International SEO for stores: hreflang, domains and country targeting
How to be found in each country you sell to without competing with yourself, and how market and country settings fit in.
The short answer
Selling in several countries means several versions of the same pages: different languages, currencies, prices, shipping terms. Search engines need to be told which version is for which audience, or they choose one, often the wrong one, and treat the rest as duplicates. Hreflang tags do that: on every page, a declaration of the equivalent pages for each language and region, including itself. Domain structure is the other decision: one domain with a path per market is simplest and keeps authority together; country domains signal locality but split the effort. Shopify Markets generates the structure and the hreflang when configured properly. The work is in verifying it, and in localising content for each market rather than translating the home market and hoping.
The pieces
| Piece | What it does | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Market structure | A version of the store per country or region: language, currency, prices, shipping | Which markets exist; which languages each serves |
| Domain structure | Paths on one domain, subdomains, or country domains | Chosen deliberately; consistent; hard to change later |
| Hreflang | Per page, the set of equivalent pages by language and region, including self | Complete sets with return links; correct codes; only on indexable pages |
| Canonicals | One canonical per version, pointing at itself | Not pointing all versions at the home market |
| Localised content | Terms, units, sizes, shipping, payment, legal text per market | Not a word-for-word translation |
| Sitemaps | Each market’s pages listed | Generated per market and submitted |
| Redirection | Suggesting, not forcing, the right market to visitors | No automatic redirects that block crawlers from other versions |
Setting it up on Shopify
- Define the markets and, for each, the languages, currency, pricing and domain or path.
- Choose the domain structure deliberately; paths on one domain unless there is a strong reason otherwise.
- Let Markets generate the structure and hreflang, then validate a sample of pages with a checker: complete sets, return links, self-references, correct codes.
- Localise content, starting with the pages that earn traffic: collections, top products, shipping and returns.
- Check canonicals per version and sitemaps per market.
- Do not force redirects by location; suggest the market with a banner and let visitors and crawlers reach every version.
- Monitor per market in the search console: indexing, impressions, hreflang errors.
Translation versus localisation
A translated store says the same things in another language. A localised store says what that market’s customers need: their sizes and units, their delivery times and costs, their payment methods, their legal notices, their search terms for the product. The second ranks and converts; the first is a duplicate with an accent. Start with translation to open a market; localise the pages that matter as soon as they show traffic.
What this means for you
Structure markets deliberately, prefer one domain with paths, let Markets generate the hreflang and then verify it, keep canonicals and sitemaps per version, never force redirects, and localise the pages that earn traffic rather than only translating them. International SEO done this way lets each market find its own version of your store instead of all of them finding the home market and leaving.
Frequently asked questions
Should we use separate domains per country?
Usually not for a small or mid-sized store. One domain with a path or subfolder per market keeps authority consolidated, is easier to manage and is what Shopify Markets produces by default. Country domains make sense when there is a strong local brand reason and the resources to build authority for each. The choice is hard to reverse, so decide deliberately.
What goes wrong with hreflang most often?
Incomplete sets: page A lists B but B does not list A, or the self-reference is missing; wrong codes for language and region; hreflang on pages that redirect or are blocked; and translated pages that are word-for-word copies with no local content, which search engines treat as duplicates anyway. Validate with a tool and fix the return links.
Is translating the store enough to rank abroad?
No. Ranking in a market needs content that fits it: local terms, sizes, units, shipping and return information, payment methods, and ideally local links and reviews. A machine-translated copy of the home market ranks poorly and converts worse. Translate to start, localise to compete.
Sources
- Shopify Help Center: Markets (accessed 2026-09-12)
- Google Search Central: Localized versions of your pages (accessed 2026-09-12)