Hreflang: customize, selection the best URL structure
-
Hi All,
We have two websites:
example.info - this is a working site in Russian hreflang="ru"
example.com - this new siteWe want to start with US. For the US, we will have: local address and phone, currency in $, fully translated content.
In the future we want to expand the business (ie en-GB, en-CA, de-DE, fr-CA, fr-FR). For each country, a regional dialect, currency, address and telephone number will be used.I need to choose the right URL structure so that there won't be problems in the future.
1. When configuring geotargeting (ie fr-CA and en-CA ) in the URL of the page specify:
• http://example.com/ca/ - hreflang="en-CA" - Can use Search Console geotargeting
• http://example.com/ca/fr/ - hreflang="fr-CA"
or
• http://example.com/en-ca/ - hreflang="en-CA" - Can I use a geo-targeting search console?
• http://example.com/fr-ca/ - hreflang="fr-CA" .
or
• http://example.com/ca-en/ - hreflang="en-CA" - Can I use a geo-targeting search console?
• http://example.com/ca-fr/ - hreflang="fr-CA" .quote: To geotarget your site on Google:
o Page or site level: Use locale-specific URLs for your site or page.2. If I set the target (ie "en-CA", "fr-CA" and "fr-FR").
Can I use the page http://example.com/fr/ with customized targeting (hreflang = "fr-FR") for french speakers worldwide (hreflang= "fr"), ie:
- french speakers worldwide
quote: "If you have several alternate URLs targeted at users with the same language but in different locales, it's a good idea also to provide a catchall URL for geographically unspecified users of that language. For example, you may have specific URLs for English speakers in Ireland (en-ie), Canada (en-ca), and Australia (en-au), but should also provide a generic English (en) page for searchers in, say, the US, UK, and all other English-speaking locations. It can be one of the specific pages, if you choose."
3. Where is it better to place select of language and country on the page?
Header, footer, pop-up window ......
The page http://example.com will be used for hreflang = "en". In my case, do I need x-default?Can I use a page with hreflang="en"configured as the x-default version? ie:
- Is it right?
-
1.) I'd use option two:
• http://example.com/en-ca/ - hreflang="en-CA"
• http://example.com/fr-ca/ - hreflang="fr-CA"... as it most closely resembles the structure of a double barreled hreflang tag. Some hreflangs only reference a location or a language, a double barreled hreflang references both. Since you're using double barreled hreflangs, it makes sense that your architecture should actually fit your own hreflang deployment
If your hreflangs are deployed accurately, there's no reason to use the Search Console geo-targeting. In-fact, a lot of people find it overly constricting as it cuts off the tail-ends of the rough-edges of your traffic. Personally, I usually steer clear of it
Hreflang structure basically comes from these two lists:
The more closely your site structure mirrors that and the hreflang tag, the better
2.) Yes, single barreled hreflang deployment is possible:
Even Google show that this is possible:
- https://d.pr/i/HUJESr.png (screenshot)
As you can see, it can even be mixed in with other types of hreflangs so that's cool.
3.) From that Google screenshot I just pasted, you can see it's in the header. No - do not add x-default as a hreflang to a URL which has already been assigned a language. In your situation you don't need x-default, ignore and don't use it
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
-
What's the best international URL strategy for my non-profit?
Hi, I have a non-profit organization that advocates for mental health education and treatment. We are considering creating regional chapters of the non-profit in specific countries - France, UK, Russia, etc. What's the best long-term foundation for global organic growth? Should we simply internationalize our content (.org/uk/)? Or create a custom site for each ccTLD (.org.uk, etc.? Since it's an educational site, the content for each country would not be particularly unique, apart from: Language (regional English nuance for UK and AUS, or other languages altogether) Expert videos and potentially supporting articles (i.e., hosting videos and a supporting article for a UK Doctor versus a US Doctor) Offering some regional context when it comes to treatment options, or navigating school, work, etc. Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thanks! Aaron
Local Website Optimization | | RSR1 -
Company with different branches: Generic Keywords & Localized Keywords: Best practise?
