International SEO
For sites in several languages or countries. Domain structure, hreflang and translations that add traffic without lowering the quality of the rest of the site.
Book a 30-min call →At Softonic, a portfolio with over 1 billion users a year, we moved the languages to their own ccTLDs linked with hreflang. The main domain went past its previous level and each language went past the traffic it had inside the main domain.
What I do
More languages does not always mean more traffic
The usual way to internationalize a site is to translate all of it and put the languages in subdirectories. Sometimes it works. But Google assesses quality at the site level, and translations that are not up to the standard of the original can lower the score of the whole domain.
I have seen it happen: consolidating the languages on the main domain raises traffic at first, and the next core update brings it down. Splitting them into ccTLDs with hreflang can let the main domain recover and each language grow on its own.
That is why, before choosing the structure, I look at what content you will have in each language and at what quality.
- 01 Hreflang reciprocity and codes Each version has to link to the others and to itself, with valid language and country codes. One mistake and the annotation is ignored.
- 02 Hreflang versus canonical If one version's canonical points to another, hreflang stops working. It is one of the most common conflicts.
- 03 Quality of each language I review translations by page type. Unreviewed machine translations can lower the quality of the whole domain.
- 04 Redirects by language or IP Automatically redirecting by browser language or IP can stop Googlebot from seeing the other versions.
- 05 Real demand by country Keyword research in each market: the same product is searched with different words in Spain, Mexico or Argentina.
I've done it before
Worth reading first: Google Quality: what it is, how it measures it and how long a site takes to recover
How we work
From the first call to results
- Day 1
Call and access
Markets, languages and the goals for each. You give me access to Search Console, analytics and business data by country.
- Weeks 1–3
Diagnosis
Current structure, hreflang, indexing by language and country, and the quality of each translated version by page type.
- Week 4
Structure and markets
The structure that fits your business (ccTLD, subdomain or subdirectory) and the order in which to open or strengthen each market.
- Every quarter
Plan by market
One objective with absolute key results for each market, and initiatives with their own metric.
- Every week
Weekly sprints
Your team implements and I lead and review: hreflang, translations, linking between versions and whatever is due that week.
- End of quarter
Results
We measure each market against its key results and decide where to continue, where to stop and what to open next.
The first 3 steps happen once, at the start. From "Plan by market" onwards, the work becomes a steady flow that repeats.
It is the same methodology in every project: a business goal, a diagnosis by page type, absolute key results and a weekly review. I explain it in full in this post
Deliverables
What you take away
-
International structure
ccTLD, subdomain or subdirectory: the one that fits your business, your resources and the quality of your content in each language.
-
Hreflang review
Implementation, reciprocity, language and country codes, and consistency with canonicals and sitemaps.
-
Quality by language
I review translations and localizations by page type to see which ones contribute and which may be lowering the quality of the site.
-
Demand by market
Keyword research in each language and country: what people search for in Mexico is not what they search for in Spain.
-
Expansion plan
Which markets to open, in what order and with what content, before translating the whole site.
How you can hire me
International diagnosis
A fixed project: structure, hreflang and quality by language, with an action plan.
Supported expansion
I work with you month by month while you open markets or change structure.
In ongoing work, you choose how involved I get
-
Guided consulting
Regular sessions with your team. I set the priorities, review what has been done and measure the results. Your team executes.
-
Hands-on support
On top of that, I review changes before they ship and I am in your Slack or Teams for day-to-day questions.
-
Inside your team
Almost like an implant: I join your tools, write and prioritize the tickets myself, take part in planning and do the SEO QA of what ships.
We adjust it to the project and it can change along the way: some projects start guided and end with me inside the team, and the other way round.
Fixed price based on the number of languages, the size of the site and the format. I send you the proposal in writing after the first call.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can't find your question? Email me at [email protected] and I'll reply within 24 hours.
ccTLD, subdomain or subdirectory?
It depends. The subdirectory concentrates authority on one domain and is the easiest to maintain, but it shares the quality assessment with the whole site. At Softonic, the translations inside the main domain ended up lowering its overall quality, and moving them to their own ccTLDs made the main domain and each language grow. The answer depends mostly on the quality of the content in each language and the resources you have for each market.
Does hreflang improve rankings?
Not directly. It helps Google show each user the version in their language or country. Badly implemented, it makes the wrong version compete with the right one or makes none of them show up.
Can I translate the site with AI?
You can, but with review. Translating thousands of pages without supervision is exactly what Google gives as an example of low-effort content, and quality is measured at the site level, so weak translations can also drag down the original language.
Do you work in English?
Yes. I work in Spanish and English with teams in any country.
When shouldn't you hire me?
If you only work in one country and one language, and have no plans to expand. If you are looking for translation or copywriting. I decide what to translate and how, but I do not translate.
How much does it cost?
It depends on the number of languages and markets, the size of the site and whether we start from zero or review a structure that already exists. I send you a fixed proposal after the first call.