The structure of your international website can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of your global web strategy. This isn’t just a technical decision. Connecting your technical objectives with your business and marketing goals can make all the difference to your international success.

There are generally three approaches you can take when it comes to international website structure. Understanding the pros and cons of website structure options in the context of your global content and international SEO strategy is vital.

1. WEBSITE STRUCTURE: CCTLD
If you are targeting international consumers by country, Country Code Top-Level Domains (or ccTLDs) are generally considered the best approach. Since ccTLDs automatically target geographically, they can benefit your brand reputation and awareness in the market. Examples of this include google.fr and amazon.de, both of which take you to a fully localized website experience for the specific country. This allows these global brands to provide fully targeted content in the right language, truly connect with their local audience, and improve their local user experience.

However, despite these advantages, ccTLDs can be quite an investment and perhaps best suited for brands with more mature global strategies. Since each domain is considered a separate website, ccTLDs require a longer-term investment in building website popularity and establishing domain authority from scratch.

For companies that don’t have a generic Top-Level Domain (or gTLD), such as .com, .info, .net, .eu, or .org, ccTLDs can limit your international expansion. This is because geographically targeting subfolders is typically less effective in ccTLDs. For example, a Canadian company with a company.ca URL wanting to expand into the U.S. would struggle with the subfolder approach company.ca/us since their ccTLD will continue to automatically target geographically to Canada. The only alternative is to purchase a new URL – like company.us and then apply relevant geographic signals.

Pro tip: If you are targeting only by language, ccTLDs might not be the best option for you. But if you want the option of targeting by country in the future and providing a fully localized experience for each locality, then it might be worth purchasing ccTLDs now so you have them available.

2. GTLD SUBFOLDERS
The main advantage of gTLD (generic Top-Level Domain) subfolders is their adaptability to your business. They can be useful when targeting by country, by language, or a combination of both. Examples include spotify.com/fr, targeting France, and microsoft.com/en-gb, targeting English-speaking users in the United Kingdom.

If you use this approach, your localized websites will be able to leverage the existing domain authority of the gTLD. This gives it an SEO advantage over ccTLDs when targeting by country. Technically, this option is popular because it is relatively simple and scalable to implement, can generally be easier to maintain, and works well with hreflang attributes for international SEO.

3. GTLD SUBDOMAINS
If you are looking for an easy approach that allows for different server locations for different localities, subdomains with gTLDs are an option. Examples include fr.wordpress.com and fr.wix.com.

However, like ccTLDs, subdomains are often considered separate entities. So you will have to put in the work to build their domain authority for each locality.

Also, there is quite a bit of evidence suggesting that the subdomain approach can impact international organic SEO performance, so talk to your SEO partner about the implications before implementing this technique.

IN CONCLUSION
Deciding on an international website structure can be tough, but the most important thing is consistency. Take some time to think about what your current and long-term business goals are. And think about what you are trying to achieve with your international websites. Develop a global website structure that supports your localization strategy. It should also meet your current and future technical, content, and marketing goals. This will ensure you have a realistic and scalable plan for website maintenance and content management, good search visibility, and a better user experience. It will also save you time, resources, and budget in the long run.