Google Webmaster tools localization for double country

[mikehenze]

Hi,

I have the following url structure in my webshop:

• www.example.com/nl
• www.example.com/de
• www.example.com/fr
• www.example.com/uk

I have set up each local store in Google Webmaster Tools with the correct localization.
But for the Belgium market i dont have a seperate site. Half of them speak dutch (nl) and half of them speak french (fr). Will Google show the correct site (nl or fr) based on their language? Or will my sites not show up because belgium is not being used in my GWT ?

Thanks.

[Aleyda]

Hi Michael,

For Belgium, if you want to target both the French and Flemish speakers and you have identified that have enough search volume for the keywords that you would like to rank and convert that will compensate the development of these two versions from a technical and content perspective (remember that they will need content in each relevant language), then you would need to enable a directory for each one:

• www.headoverheels-fashion.com/be-fr/ With content in French targeted to Belgians
• www.headoverheels-fashion.com/be-nl/ With content in Flemish targeted to Belgians

In this case, both directories should be registered and targeted independently in Google Webmaster Tools to Belgium, nonetheless, the data you would get in each will be unique since they will related to the keywords in different languages.

You can also use the hreflang annotation for each one of your different country versions to specify its country and language as Google describes here.

I hope this helps. If you still have any doubt please let me know!