AU)
- They want to launch three more country domains (US, UK and EU)
- They want each to be a standalone site, primarily so the customers can purchase in their local currency, which is not possible from a single Shopify site
- The inventory is all from the same source
- The product desscriptions will all be the same as well
Question: How do we avoid content duplication (ie. how will canonical tags work in this scenario)?
-
No problem. Your best bet would be to avoid subdomains and have separate entities via ccTLD as you've mentioned is the plan. You could do a sub-directory structure (.com/au, .com/us, etc..) but honestly that gets pretty messy. I've got a client that has some countries on different ccTLDs and some that share a TLD, and the ones that share the .com are the messy ones.
-
Hey Logan,
Thanks for clarification on the hreflang tags - sounds good.
Re the .eu TLD, the client is keen to go this route just to enable Euro currency in the checkout. But I agree it is sub-optimal. If there is sufficient business case (ie. traffic), then I will suggest .fr, .de, etc. I believe the Langify app in Shopify works well. Otherwise, I might suggest .com in US$ for all countries other than Aus and UK.
Also wondering on your thoughts re domainuk.com, versus domain.co.uk?
-
You can specify English as the language for each one. The tag's main purpose is language, but it has deeper implications than that. The hreflang tags and Search Console specification will still help your .co.uk URLs in google.co.uk, your .com URLs in Google.com, and your .com.au URLs in google.com.au.
Regarding your .eu TLD, you might need to rethink that strategy. The primary language in Aus, UK, and US is English, so the plan you've laid out will be fine for those countries. But when you get into a .eu domain, there is no Google.eu and there's no single primary language spoken throughout. Serving up English content to everyone in Europe is sub-par UX since there's a plethora of languages in the region.
-
Furthermore, it appears that region targetting only works for specific countries ('eu' is not an option).
So it appears that the proposed solution isn't going to achieve the desired outcome after all:
- because the hreflang tags are intended for different languages and all four of our sites will be in English
- because 'eu' is not recognised by the tags
Anyone out there got a solution?
-
Hi Logan,
OK, there's a possible gotcha here. All four sites (.com, au, uk and eu) will be in English. So content will be identical. The purpose of the hreflang tags seems to be for multi-language versions of the same site. This is not the case here. The primary reason for country specific TLDs is just to allow customers to transact in their local currency, but also to be indexed in the local version of Google.
Make sense?
-
Happy to help!
-
That's very helpful - many thanks Logan
-
Hi,
There's a couple things you'll need to do. First is to set up a Search Console account for each TLD version of your domain. Once you've setup and verified, you'll want to specify the target country for each. To do this, go to Search Traffic on the left nav, then click International Targeting, then head to the Country tab. Set each for its respective domain.
Next, you'll need to implement hreflang tags. They work similar to canonical tags, but instead of telling search engines the preferential version of the content, these tags point them to the other country/language versions. Everything you need to know about this tag can be found here: https://moz.com/learn/seo/hreflang-tag.
These two actions will help the country-specific versions of Google serve up the appropriate versions of your content and avoid getting dinged for dupes.
Hope that's helpful!
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
-
Problems with the google cache version of different domains.
We have problems with the google cache version of different domains.
International SEO | | Humix
For the “.nl” domain we have an “.be” cache..
Enter “cache:www.dmlights.nl” in your browser to see this result. Following points are already adapted: Sitemap contains hreflang tag Sitemap is moved to the location www.dmlights.nl/sitemap.xml We checked the DNS configuration Changed the Content language in de response header to : Content-Language: nl-NL Removed the cache with webmastertools Resolved serverrequest errors. Can anyone provide a solution to fix this problem? Thanks, Pieter0 -
Help! A never before asked query about using a ccTLD but hosting in a different country
Hi Guys, I've a website that has a India specific domain ending with .org.in. The website has ALL the traffic from India (as mentioned earlier, it's a website meant only for audience from India). Currently this _.org.in_domainis hosted on a server located in India. I'm thinking of hosting this website in Singapore. Do you think that will negatively affect the current rankings of the website (i.e. changing the server location of my website from India to Singapore)?
International SEO | | seotoseo0 -
Duplicate content on multistore Magento website
Hello there, We run a Magento based e-commerce site in the UK for example: domain.com We are looking to launch a USA and Australian version of the website: usa.domain.com and au.domain.com Obviously the currency will be different and so will some of the content. Will we be penalised for having duplicate content across these 3 sites? (As some pages will be very similar or the same) Thanks Robert
International SEO | | roberthseo0 -
Any practical examples of ranking 1 domain in multiple countries?
Hi, I've done a fair amount of research on international SEO including here on MOZ but was hoping some fellow Mozzers might have some practical examples of how they have got 1 domain to rank in multiple countries, ideally US & UK. Im possibly looking at getting a high authority domain which ranks great on US into the UK engines. I want to keep to the 1 domain to benefit from the high authority and for logistical reasons. Thanks in advance, Andy
International SEO | | AndyMacLean0 -
.edu or country TLD, which one would be better?
Hi,we are working right know with an Education Instutition located Outside the U.S. I think they would be in a possition where they could get de .edu TLD. Right know they have good rankings in its own country cause they are working with their country specific TLD, and they rank well there. But, of course, a considerable percentage of their students are foreigners, so they are very interested in improving their interantional rankings (note that U.S is not a target market). I was wondering if it would be ok to recommend them to change to the .edu TLD, because all their competitors have that tld too. Whould that TLD increase their domain authority inmediatly? I know that .edu is well consider by google when it sends you a link, so it would be reasonable to think that having a .edu domain would be great, but as this domain is very related with the US and all their markets are outside the U.S, I am not sure about what recommend them. What do you think?? Thank you!!!
International SEO | | teconsite0 -
Does Google's algorithm work the same in every country?
I can't help but feel this is a silly question! but does Google algorithm work exactly the same throughout all countries? I run a few sites in the UK and a couple in Spain but can't help but feel that my Spanish sites are harder to rank for. The sites that rank the best are business directories in Spain... whereas here in the UK you'd be lucky to find one on page one..
International SEO | | david.smith.segarra0 -
I have on site translated into several languages on different TLDs, .com, .de, .co.uk, .no, etc. Is this duplicate content?
Three of the sites are English (.co.uk, .com, .us) as well as foreign (.de, .no, etc.) - are these all seen as having duplicate content on every site? They're hosted under the same EpiServer backend system if this helps. But I am still copying and pasting content over each site, and translating where necessary, so I'm concerned this is indexed as being large amounts of duplicate content. Site traffic doesn't appear to be suffering but as I'm currently putting together new SEOs strategies, I want to cover this possibility. Any advice on ensuring the sites aren't penalised appreciated!
International SEO | | hurtigruten0 -
.US VS .COM TLD Domains
Hi there! I have a spanish client who wants to enhance its online presence on the US. US is their most potential country. Its ok to create a .US website (and geolocalizate in GWT to the USA) and a .COM domain for the rest of ther word (without orientation) with the same content? Thank you so much. Jabi
International SEO | | overalia0