Post on 23-Jan-2018
#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda
INTERNATIONALIZING YOUR SEO Setting Hreflang for International SERP Success
I’m Aleyda Solis
ORAINTI.COM @ALEYDA FB.COM/ALEYDASEOTIPS/
I do SEO I Tweet I Share
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
I’m Aleyda Solis
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
I Write I Speak I’m Featured
#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda
It’s time to take your search visibility abroad….
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Targeting international search audiences can be an important growth driver
emarketer.com
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Targeting international search audiences can be an important growth driver
emarketer.com
Probably you should too ;)
Some markets are still unserved
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Like this! The US can become one of many profitable markets to target
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
It’s critical to connect with the audience through the relevant Web presence though
Search Results for “Cape Town Holiday Rentals” in google.co.uk: What are .co.za ccTLDs doing here?
co.uk
co.za
co.uk
co.uk
co.za
com
net
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
“Car Hire Sydney” in google.co.uk full of Australian ccTLDs and only gTLD that is UK targeted
Definitely not like this
com.au
com.au
com.au
com.au
com
Hertz is ranking with its Australian ccTLD despite having a UK one targeting that query
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
These misaligned search results will have worse rankings, CTR and conversions
This happens with a UK ccTLD
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Check out this other example at a more granular level comparing the same keywords performance
US positions for the UK subdirectory are similar but with much lower CTR
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
And not only with different country versions, but also language ones, cannibalizing themselves
Searching from Google Spain
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Verify if you’re suffering from this issue!
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Hreflang can help you solve them!
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
The goal is to specify each of your URLs language & alternatively country targeting
brand.com
brand.co.uk
brand.com/es/
English for the US Default
Spanish for the US
English for the UK
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Hreflang should use ISO 639-1 values for languages and ISO 3166-1 for countries
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Requiring always a language to be specified and alternatively a country, no continent support
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en" href=“http://www.brand.com/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/“ />
English
English in the US
OR
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
English for the US Default
Spanish for the US
English for the UK
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href=“http://www.brand.com/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href=“http://www.brand.com/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href=“http://www.brand.com/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/“ />
Mapping each URL to their alternate languages or countries versions
brand.com
brand.co.uk
brand.com/es/
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
For every page on the sites
English for the US Default
Spanish for the US
English for the UK
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/dogs/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/perros/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/dogs/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/dogs/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/perros/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/dogs/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/dogs/“ /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang=“es-us" href=“http://www.brand.com/es/perros/“ />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang=“en-gb" href=“http://www.brand.co.uk/dogs/“ />
brand.com/dogs/
brand.co.uk/dogs/
brand.com/es/perros/
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
You can include them in the HTMLs head, HTTP headers & XML Sitemaps
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Depending on the site characteristics, it might be better to use one or the other
Add them in HTML in sites with lower
number of versions & coding flexibility
Add them in XML Sitemaps in non-
flexible sites with a high number of versions
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
… or avoid completely
Only if you want to invest a lot of time validating the HTTP
headers
@aleyda#SMX #22A3#SMX #22A3 @aleyda
A (yummy) piece of cake?
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
BEWARE THE ROAD CAN BE TRICKY…
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
@aleyda#SMX #22A3#SMX #22A3 @aleyda
Non-existing hreflang values
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Like using “en-UK” instead of “en-GB” for pages in English targeted to the UK
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Including a country without a language, which is mandatory to add
hreflang="pt-br"
hreflang="en-ca"
Not supported
hreflang="es-mx"
hreflang="en-us"
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
hreflang=“fr-ca”
Using underscores instead of dashes or switching the language & countries values order
@aleyda#SMX #22A3#SMX #22A3 @aleyda
Mistakes with the URLs added in the hreflangs
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Not including the correct URLs in the hreflang annotation
Better use absolute URLs and make sure to add the right one for the
specified language-country
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Forgetting to self-refer by specifying the current URL in the hreflangs
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Not referring back at all from one language or country version to another
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-indexable, canonicalized, error, redirected or blocked URLs in hreflangs
@aleyda#SMX #22A3#SMX #22A3 @aleyda
Non-relevant hreflang values for the target market
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Specifying unnecessary country codes for language targeted pages
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Or adding a language or country value to a URL that is in another one
Better use absolute URLs and make sure to add the right one for the
specified language-country
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Trying to “override” a ccTLD country targeting by specifying another one in hreflangs
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Hreflang won’t change the geolocation of a ccTLD or of geotargeted sub-directories or subdomains
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Ugh! So many different types of hreflang errors :/
Incorrect hreflang country or language Values
Mistaken, non-indexable or non-existing URLs
Non-relevant target market values
Not including the hreflang tags to every version to
point back
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
STOP
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Let’s use the hreflang kit to avoid & spot these issues
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-original URLs, such as redirected or canonicalized ones in hreflang annotations
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
For the Generation
HREFLANG Tags Generation
1
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-original URLs, such as redirected or canonicalized ones in hreflang annotations
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Obtain the right hreflang tag pattern to use in your HTMLs with the Hreflang Generator Tool
bit.ly/generatorhreflang
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-original URLs, such as redirected or canonicalized ones in hreflang annotations
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Like this! Ready to update every page URL
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-original URLs, such as redirected or canonicalized ones in hreflang annotations
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Do you Prefer to use an XML sitemap? Include your hreflang in them with the hrefbuilder
hrefbuilder.com
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-original URLs, such as redirected or canonicalized ones in hreflang annotations
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
It allows to import URLs from many sources, specify its international structure & edit values
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-original URLs, such as redirected or canonicalized ones in hreflang annotations
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
As well as to validate them before their generation
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-original URLs, such as redirected or canonicalized ones in hreflang annotations
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
For the Validation
HREFLANG Tags Validation
2
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
There are page specific hreflang validators but these are painful to use with big sites
https://technicalseo.com/seo-tools/hreflang/
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
These Enterprise-level SEO Crawlers spot issues at a larger scale, whether in HTMLs or XML sitemaps
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
Botify has an “internationalization” section directly segmenting each major hreflang error type
botify.com
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
And you can generate any report directly by combining them…
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
Like this one with URLs pointing to not compliant (not found, non-indexable, etc.) alternates
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
OnPage.org has a multilingual settings report showing URLs mapping to a translated version
onpage.org
Shows each language and country version pointing out and in for each URL
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
Allowing to specifically verify the alternate URLs pointed from each page
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
As well as segmenting the URLs per country & Language, and the type of issues they have
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
Deepcrawl lists URLs with hreflangs & alternate versions, specifying where they have been found
deepcrawl.com
@aleyda#SMX #22A3 @aleyda#SMX #22A3
Allowing to generate reports of those URLs with errors too
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Adding non-original URLs, such as redirected or canonicalized ones in hreflang annotations
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
For the On-going Monitoring
HREFLANG Tags Monitoring
3
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
It’s a must to check for any change or issue with the Search Console International Targeting report
If you have multiple sitemaps you don’t know in which one these issues are, but you can identify their location with the crawlers
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
It directly specifies the type of identified error and the number of pages affected
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
As well as the URLs where these issues have been found, that you can export in CSV
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
If you follow these principles, generation & validation steps, this should be your hreflang status
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
And your organic search visibility & traffic growth in international markets
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
It’s time to grow abroad
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
@aleyda#SMX #22A3
Thanks!
@aleyda#SMX #22A3