Website Geotargeting: What It Is and Why You Need It
In this article: what website geotargeting is, what signals Google uses to determine the target country, how to set it up via URL structure, hreflang, and Search Console, and how it works on Tilda.
The client wants a German version of the website. You've made it, everything is translated. But Google might show this version to the wrong people — or not show it in German search at all. This is exactly what geotargeting is for.
What Is Website Geotargeting
Website geotargeting is a set of signals that tell Google which country or region a specific page is targeting. Without explicit signals, the search engine tries to determine this itself: it looks at content language, server IP, and link mass. It doesn't always guess correctly.
An important nuance: page language and country are different things. An English page can be targeted at the UK, USA, or Australia. Without geotargeting, Google chooses on its own and may show the English version to the wrong audience.
What Signals Does Google Consider
Domain Zone. Domains like .de, .fr, .ru are country-code top-level domains (ccTLD). This is the clearest signal for Google: a .de website is aimed at Germany. Plus: unambiguous country binding. Minus: each domain will have to be promoted separately, authority is not transferred between them.
URL Structure. Folders (/de/, /fr/) and subdomains (de.site.com) on a generic domain (.com, .net) also signal the target region. Folders are better from an SEO perspective: one domain accumulates authority for all regions at once. How to choose a structure — more details in a separate article:
hreflang. An attribute in the page code that directly tells Google: "here's the version for German in Germany, here's for German in Austria, here's for English in the USA." One attribute solves both the language and country tasks simultaneously. This is the most accurate signal of all.
Format: hreflang="de" (language) or hreflang="de-DE" (language + country). For a version not tied to a specific country: hreflang="x-default".
Google Search Console. Previously, Search Console had a special geotargeting tool — to set a target country for a .com domain. It is outdated and no longer works. Now Google recommends relying entirely on hreflang and URL structure.
Why hreflang is more important than anything else
A country-specific domain gives a clear signal but fragments the link mass. The setting in Search Console is approximate. hreflang is more precise: you can divide the German audience by country (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), specify the default version for all others, and do this at the page level.
Without hreflang, the following can happen: a user from Germany searches for something on Google, finds your site — but lands on the Russian version, even though a German one exists. Simply because Google didn't know which one to show.
Need a multilingual website with proper geotargeting?
Multify automatically generates hreflang for all pages — no need to manually specify attributes with every update.
Step 1: Choose a URL structure. Folders (/de/, /en/) are in most cases more optimal than separate domains: one domain, authority is not fragmented.
Step 2: Specify hreflang. Each page of each language version needs hreflang attributes. For a site with three languages and 50 pages, this is a minimum of 150 attributes. And they all must be consistent: if a German page links to an English version, the English page must also link back. Google checks for reciprocity.
Step 3: Add language versions to Search Console. With a folder structure, it's convenient to add each prefix as a separate resource: mysite.com/de/, mysite.com/en/. This makes it easier to track traffic by region and see hreflang errors in the "International Targeting" → "Language" report.
Step 4: Check for errors. Typical problems: mismatch between content language and hreflang attribute, missing reciprocal links between versions, incorrect x-default.
Geotargeting on Tilda
Tilda does not add hreflang on its own. You can manually add attributes via an HTML block — but this means updating them manually every time the site structure changes or a language is added. On a site with dozens of pages, this becomes a separate, ongoing task.
Multify automatically generates hreflang for all pages and language versions. Added a new language — attributes appeared on the entire site. The URL structure is also created via proxy: /de/, /en/ folders work without changes in Tilda settings.
Is hreflang needed if the site is only in one language?
If the entire site is in one language and for one country — hreflang is not mandatory. But if there are at least two language versions, hreflang is needed: without it, Google chooses which version to show itself, and can make a mistake.
Does geotargeting affect rankings?
Directly — no. Correct geotargeting does not improve rankings, but it helps the right version of the page appear in the right regional search results. This affects traffic: the right page — the right audience — better CTR.
What to choose: a domain for a specific country or hreflang?
A domain for a specific country (.de, .fr) gives a strong country signal, but requires promoting several domains independently. hreflang with folders is more flexible: one domain, several regions, authority is not fragmented. For most agency tasks, hreflang + folders is preferable.
How to check that everything is set up correctly?
Google Search Console, section "International Targeting" → "Language" — hreflang errors are visible there. Additionally, you can use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs Site Audit for a full scan of all attributes.
Set up geotargeting from scratch
We will connect multilingualism via subdirectories with automatic hreflang — without manual setup and without changes in Tilda.