The world is your marketplace. With Shopify’s ever-expanding global reach, your online store has the potential to attract customers from all corners of the globe.
But, the real question is, are you ready to take your business to the international stage?
It’s an exciting opportunity—global e-commerce sales are projected to reach a staggering $6.4 trillion by 2029—but it also presents a unique set of challenges, especially when it comes to SEO.
Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on optimizing your website for a single language and region, international SEO requires a more prudent approach. You must consider language differences, cultural nuances, and the varying search behaviors across different markets—even a brand as big as Coca-Cola has to adapt its messaging to resonate with diverse cultures and languages.
Luckily, Shopify’s built-in multi-language features make it easier for businesses to scale internationally. Here’s how you can use these tools and multilingual SEO to fuel your international ecommerce expansion.
Table of Contents
1. Identify Target Countries
The appeal of venturing into uncharted lands may be strong, but do your research and expand tactfully! Identify where your brand has the highest potential for success, and develop a strategy based on the culture and target audience of the region.
Start by analyzing your current website performance—this is where data comes in. For example, Google Analytics provides valuable insights into your audience’s geographic location. Navigate to Audience > Geo > Location to see where your visitors are coming from. This shows you where you’re already generating organic interest.
Another treasure trove of information for international SEO is your site’s Search Performance Report on Google Search Console. It shows you the top 1,000 search queries that led users to your site from each of your top countries. Examine these terms to gauge the quality of your organic traffic. This will also tell you what resonates with your audience in that region.
Remember, It’s Not Just About Traffic
Website traffic and search data are valuable indicators, but in reality, they shouldn’t be what you base your entire expansion plan on. Successful international ecommerce expansion requires careful planning and execution that takes into account factors like logistical challenges, local regulations, language barriers, and more.
2. Create Dedicated URLs for Each Region
A well-structured URL is the backbone of international SEO because it signals which region your content is intended for to search engines and helps users understand what to expect when they click.
There are a few different approaches you can take:
Structure 1: Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD)
These types of URLs are instantly recognizable by their short letter codes, such as “.ca” for Canada, “.co.uk” for the United Kingdom, and “.de” for Germany.
E.g.: www.example.de.
Using a ccTLD sends a message to search engines that your website is specifically tailored for a particular country, which gives a great boost to your multilingual SEO. However, hosting a separate version of your website on each ccTLD can be complex because it involves managing multiple domains.
Fortunately, Shopify simplifies this process by unifying all your international domains in one convenient dashboard, but it still requires additional resources to manage different sites.
Structure 2: Subdomains
Subdomains are a great alternative to using country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) for your international SEO because, instead of buying and managing several different domains, you simply add the country code at the beginning of the root domain name.
E.g: uk.example.com
This structure is a straightforward way to show search engines and users that your site caters to different regions. You don’t need to buy and manage multiple new domain names and it’s often easier to manage than creating subfolders for each country.
Structure 3: Subdirectories
Subdirectories are another popular option for structuring a Shopify multi-language website. Instead of using separate domains or subdomains, you create a subfolder for each country or language within your main domain.
Like in the Microsoft website page above, you will see something like this: www.example.com/en-us/
A best practice for international SEO is to use the ISO 639-1 language code followed by the Alpha-2 country code (e.g., /de-de for Germany, /en-us for the U.S.).
This method keeps everything centralized under one domain, which makes it much easier to manage your multilingual SEO efforts while still signaling to search engines and users which language and region the content is tailored to.
No matter which URL structure you go with, make sure you stick to it for all your regions. Don’t mix and match, like using a subdomain for one country and a subdirectory for another.
3. Use Hreflang Tags
If you choose to take the subfolder URL route, the next step is to make sure you implement hreflang tags correctly.
These tags are important for international SEO because they clarify the relationship between web pages in alternate languages or region-specific pages so that search engines can direct users to the most appropriate version. Simply put, they tell search engines which language your content is written in so that they may display the right version of your page in search results for that region.
You can implement hreflang tags using HTML tags, HTTP headers, or by indicating them in your website’s sitemap. Since Shopify is a hosted solution with automatically generated sitemaps, the simplest way to implement them without an app is through HTML tags.
Remember to use ISO language codes and Alpha-2 country codes here, too, and include both for optimal international SEO results. For example, use “en-gb” for English in the United Kingdom, not just “en” or “en-uk.” Sounds complicated? A hreflang tags generator makes it easy to create accurate tags and avoid such common mistakes.
4. Create Localized Content
Once you’ve nailed the technical aspects of your Shopify multi-language store and are confident that search engines can accurately categorize your website’s various international versions, it’s time to focus on crafting content that resonates with your target audiences.
This is one of the most important aspects of international SEO as search engines value unique, differentiated content for each region because it demonstrates the purpose and relevance of your different sites.
Using appropriate terminology and phrasing also boosts multilingual SEO because it aligns your content with local search behaviors.
On your visitors’ end, it improves the user experience because it can be jarring for readers to come across unfamiliar terms or expressions. For example, in the U.S., we say “chips,” while in the U.K., it’s “crisps.” Using the appropriate terms will make your content feel more natural to the local audience.
Thankfully, you can use tools like Weglot and Langify, which seamlessly integrate with Shopify websites, to translate your content while taking dialect and local terminology into account.
Remember, localization for international SEO goes beyond words—consider cultural nuances in your images, messaging, and even color schemes to make sure your content resonates with each specific market.
5. Develop Regional Backlinks
Backlinks are vital for SEO, and it’s no different with international ecommerce expansion.
Earning high-quality backlinks from websites within your target regions boosts your Shopify store’s authority and visibility in local search results because they signal to search engines that your website is credible.
Focus on building relationships with local influencers, bloggers, and industry publications. Guest posting, collaborating on content, and participating in online community forums will also help you earn valuable backlinks, which in turn will strengthen your site’s presence in those markets.
Beyond the international SEO benefits, collaborating with trusted influencers is a powerful way to break into new markets. In fact, a survey revealed that 84.8% of respondents view influencer marketing as an effective strategy. Most brands that try it are happy with the results and are willing to continue with the practice.
Ready To Take Your Shopify Store Global?
Expanding your business internationally is an exciting venture, but it requires a strategic approach to SEO.
Coalition Technologies’ team of experts can help you navigate the complexities of multilingual Shopify SEO. We have extensive experience optimizing Shopify stores for international ecommerce expansion and can create a tailored strategy to boost your brand’s global reach.
Contact us today for a free international SEO strategy review and start scaling your Shopify business worldwide!
