Rankings preferring English URL above local URL
-
We've recently had a redesign for our website and it has influenced our rankings a little bit. However, what I mainly noticed is that for some keywords in MOZ the English URL is looked at in terms of ranking, instead of the local URL. It used to be just the local URL ranking, even for keywords that are more English oriented, and I'm wondering if that might be hurting our rankings. And more importantly, why it's happening.
An example of a page where it's happening is: https://www.bluebillywig.com/online-video-platform/
-
When it comes to search engine rankings, there are several factors that can influence which URL is considered for ranking, including language targeting, regional settings, and content relevance. The specific behavior you described, where the English URL is ranked instead of the local URL, can be influenced by multiple factors:
Language Targeting: Search engines, like Google, use language targeting signals to determine which language a webpage is primarily targeting. If your website has clear language targeting signals indicating that the English version is intended for English-speaking users, search engines may prioritize the English URL for English-oriented keywords. This is done to provide the most relevant results to users based on their language preferences.
Hreflang Tags: Hreflang tags are HTML elements that help search engines understand the language and regional targeting of different versions of a webpage. By implementing hreflang tags correctly, you can indicate to search engines which URL version is intended for specific languages or regions. Ensuring that hreflang tags are implemented accurately and consistently across your website can help search engines rank the appropriate URL version for the intended audience.
Content Relevance: Search engines consider the relevance of the content on a webpage to the search query. If the English version of your webpage is more relevant or contains stronger signals for certain English-oriented keywords, it is possible that search engines may prioritize that URL over the local URL. This can happen if the English version has more comprehensive content, better keyword optimization, or stronger backlink profile.
To address the issue and potentially improve rankings for local keywords, you can consider the following steps:
Language Targeting: Make sure that your website's language targeting signals, such as HTML lang attributes and language-specific content, clearly indicate the intended audience for each URL version.
Hreflang Implementation: Double-check the implementation of hreflang tags on your website. Ensure that they are correctly set up and consistent across all relevant pages. Hreflang tags help search engines understand which URL version to rank for specific languages or regions.
Content Optimization: Review the content on your local URL versions to ensure they are well-optimized for relevant local keywords. Conduct keyword research specific to the target region and incorporate those keywords naturally within the content.
Backlink Strategy: Consider implementing a backlink strategy that targets local websites and directories in the region you want to rank for. Localized backlinks can help improve the visibility and ranking of your local URL versions.
-
Are URLs a ranking factor?
URLs are a minor ranking factor search engines use when determining a particular page or resource's relevance to a search query. While they do give weight to the authority of the overall domain itself, keyword use in a URL can also act as a ranking factor.
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
-
Massive unexplained organic traffic drop; disappeared from Google
Hi there,
Search Behavior | | katelynroberts
Our site has experienced a huge organic traffic drop, specifically from Google. The drop occurred on Feb 19 and I've got no clue why it happened. We have not made any significant changes to the website and it doesn't look like there was an algorithm update last week. We don't have any Google penalties or indexing issues noted, and the drop isn't specific to any particular segment/region/keyword. What am I missing? Any advice or insight is super duper appreciated. Our site is a Wordpress/WooCommerice e-commerce site with a blog and long-standing #1 ranks for keywords related to our main product offering. Screen Shot 2024-02-26 at 3.12.25 PM.png
Screen Shot 2024-02-26 at 3.07.52 PM.png0 -
Unsolved Keyword Research for SWISS company
lets say I am currently doing research for Health: Therapeutic massages - alternative medicine but the research has to be conducted in German as it is for a Swiss website. I am currently filling in the matrix as provided by Moz Essentials course, would it be better to first research these semantic/funnel tops in english and then translate into german and finding keywords (+ creating the keyword lists) based upon the GERMAN language? What would anyone recommend?
Keyword Explorer | | margitdanila1230 -
Blog article cannibalizes our home page
Hello there, We're having a rather big SEO issue that I’m hoping someone here can help us with, perhaps having experienced the same thing or simply understanding what's going on. Since around June, our website's home page has lost the majority of its most important rankings. Not just dropping, but losing them entirely and all at once. We think it was self-inflicted: Almost at the same time, a blog article of ours (which we had recently updated) started ranking for almost all the same keywords. While our home page is a commercial page highlighting only our own product, the article that usurped the position is a comparison article, comparing our own solution to competitors. The reason we created that article is because we noticed a trend of Google increasingly favoring such comparison articles over dedicated product pages. But of course we didn’t plan to cannibalize our own home page with it. My question is whether anyone has experience with such a case? Is there a way to "tell"/influence Google to rank our home page again, instead of ranking that article? Thanks a lot, Pascal
Technical SEO | | Maximuxxx1 -
Spam on Google SEO
Do you know any good tips to reduce spam and if spams have an on google ranking?
SEO Tactics | | easyjobber0 -
Need help on declining page rank
Hi Guys,
On-Page Optimization | | Slideuplift123
We had a consistent page ranking for a specific keyword between 5 and 8 positions on google. This week all of a sudden the page which was ranking for that keyword no longer ranks for it and another page has started ranking for that keyword that too at 20th position. I am so confused why has this happened? I didn't do any changes to that page or to the now ranking page. Can anyone help why could this be happening?0 -
Feedback to what to offer to my clients on my SEO website - local to Boise ID
Hi, I'm targeting Boise, Idaho and building an SEO consulting website. Right now I only offer 3 things because that's what I have experience in: 1. On-site SEO 2. Content Audit 3. Start a company from scratch. Ecommerce, Service, or Informational I know #3 involves all SEO, so it will be challenging, but 1-3 is what I've been doing for 10 years. What feedback do you have as far as 1-3 being my 3 offers, and is $200/hour fair? I work off quotes by estimating my time at $200/hour. Thanks.
Local SEO | | BobGW1 -
Indexed by Google but only ranking in Bing and Yahoo
I have a website nativeamericanpalmhut.com that has been up and running for months. The sitemap was created and submitted in GWMT and the site was indexed pretty quickly. Here's where I'm lost all of the pages are indexed but only the homepage ranks and only for the exact match domain query "Native American Palm Huts". What's even more confusing is that Google Analytics and HotJar Analytics are both showing hundreds Google organic search traffic coming to the site on multiple pages (not just the homepage). This on top of the fact the that website is ranking well for several different terms in Bing and Yahoo lead me to believe this is a Google search specific problem. I have checked the backlinks to see if maybe there was a penalty on the domain but couldn't find any record of it. I've searched the Moz Q&As, Countless Google forums, etc with no luck. I'm scratching my head at the moment so if anyone has any ideas on what could be causing the problem that would be great.
Local SEO | | White_Shark_Media1 -
Ranking http://www when its forwarded to https://www
Hello, I have a question about the best practices for assigning "https" and "http" versions. We have added https://www.mysite.com in Google WMT and was ranking. However I noticed with my other tools, that http://www.mysite.com version had better anchor text distribution and also had better Trust Flow were as the https://www.mysite.com version had no trust flow at all. Can I assign http://www.mysite.com in Google WMT and still have it do a 301 Redirect to https://www.mysite.com. This way I can capitalize on the better anchor text profile and trust flow, and still rank properly? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks
Local SEO | | EVERWORLD.ENTERTAIMENT0