When expanding internationally, it is recommended to create a website that specifically targets that country, but there are best practices that should be followed when doing this. For example, in most cases, it is better to build a subfolder structure than to use separate domains. The main reason for this is that the more domains you have, the harder it is to build domain authority for each individually. This will increase the time you have to invest in link building and make it much harder to build that domain authority, which is so important for determining search rankings.
Language
Simply translating your website from English into another language will not be enough for it to start ranking in different countries. You have to go beyond this. The reason for this is that each international market is different, and the way people search is different. Different countries also use different words and phrases for products and/or services.
Correct Implementation of hreflang Tags
If you want your website to rank well in the native country, then it is vital that the targeting is setup correctly.
A subfolder structure, such as www.website.com/de or www.website.com/fr will allow you to benefit from the authority that your existing domain has built up through acquiring inbound links whilst still signalling to search engines that your sub-domains are targeting different countries.
However, for this to work correctly you will have to use hreflang tags that tell search engines that this subfolder is for a German speaking audience or French speaking audience. If these hreflang tags are implemented incorrectly, then this can have a detrimental effect on the success of your international SEO, as it can cause a duplicate content issue whereby each website is viewed as a copy of each other. This will lead to your websites being penalised by search engines like Google.
Our team are very experienced with implementing hreflang tags across international websites, meaning we are well placed to make sure any potential issues are avoided.
