Multilingual SEO (2) Domain Strategy – Pros and Cons of TLD and ccTLD

First, let’s look at the domain structures that are essential to consider when building multilingual sites.

■ What is a Domain Name?

All devices connected to the Internet (PC, mobile phone, server, etc.) have an IP address consisting of a number to identify each device. But the only number we can memorize these days is your phone number. To alleviate this inconvenience, we introduce a domain name system (DNS, Domain Name System).

DNS changes the IP address to domain name, which is an english+ number form that is easy for us to remember. Thanks to this, I can access the blog by hitting lucy-the-marketer.kr without having to remember a number such as 54.180.73.135.

■ Top Level Domain (TLD)

TLD speaks easily and refers to the last part of the domain name. For example, if you google.com, the .com part is tld.

Typical TLD type

(1) gTLDs (generic TLD): .com
, .org, etc. refers to an address that uses a common domain name.

(2) ccTLDs (country code TLD): South Korea i
s .kr, the Netherlands refers to the address that uses country names such as .nl.

(3) arpa (infrastructure TLD): A technical add
ress that is used only for a specific purpose, which is largely irrelevant in SEO.

■ GTLD vs. ccTLD let’s look at the target.

Which of the gTLD and ccTLD should I use? I should look at the target singing targets before that. A typical site is configured as a gTLD, which is good in terms of future operation and maintenance. However, to expose you to granular leads, it is a good idea to use ccTLD to target ‘countries’.

The target audience for my website is a specific country. (There are no plans to expand other regi
ons at all!) With ccTLD, local targets are automatically achieved, making it easier to rank in the search for your area. However, it cannot be said that it is particularly better compared to the gTLD.

It is a global target, but only one site is plan
ned to operate.

It is a global target and plans to expand into new markets
In other words, if the original site is google.com, and you’re just entering the German market, you’re adding google.de. However, rather than operating multiple ccTLd in this way, it is easy to configure each country under the gTLD in a subfolder format for future maintenance. In other words, if the Korean target, write / kr, if the French target, it is to write / fr.

In the case of airbnb, each country is composed of ccTLD. It’s a perfectly localed language and content. That’s why it’s good for search rankings, but it’s a very expensive way to do so.

■ Advantages of ccTLD

– It is the best way to tell search engines that you are targeting a specific country. Remember, SEO refers to all the techniques that search engines effectively tell you what purpose your site is for and what it contains. In other words, search engines should create easy-to-understand language and structure.

– It is advantageous for backlink building. Backlinks are a major influence on SEO, and are clickable hibercies that refer to your site on other sites. In other words, the more someone shares, “More information is on Lucy’s blog,” the more you think that your site will rank higher. In the case of ccTLD, it can be seen as advantageous for link building because it has more location rights.

– URL structure design is easy. CcTLD can be consistently designed because the domain name is finished with code that means each country.

– When using multiple ccTLD, the dosage increases. By default, you can increase your exposure in search engines rather than expanding a single domain. It is also a good way to avoid duplicate content. CcTLD makes it easy to create and manage localized content depending on the region.

■ Disadvantages of ccTLD

– Time-consuming and costly. After all, it means that each site is opened and operated. If your target country is 10, you need to run 10 sites and manage individual content. Maintenance costs a lot.

– You should build link permissions from scratch. Because each domain has its own domain permissions and backlinks, it is not possible to take advantage of the domain history that you have accumulated while operating other sites.

– There must be sufficient potential customers in the target country and follow the country’s policies. For example, ccTLD in China can only be purchased by Chinese.

■ Conclusion! If you have a lot of budget and don’t have much time to invest, don’t use ccTLD!

If so, what domain structure should i use for multilingual SEO?! In the next article, we’ll compare subdomains and subfolders and write about which domain structure is appropriate under what circumstances.