• majorAlexa

        See all notifications

        Skip to content
        Moz logo Menu open Menu close
        • Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Pro Home
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Home
          • STAT
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Home
          • Compare SEO Products
          • Moz Data
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Link Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • MozBar
          • More Free SEO Tools
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Moz Academy
          • MozCon
          • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Small Business Solutions
          • The Moz Story
          • New Releases
        • Log in
        • Log out
        • Products
          • Moz Pro

            Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

          • Moz Local

            Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

          • STAT

            SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

          • Moz API

            Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

          • Compare SEO Products

            See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

          • Moz Data

            Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

          Let your business shine with Listings AI
          Moz Local

          Let your business shine with Listings AI

          Learn more
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis

            Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

          • Keyword Explorer

            Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

          • Link Explorer

            Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

          • Competitive Research

            Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

          • MozBar

            See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

          • More Free SEO Tools

            Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
          Moz Pro

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

          Learn more
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO

            The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

          • SEO Learning Center

            Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

          • On-Demand Webinars

            Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

          • How-To Guides

            Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

          • Moz Academy

            Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

          • MozCon

            Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
          Moz API

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

          Find your plan
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers

            Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

          • Small Business Solutions

            Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

          • Agency Solutions

            Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

          • Enterprise Solutions

            Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

          • The Moz Story

            Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

          • New Releases

            Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

          Surface actionable competitive intel
          New Feature

          Surface actionable competitive intel

          Learn More
        • Log in
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Dashboard
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Dashboard
          • Moz Academy
        • Avatar
          • Moz Home
          • Notifications
          • Account & Billing
          • Manage Users
          • Community Profile
          • My Q&A
          • My Videos
          • Log Out

        The Moz Q&A Forum

        • Forum
        • Questions
        • My Q&A
        • Users
        • Ask the Community

        Welcome to the Q&A Forum

        Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

        1. Home
        2. SEO Tactics
        3. On-Page Optimization
        4. Canonical: Same content but different countries

        Moz Q&A is closed.

        After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

        Canonical: Same content but different countries

        On-Page Optimization
        3
        6
        2131
        Loading More Posts
        • Watching

          Notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread.

        • Not Watching

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread if category is not ignored.

        • Ignoring

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Do not show question in unread.

        • Oldest to Newest
        • Newest to Oldest
        • Most Votes
        Reply
        • Reply as question
        Locked
        This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
        • newbyguy
          newbyguy last edited by

          I'm building a website that has content made for specific countries.  The url format is:

          MyWebsite.com/<country name="">/</country>

          Some of the pages for <specific url="">are the same for different countries, the <specific url="">would be the same as well.  The only difference would be the <country name="">.</country></specific></specific>

          How do I deal with canonical issues to avoid Google thinking I'm presenting the same content?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • effectdigital
            effectdigital @newbyguy last edited by

            In response to your second question, it's fine to have /usa/ although /us/ or /en/ would be a more typical deployment (lots of people go like, /en-us/ and /en-gb/ as that structure allows for really granular international deployment!)

            As long as the hreflangs are accurate and tell Google what language and region the URLs are for, as long as the hreflangs are deployed symmetrically with no conflicts or missing parts - it should be ok

            Note that Google will expect to see different content on different regional URLs, sometimes even if they're the same language but targeted at different countries (tailor your content to your audience, don't just cut and paste sites and change tags and expect extra footprint). Stuff like shipping info and prices (currency shown) should also be different (otherwise don't even bother!)

            Your hreflangs, if you are doing USA as your EN country, should not use 'en-gb' in the hreflang (instead they should use 'en-us')

            If you're thing God the HTML implementation will make the code bloated and messy, read this:

            https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en

            There are also HTTP header and XML sitemap deployment options (though IMO, HTML is always best and is the hardest, strongest signal)

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • effectdigital
              effectdigital last edited by

              Yep every page should reference every language, including its own language. but obviously with different URLs in the link fields, as different pages should have different regional equivalents (hope that makes sense)

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • newbyguy
                newbyguy @effectdigital last edited by

                Thank you, so if I had approximately 30 different countries, then I would reference all 30 different country URLs?

                effectdigital 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • effectdigital
                  effectdigital last edited by

                  Basically the canonical tags should self reference, so long as they are also supported by hreflangs.

                  So for example if you had these two URLs:

                  site.com/en/category/product

                  site.com/fr/category/product

                  ... then on site.com/en/category/product you'd need:

                  
                  **... and on site.com/fr/category/product you'd need:**
                  
                  

                  It's pretty simple really! Remember, only canonical URLs (usually not parameter-based child URLs) should self-reference with a canonical tag. Remember that Hreflangs need to be mutually agreed between pages for them to work (so if the FR page links to the EN page with a hreflang, but there's no hreflang coming back - it fails!) - Keep hreflangs simple and exactly symmetrical

                  newbyguy 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                  • MrWhippy
                    MrWhippy last edited by

                    Hi, newbguy,

                    It appears that your concern is about losing the different language versions of the same page? I assume that the content is the same apart from language or location. If this is the case here are some links that should help.

                    https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2011/12/new-markup-for-multilingual-content.html

                    https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/182192?hl=en

                    https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/182192?hl=en

                    https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077

                    https://yoast.com/rel-canonical/

                    https://a-moz.groupbuyseo.org/learn/seo/canonicalization

                    If after having a look through these you are still stuck, let me know.

                    If you do need further help can you please tell me

                    1. Is the content the same on each page?
                    2. Is the content in the same language on each page?

                    Please keep in mind that the URLs in your example are technically different as they <country name="">is different in each one.</country>

                    I hope this helps,

                    Steve

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • 1 / 1
                    • First post
                      Last post

                    Browse Questions

                    Explore more categories

                    • Moz Tools

                      Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                    • SEO Tactics

                      Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                    • Community

                      Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                    • Digital Marketing

                      Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                    • Research & Trends

                      Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                    • Support

                      Connect on product support and feature requests.

