2.- Automatically redirect international users to an international web version without giving them the option to select
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 10:12 am
Even though you may want to show your users website conte philippines phone code nt that is relevant to their country or language, it is not recommended that you do this automatically using redirects.
These redirects can result in a confusing and intrusive experience for users who want to view content in a specific language or from a specific location.
A quick note about Google
At this time, most Googlebot IPs are still located in the United States, so Google does not yet crawl from all countries (crawlers come from the United States and a few other countries).
Therefore, if we redirect based on IP, the Googlebot might be redirected to only a few versions of our site and might not be able to access all of the existing ones, since you are not only redirecting users, but also bots.
Therefore, it is better to allow not only users, but also Google, to browse any international version of our website, so that the Googlebot can crawl any version instead of redirecting based on IP.
Examples
An even worse experience than the one mentioned above occurs when the redirect is done without allowing users to switch to the international version they want through a visible option; which is something we can see on some blogs or news sites, such as Gizmodo, which you can see below these lines.
International SEO positioning - Wrong redirection
Instead of redirecting, it is recommended to allow users to access the original international version of the website, while notifying them that there is a version that might be more relevant based on their language or country information based on their browser or country IP address.
You can do this in a non-intrusive and highly visible way, offering users the option to stay on the current version or switch to the suggested one, as Autodesk does.
International SEO positioning - Version change option
3.- Not customizing the content to the local language in the different versions of each region
Even if you are targeting different countries that share the same language, you should be careful not to reuse content for different versions of your website.
It is vitally important that your content is customized for each location, focused on the specific behavior of the audience in each country.
Even when speaking the same language, the content may be required to be different.
Differences may be particular terms to describe the same concept or to name products or services.
Despite the common language, preferences may change from one country to another.
For example, you can see how in the US version of the Adidas website, there is a category called “Soccer cleats”, which is called “Football Boots” in the English version, to adapt to the local terms used by users in each country, which in this case are different despite sharing the same language.
These redirects can result in a confusing and intrusive experience for users who want to view content in a specific language or from a specific location.
A quick note about Google
At this time, most Googlebot IPs are still located in the United States, so Google does not yet crawl from all countries (crawlers come from the United States and a few other countries).
Therefore, if we redirect based on IP, the Googlebot might be redirected to only a few versions of our site and might not be able to access all of the existing ones, since you are not only redirecting users, but also bots.
Therefore, it is better to allow not only users, but also Google, to browse any international version of our website, so that the Googlebot can crawl any version instead of redirecting based on IP.
Examples
An even worse experience than the one mentioned above occurs when the redirect is done without allowing users to switch to the international version they want through a visible option; which is something we can see on some blogs or news sites, such as Gizmodo, which you can see below these lines.
International SEO positioning - Wrong redirection
Instead of redirecting, it is recommended to allow users to access the original international version of the website, while notifying them that there is a version that might be more relevant based on their language or country information based on their browser or country IP address.
You can do this in a non-intrusive and highly visible way, offering users the option to stay on the current version or switch to the suggested one, as Autodesk does.
International SEO positioning - Version change option
3.- Not customizing the content to the local language in the different versions of each region
Even if you are targeting different countries that share the same language, you should be careful not to reuse content for different versions of your website.
It is vitally important that your content is customized for each location, focused on the specific behavior of the audience in each country.
Even when speaking the same language, the content may be required to be different.
Differences may be particular terms to describe the same concept or to name products or services.
Despite the common language, preferences may change from one country to another.
For example, you can see how in the US version of the Adidas website, there is a category called “Soccer cleats”, which is called “Football Boots” in the English version, to adapt to the local terms used by users in each country, which in this case are different despite sharing the same language.