INITIAL SITUATION: We offer a branded product/service in different cities. We have different contact pages for every city (—> basically just a form and a map, i.e. 100% SHALLOW). GOAL:
Local Website Optimization | | Cesare.Marchetti
We would like to rank for the branded keyword only (—> more generic search intent) but as well as for branded keyword + cities (—> more transactional search intent) combinations. REMARK: It would make little sense in my opinion to develop the individual contact pages (for every city) to „full“ pages with real content as there isn’t really specific content for the differenct cities to add. OPTIONS:
1) HOME page: target for the branded keyword CONTACT pages (one for each city): target for the branded keyword + city name HOME page: target for the branded keyword + all the city names CONTACT pages (one for each city): : NO keyword targeting at all HOME page: target for the branded keyword + different city names CONTACT pages (one for each city): target for the branded keyword + city name Add CANONICAL tag to main page ???!!!??? What is best practise? What would you recommend? Is there another solution? I really would like to know your opinion. Thanks a lot for your hints in advance.
Cheers,
CesareBearbeiten0 -
Call Tracking Best Practises for General SEO
Hey folks, So I'm aware of the importance of consistent citations, and the mayhem call tracking numbers have been known to cause in regards to that in that past. So just wanted some up to date clarification on these two things: Local SEO isn't strictly speaking a big deal for us as we supply a software and as such are technically global. I'm presuming consistent citations are still worth aiming for though, and will help increase general authority as well? Let me know if I'm totally wrong about that! What's the best practise set up for call tracking, given that your main NAP number you'd obviously want hardcoded somewhere, alongside showing your dynamic numbers to relevant visitors. Apologies for any ignorance, as always any help and advice is muchos appreciato.
Local Website Optimization | | Zoope1 -
I have a client in Australia that is going to set up a website that is in Chinese to service their Asian customer base (Indonesia, Singapore, HK, China). What domain should they use?
They're website is hosted on a .com.au domain. Should they host their Chinese language pages under their current domain (.com.au) using a subdirectory (i.e. /asia) or should they use another separate domain that they own that is a regular .com? Or does it really not matter?
Local Website Optimization | | 100yards1 -
What is the best way for a UK company to source SEO Support to boost SERPS in USA Google?
We are a niche web retailer with a world leading product and as such are probably the best option for USA customers (even though we are based in the UK) up to 18 months ago google agreed and placed us high for USA searches and we had good business as a result however since penguin (or around that time anyways) google increased our SERPS for more local markets (UK and EUROPE) and decreased our ranks for USA with a consequent reduction in our USA sales We want to improve rank again in USA (and Canada and Australia and Russia) but need specialist help What's the best way to source that? (short of someone saying they know exactly how to do that) ant recommendation most gratefully received Tom
Local Website Optimization | | tomnivore0 -
What is the best CMS Approach for Multilingual Versions of Site?
We have expanded into France and Brazil and now have a someone in-house that can translate to French and Brazilian Portuguese. I own ".fr" and ".com.br" versions of our domain. We are using Wordpress for our CMS. We are currently publishing about 2 articles a week on English site which we would be translating and publishing through new international sites (when appropriate). We will be changing out photos and videos at times in addition to all the text/copy. So, before I jump deep into this I wanted to reach out for help regarding the best modern approach to this. Should I use some sort of WP Plugin that will let me manage each of these through 1 WP install or is it better to run each separately through multiple WP installs? I want to achieve this while... avoiding any duplicate content penalties. provide easy admin/editor management of publishing content. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Local Website Optimization | | the-coopersmith0 -
Do more page links work against a Google SEO ranking when there is only 1 url that other sites will link to?
Say I have a coupon site in a major city and assume there are 20 main locations regions (suburb cities) in that city. Assume that all external links to my site will be to only the home page. www.site.com Assume also that my website business has no physical location. Which scenario is better? 1. One home page that serves up dynamic results based on the user cookie location, but mentions all 20 locations in the content. Google indexes 1 page only, and all external links are to it. 2. One home page that redirects to the user region (one of 20 pages), and therefore will have 20 pages--one for each region that is optimized for that region. Google indexes 20 pages and there will be internal links to the other 19 pages, BUT all external links are still only to the main home page. Thanks.
Local Website Optimization | | couponguy0 -
Having portal page that takes you to website with a different url
We are in the planning stages for this. Our client wants his (as yet) domain name to be a portal page for this new campaign. His domain name is a non-keyword company name (i.e. widgetsgalore.com) We already have a website with content tailored to his business ready to go. In fact, we did a campaign back in '06 to '09 that was highly successful. At that time it was just the webpage with a keyword rich url. Now for some reason the client wants his company name url (widgetsgalore.com) to be the portal page (landing page) that once potential clients click on it takes them to the website with the content. What are the pros and cons of doing what client asks about making his widgetsgalore.com a portal page vs. going directly to the url with all the content/forms, etc? This is a local site, with audience limited to southern california.
Local Website Optimization | | Manifestation0