Geo-targeted Organic Search Traffic to a sub-domain
-
For a client of ours, we are likely to create a sub-domain that is to be targeted at a specific country.
Most of the content on this sub-domain will be from the main site, although with some specific differentiation to suit that geographic market.
We intend to tell Google through Webmaster Centre that the sub-domain is targeted at a specific country. Some questions:
a) Any idea how long it could take before google gives precedence to the content in this sub-domain for queries originating from that particular country?
b) What is the likely impact of content duplication ? What extent of differentiation is necessary from a search engine perspective?
Thanks.
-
Thanks.
-
If its not too competitive then it shouldnt take you more than 30-60 days for a geo-targeted domain.
There is no case study to look at because each situation is so different.
-
Thank you, Gianluca. Your detailed response is much appreciated.
Would you be able to give any indication on the time it could take for the sub-domain to get all the search traffic directly for queries originating in that country?
Any case studies or references you will be able to point me to? That'd be great.
-
Thank you for your response; it's helpful.
By any chance, are you able to point me to any case study that shows the time it took for the geo-targeted sub-domain to get all the traffic directly from the search engines?
Our concern with using a new TLD is the time it will take the domain to acquire authority and attract traffic of its own from the targeted geography.
-
Hi Manoj, in your case I suggest you to use the rel="alternate" hreflang="x" geotargeting tag, apart from targeting the subdomain to the desired country (and the main site set as "global").
The use of the rel=”alternate” hreflang=”x” is strongly suggested in the case a website as an “incomplete” international version for very different reasons:
- Template translated, but main content in a single language;
- Broadly similar content within a single language, but targeting different countries (i.e.: US, UK, Australia…)
But remember that Google suggests to use it also in the case the site content is fully translated (i.e.: all the Spanish version has content in Spanish, and so on).
This rel, then, seems very appropriate for the Sitecore site.
How to implement it
Two options:
- HTML link element. In the section of any page.
In this case, for instance, in the section of www.domain.com we should add as many rel=”alternate” hreflang=”x” as the different country versions are present in the site.
I.e.: http://es.domain.com” />
Please note that if exist multiple language versions (“set” in the Google slang), every set must include the rel=”alternate” hreflang=”x” to every other language versions.
I.e.: if we Global, UK and FR versions of the site apart the Spanish one, the Spanish version will have to include:
Obviously, every single URL must have the rel=”alternate” hreflang=”x” tag pointing to the corresponding URL of any other language version.
- HTTP header, in the case of not-HTML files (as PDF)
As it is implicitly said, this tag is used on a page level, not domain one. That means that every single pages must be correctly marked-up
Same content and same language on different pages and language versions
If, as it happens in case, some pages show almost the same content in both the domain and subdomain, hence it is highly suggested to use also the rel=”canonical” in order to specify to Google what the preferred version of the URL is.
As Google itself says here, Google will “use that signal to focus on that version in search, while showing the local URLs to users where appropriate. For example, you could use this if you have the same product page in German, but want to target it separately to users searching on the Google properties for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.”
Don't forget
Don't forget that your main site is set a targeting all the web, also the country targeted by your sub-domain.
That means that if you will perform an active link building campaign for the sub-domain, in order to provide it of an equal if not higher strenght respect the main site.
-
As soon as they index it it will take precedence in that country for geotargeting. You can increase the likelihood of differentiation or non duplicate content by using top level domains and by adding geotargeting keywords to your sub domain content. See the specific examples below:
Use top-level domains: To help us serve the most appropriate version of a document, use top-level domains whenever possible to handle country-specific content. We're more likely to know that
http://www.example.de
contains Germany-focused content, for instance, thanhttp://www.example.com/de
orhttp://de.example.com
.Minimize similar content: If you have many pages that are similar, consider expanding each page or consolidating the pages into one. For instance, if you have a travel site with separate pages for two cities, but the same information on both pages, you could either merge the pages into one page about both cities or you could expand each page to contain unique content about each city.
Source for above comes from google on duplicate content relating to different countries.
Hope this helps.....
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
-
I have very good backlinks but not showing in search console?
hi, i have some editorial links from some sites, they are appearing in google search results even when i select verbatim, long story short-when will they show up in search console. are they indexed by google? if they are showing in search results , does that mean they will also show up in search console? i am confused.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Sam09schulz0 -
Massive Spam attack against my domain - automate disvow of tld?
