International SEO Fundamentals: Global Market Targeting

Short answer

International SEO starts with two decisions made before any page is translated: which markets to target, and whether each market is defined by language, by country, or by both. Those decisions set the URL structure (a country domain, a subdomain or a subdirectory for each market) and the signals you send Google about which version is for whom. Google's guide to multi-regional sites puts it plainly: "geotargeting isn't an exact science". You give it explicit signals (locale-specific URLs and hreflang), support them with local content, and let users switch versions. Search Console no longer offers a country-targeting setting; the International Targeting report was retired, and hreflang is the tool Google still supports.

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Language, Country or Both

Market definition	Use it when	Example
By language	The offer is the same wherever the language is spoken	One Spanish version for all Spanish speakers
By country	Prices, products, shipping or rules differ by country	Separate U.S. and UK versions in English
By language and country	Both differ	German for Germany, German for Austria, French for Switzerland

Choose markets from evidence: where existing visitors, customers and inquiries already come from, where you can deliver, and where you can support customers in their language. Check which search engines people use in each market from a current source before planning; where another engine leads, its own webmaster tools and rules apply. Keyword research per market (not translated keywords) is covered in keyword research methodology.

Choosing a URL Structure

Google’s multi-regional and multilingual sites guide lists four options with their trade-offs:

Structure	Example	Strengths in Google's list	Weaknesses in Google's list
Country-code domain	example.de	Clear geotargeting, server location irrelevant, easy separation	Expensive, more infrastructure, ccTLD rules, one country per domain
Subdomain on a generic domain	de.example.com	Easy setup, different server locations, easy separation	Users may not read "de" as language or country
Subdirectory on a generic domain	example.com/de/	Easy setup, low maintenance on one host	Users may not recognize targeting, single server, separation harder
URL parameter	site.com?loc=de	Listed as "Not recommended"	Segmentation difficult, targeting unclear to users

How to choose:

Country domains fit organizations with separate local operations and the budget to run several sites. Google says ccTLDs “provide a strong signal to both users and search engines that your site is explicitly intended for a certain country”, and some countries restrict who can register them.
Subdirectories keep one site, one host and one set of links, and suit an organization entering its first new markets; the targeting comes from hreflang and local content.
Subdomains suit markets run by separate teams or on separate infrastructure.

Whatever you choose, keep it: changing the structure later means redirecting every international URL. The general subdomain-versus-subdirectory question is in site architecture and URL structure.

How Google Decides Which Version Is for Whom

The same guide lists the signals Google uses to determine a page’s target audience:

Country-code domains, with the note that some vanity ccTLDs (such as .tv and .me) are treated as generic.
hreflang statements, in HTML tags, HTTP headers or sitemaps.
Server location, which Google says “is not a definitive signal” because of CDNs and hosting choices.
Other signals: “local addresses and phone numbers on the pages, the use of local language and currency, links from other local sites, or signals from your Business Profile (where available).”

And two things that don’t work: Google says it ignores locational meta tags, such as geo.position and distribution, and geotargeting HTML attributes; and Search Console’s country setting is gone. The deprecation notice says Google “will continue to support and use hreflang tags on your pages”, while country targeting through Search Console “was determined to have little value for the ecosystem”.

Don’t Redirect by IP Address

Automatic redirects by visitor location can send travelers and expatriates to the wrong version and can hide versions from Google. Google advises: “Don’t use IP analysis to adapt your content”, explaining that “Most, but not all, Google crawls originate from the US, and we don’t attempt to vary the location to detect site variations.” Instead, link every version to the others with a visible language or region selector, and suggest (not force) a version based on location.

hreflang and Localization, in Brief

hreflang tells Google which URL is for which language or region; each version lists all the others and itself, and x-default names the fallback page, such as a language selector. The syntax, methods and validation are in hreflang implementation.
Localization goes beyond translation: keywords researched in each market, local currency, units, examples, legal text and support details. That work is covered in content localization.
Duplicates across versions: pages in different languages aren’t duplicates of each other; pages in the same language for different countries can be, so hreflang plus real local differences (prices, shipping, contact details) matter there; see canonical tags.

Local Signals Beyond the Site

Links from sites in each market, earned through local partners, press and associations; Google lists “links from other local sites” among its signals.
Local business details: addresses and phone numbers for real local offices, and a Business Profile for each, where you have them; see Google Business Profile optimization.
Market-specific content that answers questions people in that market ask, not only translated versions of your home pages.

Measuring Each Market

What to measure	Where
Clicks and impressions by country and by version (URL path or host)	Search Console, filtered by country and page
Which version ranks in which country	Search Console page and country filters, or a rank tracker set to that market
Conversions by market and language	GA4, segmented by country and page path
hreflang and indexing problems	Crawls and URL Inspection on each version

A version ranking in the wrong country (the UK page appearing in the U.S.) points to hreflang or content signals to fix first.

When a version ranks in the wrong country, check that version’s hreflang return links and its local signals, such as currency, address and contact details, before considering any change to the URL structure.