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When a company starts selling in a new country, the usual move is to duplicate the site, change a few lines of copy and hope Google figures out the rest. It rarely works. Search engines show the wrong version, pages compete with each other and users land on prices in another currency.
I work at Toteat, a restaurant software company operating in several Latin American markets, and a big part of my job is making sure the site works well in each country. This is what I consider essential.
Choose a URL structure
- Country domains (example.cl, example.mx). The clearest signal for each market, but every domain builds authority from zero and they cost more to maintain.
- Subfolders (example.com/cl/, example.com/mx/). The whole site shares the main domain’s authority and is easier to manage. For most mid-sized companies, this is what I recommend.
- Subdomains (cl.example.com). A middle ground, although in practice they tend to work as more separate sites.
Implement hreflang correctly
Hreflang tags tell Google which version to show based on the user’s language and country, for example es-CL for Chile and es-MX for Mexico. Each page should reference itself and all of its versions, and those references have to be reciprocal. It is also worth adding an x-default version for users who do not match any market.
This is where I find the most mistakes: tags pointing to redirected URLs, versions that do not reference each other back, or canonicals that send everything to the main version.
Adapt the content to each market
Even between Spanish-speaking countries, there are differences that affect conversion and SEO. In Chile people search for “garzón” and in Mexico for “mesero”, and both mean waiter. Currency, payment methods, taxes, the testimonials that build trust and the way people search all change. Research keywords for each country instead of using one list for everyone.
Take care of design and experience in every version
- A visible, easy-to-use country or language selector.
- No automatic redirects by IP without a way to switch. Besides frustrating users, they can stop Google from crawling your other versions.
- Shared components and templates, so maintaining five versions does not mean five times the work.
- Forms and CTAs connected to per-market measurement, so you know which country converts and which does not.
Common mistakes
- Duplicate content across countries without hreflang.
- Machine translations without review.
- Prices or contact details from one country showing on another country’s version.
- Measuring every market as if it were one.
International SEO and web design for your company
I help companies that operate, or plan to operate, in several countries design and structure their websites: URL architecture, hreflang, keyword research by market, website design and conversion optimization. If you are about to expand or your site already has several versions and is underperforming, reach out through dantecurin.com.