hreflang
An annotation declaring alternate language or regional versions of a page, so search engines serve the appropriate one to each user.
InternationalInternational targeting
Geo-targeting
Signalling which country a site or section is intended for, through ccTLD choice, hreflang region codes, server location, local links and language.
In full
Google retired the International Targeting report's country setting in Search Console, so explicit country targeting for generic domains now relies chiefly on hreflang, on-page localisation and other contextual signals. Geo-targeting is about audience, not language: a Spanish-language site can target Mexico specifically. Note that targeting one country makes ranking elsewhere harder, so it should only be applied where the content is genuinely country-specific.
Example
A `/au/` section uses `en-AU` hreflang, Australian pricing, local phone numbers and links from Australian publications.
Related terms
ccTLD
A top-level domain assigned to a country or territory, such as .de or .fr, which carries an inherent and unchangeable geo-targeting signal.
Subdirectory vs subdomain vs ccTLD
The three URL structures for international sites — example.com/de/, de.example.com and example.de — each with different authority…
International SEO
Structuring and optimising a site so the right language and country version is served to the right audience in each market's search results.
Automatic locale redirection
Redirecting users to a country or language version based on IP address or browser settings, a pattern Google warns can prevent crawling of…