Getting international SEO right is critical for global brands. One of the most basic optimizations is the domain and URL structure you use.
Although Google provides guidelines for using locale-specific URLs, SEO information on this topic is limited and can be confusing.
Many SEOs tend to advise using ccTLDs in each market if You have the resources. Some people advocate subdirectories using gTLDs. Please help anyone who says that subdomains are viable as well. Spoiler alert: our data suggests that's a possibility.
So, to add data to this conversation, we recently published research on domain structure for international SEO.
At the very least, we wanted to understand how popular different domain structures are. We also hoped that our analysis might reveal secrets about how Google's algorithms respond to internationally different domain structures. The main findings are shown below.
1. 56% of the top three positions are occupied by ccTLDs.
Our data shows that ccTLD is the top 3 most popular website structure in the world. This suggests that those who support ccTLDs are right to do so.
However, ccTLDs can be expensive and inefficient to manage, so consider this and only choose one if you are sure it is the right solution for you.
gTLDs without market subdomains or subdirectories are inversely correlated with ccTLDs as you progress from #1 to #100.
Perhaps this is just a coincidence, but it shows that Google doesn't like websites that don't have clear geotargeting for their market.
3. Subdirectories are the second most popular website structure among the top three
Subdirectories appear in over 20% of the top positions on Google and account for approximately 20% of all SERP positions, reflecting the fact that subdirectories are a popular choice.
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4. Subdomains make up only 3% of domain structure in SERPs, but are only prevalent at the top in multilingual markets
Switzerland represents the only multilingual market in our study and is the only country with subdomain prevalence in the top three.
Subdomains outperformed subdirectories for French keywords in the Swiss SERPs. The opposite is true for Italian keywords.
5. Portugal is the only market with more subdirectories in the top three than ccTLDs
Portugal bucked the global trend and was the only market where subdirectories were more often ranked in the top three than ccTLDs.
Filipa Silva, a Portuguese SEO specialist, says:
- “This data reflects the fact that there are not many very large Portuguese brands that can compete with multinational brands that use subdirectory structures. For example, brands such as Pull and Bear, Zara, and Calzedonia All perform incredibly well when it comes to fashion keywords with a subdirectory structure.”
6. Czech Republic has the highest proportion of ccTLDs in Google SERPs
Among all the countries analyzed, ccTLD websites dominate Czech SERPs. Almost 90% of the top three positions were occupied by .cz ccTLDs. Even if you combine .us and .com in the US, he has fewer ccTLDs (83%) than in the Czech Republic (84%).
Czech SEO specialist Irina Melnyk says:
- “Many big brands choose not to translate their content into Czech or tend to use poor quality translation services, which is clear to us. This suggests that there is a huge opportunity for national brands to successfully translate their content into formats optimized for the Czech market.”
7. In Austria, .AT ccTLDs are inversely correlated with German ccTLDs.
German ccTLDs (.de) account for almost 20% of all top Austrian titles. In contrast, Austrian ccTLDs account for less than 1% of all domain structures in Germany. We found only three Austrian ccTLDs in the top three of the German SERPs.
Tatyana Batyaev, a German SEO specialist, says:
- “Given the population and size of its economy, this data is generally not surprising. Many German brands sell directly to Austria via .DE domains, but the language has nuances, so the best We always recommend localizing your content to the Austrian dialect as a practice.”
Dig deeper: International SEO: How to avoid common translation and localization pitfalls
Since .com domains are by far the most popular in the US market, it is very rare to see the official .us ccTLD in use.
Melina Liraki, an SEO specialist from the United States, says:
- “.com domains are widespread in the U.S. market, and many people consider .com to be a U.S. ccTLD. Given its popularity, brands targeting only the U.S. market This is probably the only market where we would recommend using a gTLD (.com) over a national ccTLD when advising.”
What does this data mean for your international SEO strategy?
This data supports those who believe that ccTLDs are best suited for international SEO. If you choose this route, keep in mind that it will require more resources to build, maintain, and optimize than other options.
Evidence from the Swiss market suggests that subdomains are just as effective as other domain structures. Perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to ignore subdomains that have been negatively affected for a long time.
That being said, it's clear that subdirectory structures are more commonly used than subdomains and have a higher organic position. Whichever strategy you choose, remember that this is just the starting point to success.
research method
- GA Agency, in collaboration with our partners at SE Rank, analyzed 20,000 keywords across 15 different markets and counted how often each website structure appeared in each position on Google, from 1 to 100. In total, over 1.7 million SERP positions were analyzed.
- We looked at ccTLDs, gTLDs with subdomains, gTLDs with subdirectories, and gTLDs with no evidence of market-specific subdomains or subdirectories.
- Website structures using URL parameters are not recommended and were not included in this study.
- We analyzed approximately 1,400 keywords in each market.
- We used transactional or purchasing e-commerce keywords in all languages (defined as such by analyzing the top 10 ranked sites).
- Markets analyzed: Austria, Switzerland (German, French and Italian speaking), Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, UK and USA.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.