Expand globally with international domains

[Cez1]

I have done mine by location. 

So for example for Canada I would do the following 

ca.example.com 

(I personally have not seen a subdomain set up by currency before) 

For Canada I have the languages English and French set up (you do need to pick a default) but you can request that the first language shown is the same language in the user's browser. 

So on this subdomain the currency is CAD with two languages available and I also have a currency and language switcher set up just in case they wish to change. 

I have a few different languages on my store, but it is not recommended to add too many languages to each subdomain as this can negatively impact your SEO ranking. 

For each country I have set the default language to the native language of the country and I have included English always too, but I wouldn't suggest adding German or another language to the Canadian subdomain. 

Hope this helps! 

I have previously always used subdirectories, so I am waiting to see if it is worth spending the extra money on subdomains. Fingers crossed! 

p.s yes you can have the same language on different subdomains 

[mingyeungs]

Hi Cez1, thanks for sharing your experience! Would you mind sharing a little more?

1. With multiple languages in one site, how does the URL work?
- Do you have ca.example.com/en/ and ca.example.com/fr/?
- or do you have ca.example.com for FR, and ca.example.com/en/ for EN? (or wise-versa?)
- or are there only one URL ca.example.com , while the language is shown depending on user cookie/session?
- are there any flexibility in choosing the URL pattern?

2. Can multiple subdomains accept the same currency?
- Assuming you have ca.example.com and www.example.com , can they BOTH accept USD?

Thanks in advance!

[Cez1]

Sure!

The format I have is ca.example.com and this automatically opens my website in default English with CAD, then I have installed a language switcher incase they want to change to French, however if their browser language is in French it will display the website in French.

My languages are done via the app Langshop they are so helpful and can help you to set this up.

Your domain name is example.com

Everything in front of this is the subdomain so

www.
ca.
uk.

Are all examples of subdomains

Anything after the domain is a subdirectory

example.com/us

If you want you can just have subdirectories instead (this is the cheapest option) you create your languages and then use a language switcher which will change to /en /fr /de etc as the customer changes the language. This uses tags which helps google identify that your website is available in multiple languages

As far as I know the main benefit to subdomains is that these can be indexed as separate websites on google, thus improving your seo ranking internationally, but I have not had chance to see this yet as google indexing takes a few weeks.

I hope this helps!

[rohitmishra]

. Can multiple subdomains accept the same currency?

All domains are mapped to a country and its primary currency. So, you can have de.example.com, fr.example.com, nl.example.com etc mapped to Germany, France and Netherlands respectively. They will all have Euro as the default currency.

The only other exception is USD. You can have example.com or us.example.com mapped to United States (USD). You can also create a Rest of World domain like row.example.com and map that t Rest of World region. ROW region defaults to USD. 

[Art_JulieMiller]

My Store currency is ZAR (since I'm selling art from Africa) but my payout currency is USD since my business is in Canada.

If I use subdomains for different currencies for say USD & EURO, would client payments in those regions still be converted to ZAR before then being converted to USD for payout?

[coleatkinson]

Hey @Art_JulieMiller! No, only one conversion would take place from the currency that your customers buy in to your payout currency. And if a customer pays in USD and your payout currency is USD, there would obviously be no conversion.

[Art_JulieMiller]

YAYYYYY, thanks so much for your response. That makes me very happy

[Art_JulieMiller]

Just another thought if you don't mind indulging me - since my Store currency is in ZAR, would people paying in ZAR still pay a conversion fee for the payout in USD or does their credit card payment amount reflect what they see on the website?

[coleatkinson]

No - the only conversion that would take place in that scenario is from ZAR --> USD for your payout currency.

[Art_JulieMiller]

Thanks very much for your responses. It's hugely appreciated:)