Google Search Console and localised subdomains query

[Peeledeye]

Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question! I have recently localised my English Shopify store with French and German versions using subdomains in the Markets settings. I am confused about whether I need to submit XML sitemaps to Google Search Console for each of these subdomains? When I look at my primary domain sitemap which is already validated and successfully submitted I see the the subdomains are appearing and Google seems to be indexing them already according to data in GSC. 

I found this info here:

https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/markets/international-domains/setting-up-unique-urls/set-up-urls

"After you set up your region-specific URLs, you need to submit a sitemap for every domain and subdomain in Google Search Console."

This seems to suggest that each subdomain needs to be verified and a new sitemap submitted for each one? Or is it sufficient to have one sitemap for the primary domain which will allow Google to index the translated sub-domains correctly?

I did try submitting a sitemap for one of the subdomains but got a “couldn’t fetch” error.

Thanks for any advice!

[Peeledeye]

Correction: where I have mentioned subdomains I meant subfolders!

[flareAI · Accepted solution]

Hello @Peeledeye,

Greetings from flareAI app - get free sales from Google! I am Gina, and I am here to help.

If you have already verified your primary domain in Google Search Console and have submitted a sitemap that includes the URLs for your translated subdomains, then you do not need to submit separate sitemaps for each subdomain.

Google should be able to crawl and index your subdomains based on the URLs included in the primary domain's sitemap. However, it is recommended that you monitor the indexing status of your subdomains in Google Search Console to ensure that they are being indexed properly.

If you received an error message when trying to submit a sitemap for one of your subdomains, there may be an issue with the sitemap itself or with the way the subdomain is set up in Shopify.

You may want to double-check that the sitemap is properly formatted and that it includes all of the relevant URLs for that subdomain. If you continue to have issues, you may want to reach out to Shopify support for assistance.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Gina

[Peeledeye]

Thank you for your reply Gina @flareAI 

I can confirm that I can see the subdomains appearing in my existing sitemap, so my existing sitemap has updated. Google is indexing the new subdomain pages. I'm still not sure why the advice in Shopify support seems to suggest submitting different sitemaps for each subdomain. Maybe it's something to do with going down the subfolders route? Anyway my primary domain sitemap seems to be working correctly as you say.

[flareAI]

Hello @Peeledeye,

This is Gina from flareAI app - get free sales from Google.

It's generally recommended to submit separate XML sitemaps for each subdomain in Google Search Console to help with indexing and to ensure that Google is able to crawl and index all of the pages on each subdomain. However, in your case, it seems that Google is already indexing the pages on your subdomains, and that they are appearing in your existing sitemap for your primary domain.

If you are seeing your subdomains appearing in your primary domain sitemap and Google is indexing them correctly, then it may not be necessary to submit separate XML sitemaps for each subdomain. However, if you continue to have trouble with one of the subdomains, you could try resubmitting the sitemap for that subdomain or contacting Shopify support for assistance.

Ultimately, the most important thing is to ensure that your pages are properly localized for your French and German audiences and that they are optimized for SEO using relevant keywords and metadata.

Hope this helps

Gina