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mediumSEO Specialist interview question

A company wants to expand its website to five countries and three languages. How would you set up the international SEO?

What the interviewer wants to hear

  • Choose structure: ccTLDs, subdomains or subfolders
  • Implement reciprocal hreflang with correct codes and x-default
  • Localise content, not just translate
  • Avoid forced IP redirects; let users choose
  • Self-referencing canonicals per version
  • Local links, local search engines and Search Console setup

Model answer

First I would choose a structure. For most companies, subfolders on one domain, like /ae-en/ and /ae-ar/, are easiest to manage and share authority, while country domains suit businesses needing a strong local presence. Then I would implement hreflang on every version, using correct language and region codes like en-GB and ar-AE, making the links reciprocal and adding an x-default for everyone else. Each version would have a self-referencing canonical, never one pointing to another country. Content must be properly localised, with local prices, currencies, examples and search terms, not just machine translation. I would avoid forced redirects based on IP, because Googlebot crawls mainly from the US, and instead show a banner suggesting the local site. Finally, I would set up Search Console for each section, build local links and track performance per market.

Can you answer it under time pressure?

Take a timed medium round and get scored on every answer.

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