Best domain for spanish language site targeting ALL spanish territories?
-
hi, we're have a strong .com domain and are looking to launch a site for spanish speakers (ie latin america + spain).
we already have various subdirectories for some foreign language sites (eg. ourdomain.co.uk, us.ourdomain.com, ca.ourdomain.com, ourdomainchina.com, ourdomainindia.com etc)
we already have a B2B site ourdomain.com-es which will remain the same.
I'm thinking best practice would be to launch translated copy for the following:
ourdomain.com/pt etc etc
firstly is this the best option?
secondly, i'm really interested to hear whether there is a less time/resource intensive route that would give us visibility in ALL spanish speaking territories?
Also - if we go with just one of the above (eg ourdomain.com/cl) how likely are we to get traction in other spanish speaking territories?
any help much appreciated!
-
Thanks so much Gianluca, v comprehensive.
I've decided to go for ourdomain.com/es/ as a solution for spanish speakers and i'll be sure to use rel=”alternate”hreflang=”x”.
-
Ok... let's try to answer to all your questions :).
Subdomain, subdirectories or country level domain names?
For sure I would avoid the subdomain option. Even though you can geo target a subdomain in GWT, it has not the same strenght of a country level domain name and, from a link building point of view, it doesn't help creating a larger link profile and it doesn't take any advantage from the root domain backlinks as the subfolder option.
So you have to choose between country level domain names or subcarpet. The choice, more than to SEO factors, depends on the overall business model you have in mind. If the site is - for instance - for a web based service, maybe the subcarpet is the best solution. If the site should reflect a strong presence in the targeted countries, therefore the best choice is a country level domain name.
Said that, both have advantages and defects:
- Country level domain names:
- Google tends to prize these kinds of domain in the regional Google;
- People is used to look for "national" site with its country level domain name
- The worst defect is that you have to build as many link building and inbound marketing campaign as the country that are targeted, because they all start with an empty link profile.
- Subcarpets
- You can geo target subcarpet in GWT
- Any geo targeted subcarpet take advantages of all the domain name link profile. Let's say. If your domain main version obtain a link from BBC, that links is partly benefitting also the other countries based subcarpet
- Subcarpets perform not so well as country level domain names in the regional Googles.
In both option you would remember to implement the use of rel alternate hreflang tag, in order to not having, for instance, the Chile version outranking the Peruan one, or - worst - to have Google considering all those spanish versions as duplicates.
There is a less time/resource intensive route that would give us visibility in ALL spanish speaking territories?
Yes... a good example is the one presented by Apple.com. In fact, it offers www.apple.com /la/ (latin america) subcarpet. They solve the "store" issue addressing the users to its distributors online shops or address.
In the case you have an eCommerce, than you would need to configure all the currencies and prize calculator in order to allow your users to configure the payments using theirs.
Said that, you would need to commit a very strong and "multi-country" link building and inbound marketing campaign in order to rank in every single regional Google with this solution.
Also - if we go with just one of the above (eg ourdomain.com/cl) how likely are we to get traction in other spanish speaking territories?
Theoretically it can happen. But it is mostly an exception, and - sincerely - not very loved by users.
If I look for a content in spanish and I live in Spain (as I do), I would prefer to click on .es or /es/ subcarpet site rather than a /cl/ one of .cl domain name, because I would not consider these latter option useful for my needs.
- Country level domain names:
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
-
How should I handle hreflang tags if it's the same language in all targeting countries?
My company is creating an international version of our site at international.example.com. We are located in the US with our main site at www.example.com targeting US & Canada but offering slightly different products elsewhere internationally. Ideally, we would have hreflang tags for different versions in different languages, however, it's going to be an almost duplicate site besides a few different SKUs. All language and content on the site is going to be in English. Again, the only content changing is slightly different SKUs, they are almost identical sites. The subdomain is our only option right now. Should we implement hreflang tags even if both languages are English and only some of the content is different? Or will having just canonicals be fine? How should we handle this? Would it make sense to use hreflang this way and include it on both versions? I believe this would be signaling for US & Canda visitors to visit our main site and all other users go to the international site. Am I thinking this correctly or should we be doing this a different way?
International SEO | | tcope250 -
Two versions of a website with different languages - Best way to do it?
I'm working on a website for a Swedish artist and her page is in Swedish, everything is in Swedish on the site, even though it's not a lot of text on the site. We would like to have the site in English too, or another version of the site in English on a separate domain, what's the best way to proceed from here? The domain name is a .se (swedish domain), would it be better to create a another domain and host the english version of the site on a .com domain? Or will we bump into problems with duplicate content if we create a replica of the swedish site in english. We're using wordpress and I know that there's translation plugins out there, is that a good option? I'm a bit clueless on how to proceed and would love some help or guidance here.
International SEO | | Fisken0 -
Cant find good information on webmaster tools geographic target and have some questions about it.
Going through our webmaster tools setting I noticed someone had checked Target Users and selected United States. Most of our business is in the US but we still do some internationally. If I uncheck it will I lose rankings in the US?
International SEO | | EcommerceSite0 -
Does the location of my Domain Registrar affect SEO?
Does the location of my Domain Registrar affect SEO? For example, if my hosting company is in the U.S., but the domain registrar is overseas. Also, is it better to have both services be met by one company?
International SEO | | greenfoxone0 -
How to fix the duplicate content problem on different domains (.nl /.be) of your brand's websites in multiple countries?
Dear all, what is the best way to fix the duplicate content problem on different domains (.nl /.be) of your brand's websites in multiple countries? What must I add to my code of websites my .nl domain to avoid duplicate content and to keep the .nl website out of google.be, but still well-indexed in google.nl? What must I add to my code of websites my .be domain to avoid duplicate content and to keep the .nl website out of google.be, but still well-indexed in google.nl? Thanks in advance!
International SEO | | HMK-NL3 -
International (foreign language) URL's best practices
I'm curious if there is a benefit or best practice with regards to using the localized language on international sites (with specific ccTLDs). For example, should my french site (site.fr) use the french language as keywords within the URLs or should they be in english? e.g. www.site.fr/nourriture vs. www.site.fr/food Is that considered best practice for SEO (or just for brand perception those markets?). Is there a tangible loss in SEO if we do not use the correct language for those URLs and just stick with English around the world? I recall seeing a Matt Cutts video on the topic and he said that google does support i18n URL's but other SE's might not support them as gracefully but he didn't come down with a hard recommendation to go with i18n URL's or just English. Would love a strong ruling in favor one direction based on best practices.
International SEO | | mongillo0 -
SEO for Subdomains for different languages .com/fr, .com/es
Hi All, I was wondering how best to to approach optimisation of a site that exists on a single .com domain, but has different subfolders for different languages. The site is a .com and it has subfolders for French, Spanish, Russian and English. The business is situated in France and the vast majority of clients are French and English speakers. I've read that it's possible to geo target these subfolders using webmaster tools however I believe this is an inferior method of optimisation than having tld's. Just wondered if anyone had experience of htis and could provide any advice ? As they won't be rebuilding the site for another year or so I wondered if there were any quick wins? My second question is to do with how best to set these campaigns up within SEO Moz. would it be better to track at a subdomain or subfolder leverl (for different languages)? If someone could advise I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks, vantresca
International SEO | | vanvallejo0 -
.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