                    • See all categories

                    Related Questions

                    • Jon-S

                      Rich Snippets appear differently for Wikipedia, Why?

                      Hi All, I've been doing a bit of research for a customer and whilst I was looking through the google results pages I came across this interesting rich snippet for a Wikipedia page (see screen shot attached). Its returned some extra information i.e Owner, Water Source, Number of Stills and Capacity. Is this just Google playing around or is this something I've missed and you can markup additional information for your rich snippet? Thanks in advance Jon 4TmGvJh.png

                      On-Page Optimization | | Jon-S
                      0
                    • wearehappymedia

                      Duplicate content with tagging and categories

                      Hello, Moz is showing that a site has duplicate content - which appears to be because of tags and categories. It is a relatively new site, with only a few blog publications so far. This means that the same articles are displayed under a number of different tags and categories... Is this something I should worry about, or just wait until I have more content? The 'tag' and 'category' pages are not really pages I would expect or aim for anyone to find in google results anyway. Would be glad to here any advice / opinions on this Thanks!

                      On-Page Optimization | | wearehappymedia
                      1
                    • BeckyKey

                      Duplicate Content - Bulk analysis tool?

                      Hi I wondered if there's a tool to analyse duplicate content - within your own site or on external sites, but that you can upload the URL's you want to check in bulk? I used Copyscape a while ago, but don't remember this having a bulk feature? Thank you!

                      On-Page Optimization | | BeckyKey
                      0
                    • JesusD

                      Difference in using dividers in TITLE TAG

                      Hi everyone, i know that dividers in title or even title tag doesnt have much of an impact on better rankings. I had great rankings for many keywords, not using dividers or using only one divider. However for better reading comprehension and usability, and also aesthetics i started to use the pipe as my main divider and other secondary dividers. I saw many pages drop in rankings vs other less competent and with less content pages. My format was as follows: Product Brand | Product description - Additional info or local info ie.  Fiber Glass MBI | Insulation Batts for Home and Commercial use -  Acoustic and Thermal Insulation I changed the format for a handful of pages, and saw immediate results on rankings and traffic on those pages. Product Brand with Product Description - Additional Info ie. Fiber Glass MBI Insulation Batts for Commercial use - Acoustic and Thermal Insulation. Does it sound like something i should implement page wide. I personally like the aesthetics of the pipe as it gives a cleaner look, but the better rankings on the changed pages with using only one divider makes me think.  Does it sound familiar, or its just a coincidence, Regards,

                      On-Page Optimization | | JesusD
                      0
                    • stephenfishman

                      Do quotation marks in content effect SERPs?

                      Some of my art object products have words and phrases  engraved on them. The words  relate to the images on the product. In the product descriptions, I have been putting quotes around the entire list. Would I get better long tail results if I didn't use the quotation marks?   In other words, do the quotes make everything between them an exact match phrase? For example:
                      Current product description: 
                      The worlds around the edge of the lazy susan read, "Explore nature. Dream big. Take time to smell the flowers. Enjoy the changing seasons. Seize the day. Relish the night. Live life to the fullest." Thank you for helping with this, all comments on how to present this kind of content are welcomed- Stephen kSOjt5a

                      On-Page Optimization | | stephenfishman
                      0
                    • ShearingsGroup

                      Duplicate content on partner site

                      I have a trade partner who will be using some of our content on their site. What's the best way to prevent any duplicate content issues? Their plan is to attribute the content to us using rel=author tagging. Would this be sufficient or should I request that they do something else too? Thanks

                      On-Page Optimization | | ShearingsGroup
                      0
                    • dealblogger

                      How do I remove a Canonical URL Tag?

                      Some of my report cards say I have too many canonical URL tags. However, there is no information no how to delete one. Can someone give me a link or explain? Thanks.

                      On-Page Optimization | | dealblogger
                      0
                    • RobertFisher

                      Sliders and Content Above the Fold

                      I was just inspecting a wire frame that is going out to a client and realized that the slider may interfere with the "content above the fold." Can't believe this had not struck me on others. If the Header has basic business info, etc. in it and you place a slider to display images in the area just beneath the Header or slightly down from it, does that decrease the amount of content seen a being above the fold? Or, is content above the fold established by virtue of H1,2, 3, etc.?

                      On-Page Optimization | | RobertFisher
                      0

                    Get started with Moz Pro!

                    Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                    Start my free trial
                    Products
                    • Moz Pro
                    • Moz Local
                    • Moz API
                    • Moz Data
                    • STAT
                    • Product Updates
                    Moz Solutions
                    • SMB Solutions
                    • Agency Solutions
                    • Enterprise Solutions
                    • Digital Marketers
                    Free SEO Tools
                    • Domain Authority Checker
                    • Link Explorer
                    • Keyword Explorer
                    • Competitive Research
                    • Brand Authority Checker
                    • Local Citation Checker
                    • MozBar Extension
                    • MozCast
                    Resources
                    • Blog
                    • SEO Learning Center
                    • Help Hub
                    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                    • How-to Guides
                    • Moz Academy
                    • API Docs
                    About Moz
                    • About
                    • Team
                    • Careers
                    • Contact
                    Why Moz
                    • Case Studies
                    • Testimonials
                    Get Involved
                    • Become an Affiliate
                    • MozCon
                    • Webinars
                    • Practical Marketer Series
                    • MozPod
                    Connect with us

                    Contact the Help team

                    Join our newsletter
                    Moz logo
                    © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                    • Accessibility
                    • Terms of Use
                    • Privacy

                    Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.