: Using one gTLD for targeting several countries, what are our options? I have seen several questions similar to this one being asked all over the internet, all the answers seem to give conflicting

@Megan663

Google publishes a list of top level domains that can be targeted worldwide. That list has not yet been updated with new TLDs such as .photo or .ninja.

I would expect Google to treat them just like .museum and .travel that are on that list: Google will allow you to target multiple countries with them. The only domain names that Google doesn't allow you to target globally are the country TLDs that are actively used in those countries.



It can be good for SEO to create regional sites with the same content but different pricing. I worked with a large website that had both translated sites and regional English sites. The regional English sites (uk, au, ca) eventually got higher market penetration than our .com site that was mainly targeted to the US.

Creating regional sites each targeted at a specific country is an allowed use of duplicate content. Google knows how to deal with it. You just have to make sure that Google knows about the targeting. Using country TLDs will make that happen automatically. If you use subdirectories, you should register each separately in Google Webmaster Tools and set the geo targeting in the setting for just that subdirectory. Using hreflang might also be enough, but I've never done that myself.

Creating regional sites is not required, however. You will get worldwide visitors to a single site. Allowing users to change the currency would be an acceptable solution.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Michele947

Would Google (and others) know to list our website in other searches and not just UK (where our server is based)?


The only way to make sure is using sub-folders for each of your target countries, just as you suggested, AND use the hreflang annotation. If the currencies are different, but the rest of the content is the same, you might still be fine with the hreflang since you tell Google that you know about the duplicate content, but that the content aims at a different audience. By using hreflang, you can also use geotargeting in Google Webmaster Tools. In my opinion, that's the cleanest way to go.


This option I feel might be clearer to the user but I worry about duplicate content, as most of the pages are likely to be exactly the same.


You could use a rel="canonical" referring to the main version of the website, but in this case, please be aware that all country-specific sites containing this canonical are going to be de-indexed by Google. Which is not what you might want, I guess.
I remember John Mueller saying that he would not advise using rel="canonical" unless you really have 100% duplicates. When you have even subtle differences like different currencies on web shops, you should be fine with hreflang.

For further reference, please have a look at this.

Vote Up Vote Down