We've been getting hundreds of new links from unique domains every day - all the domains follow a pattern like this: www.someword-1f4163e1.space/wiki/Someterm Hundreds... every day. What techniques exist to deal with a prolonged negative seo attack of this type. By the time we can detect and disvow, the damage is done.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | sonar0 -
Search Console Incorrectly Identifies WordPress Version and Recommends Update
Howdy, Moz fans, Today I received four emails from Google Search Console recommending I update WordPress. The message reads, "Google has detected that your site is currently running WordPress 3.3.1, an older version of WordPress. Outdated or unpatched software can be vulnerable to hacking and malware exploits that harm potential visitors to your site. Therefore, we suggest you update the software on your site as soon as possible." This is incorrect, however, since I've been on 4.3.1 for a while. 3.3.1 was never even installed since this site was created in September, 2015, so the initial WP Engine install was likely 4.3. What's interesting is that it doesn't list the root URL as the problem source. The email states that it found that issue on a URL that is set up via WP Engine to 301 to a different site, which doesn't use WordPress. I also have other redirects set up to different pages on the second site that aren't listed in the Search Console email. Anyone have any ideas as to what's causing this misidentification of WP versions? I am afraid that Google sees this as a vulnerability and is penalizing my site accordingly. Thanks in advance!
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | jmorehouse0 -
Best URL structure for SEO for Malaysian/Singapore site on .com.au domain
Hi there I know ideally i need a .my or .sg domain, however i dont have time to do this in the interim so what would be the best way to host Malaysian content on a www.domainname.com.au website? www.domainname.com.au/en-MY
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | IsaCleanse
www.domainname.com.au/MY
domainname.com.au/malaysia
malaysia.domainname.com.au
my.domainname.com.au Im assuming this cant make the .com.au site look spammy but thought I'd ask just to be safe? Thanks in advance! 🙂0 -
70% organic traffic drop in October?! Algorithm change?
I oversee content for a client and this past month there was a 70% decrease in traffic. We noticed the hit start on September 29th, and has never rebounded. Any suggestions what this could be (i..e latest Google algorithm update) and or tools I should use to look into it? Nothing is showing up as an alert on Moz analytics and need to address with my client asap.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | jfeitlinger0 -
Bad keywords sending traffic my site, but can't find the source. Advice?
Hi! My site seems to be the target of negative SEO (or some ancient black hat work that's just now coming out of the woodwork). We're getting traffic from keywords like "myanmar girls" and "myanmar celebrities" that just started in late June and only directs to our homepage. I can't seem to find the source of the traffic, though (Analytics just shows it as "Google," "Bing," and "Yahoo" even though I can't find our site showing up for these terms in search results). Is there any way to ferret out the source besides combing through every single link that is directing to us in Webmaster Tools? I'm not even sure that GWT has picked up on it since this is fairly new, and I'd really love to nip this in the bud. Thoughts? Thanks in advance!
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | 199580 -
Goddady's Domain Masking and 301's
I have a client who's 7 domains and single website (instantpages®) exists within the clutches of GoDaddy. They own 6 kewyord rich domain names that 301 redirect with masking to the main branded domain. In effect, what this provides is the ability to add a title tag and meta description for a keyword rich domain name that displays content through an iframe. So really it's not duplicate content but this practice sets off my spidey sense that this is not a best practice regarding SEO. I want to suggest for the client to drop the idea of masking and do a straight 301 redirect to main branded domain. I'm sure that is fine but these domains are Not similar variations but actually vary widely: massage-city.com, city-massage.com, city-acupuncture.com, acupuncture-city.com, city-chiropractic.com, chiropractic-city.com etc ---- Doesn't Google frown on redirecting 6 domains to a single domain if they vary widely? Words of wisdom appreciated.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | superZj0 -
Removing a sitewide backlink without damaging the domain
Hello, I have a client that partnered up with a person in his field 4 years ago and got him to place a sitewide link to his site, high domain authority. Now with recent developments this site owner wants to take off these links so that they won't leak pagerank. The person insists in taking all the links off with his next website redesign. I have found several years ago in my own SEO efforts that removal of a sitewide link actually damages the domain. Is this still true? Should he ask for a nofollow or will that change damage our domain as well? Is there any way he can not take a huge hit on this? He doesn't mind the loss of links, he just don't want to be damaged. Please only post if you have recent experience with sitewide link removal, or if you have something related or a solution.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | BobGW0