When targeting international markets, many businesses rely on hreflang tags to differentiate between language versions of their website. For example, using domain.com/how-to for English and domain.com/como for Spanish. While hreflang is helpful, it's only part of a successful international SEO strategy.
Here’s how to maximize your global SEO presence using both hreflang tags and subdirectories.
To start your international SEO journey, assess your website's current organic traffic across countries and languages:
Understanding where you already rank well can help justify efforts to target additional countries or languages.
Once you identify your target countries, conduct keyword research specific to each market:
If you see significant traffic and conversions from specific countries, you're ready to expand your international SEO efforts.
Determine if you should target by country or language. Ideally, you should align your strategy with cultural and linguistic differences, but technical limitations may influence your approach.
Choosing the right site structure is crucial for targeting your international audience. Options include:
domain.co.uk for the UK.es.domain.com for Spain.domain.com/es/ for Spanish content. Subdirectories are scalable and manageable, making them ideal for growing businesses.Hreflang tags signal to search engines which content is intended for specific regions or languages, but they lack the organizational clarity needed for effective international SEO. Subdirectories offer several benefits:
Subdirectories (e.g., domain.com/es/) create a clear structure for search engines, allowing them to crawl and index your content efficiently. This improves SEO visibility in target markets.
Hreflang alone can confuse search engines about which version to prioritize. Subdirectories eliminate ambiguity by clearly defining the language or country for each page. Users also benefit from knowing they're on a region-specific page, such as domain.com/es/ for Spain.
Studies show that hreflang doesn’t guarantee local ranking success. A well-organized subdirectory structure helps signal to search engines that you're serious about specific markets, improving your chances of ranking locally.
Subdirectories make it easier to manage content as you expand. Rather than spreading language versions across random pages with hreflang tags, subdirectories keep everything organized, simplifying updates and SEO management.
Worried about a drop in rankings when transitioning to subdirectories? If done carefully, any temporary dip in visibility is offset by long-term SEO gains, including better local rankings and user engagement.
Based on my experience, transitioning to subdirectories can lead to a 15-20% improvement in local search rankings within 6-12 months. Combine this with content localization and solid on-page SEO, and you’ll likely see a boost in visitors and conversion rates.
If you're targeting multiple regions, don't stop at hreflang tags. Implementing subdirectories is essential for boosting international SEO, serving your users better, and scaling your content effectively. It’s not just about increasing visibility; it's about reaching the right audience in the right markets.