Dawn 8.0 / Change for a target country market domain from subfolders to Primary domain only

Topic summary

Shift from many country-specific subfolders to a single primary domain due to operational/SEO overhead. The store currently targets 25+ countries via subfolders, which created a heavy indexing burden that outweighs perceived benefits.

Key request: Guidance on setting up temporary redirects from country subfolders to the primary domain to avoid losing existing search indexing and visibility. The author is seeking community-level best practices and general perspectives before engaging paid consultancy.

Context: “Subfolders” are country-specific paths under one domain (e.g., /fr/, /de/), while a “primary domain only” approach consolidates content without country paths. The concern centers on preserving search engine indexing during the migration.

Status: No concrete solution or consensus provided yet. The discussion remains open with unanswered questions about redirection strategy and SEO impact.

Summarized with AI on January 26. AI used: gpt-5.

Hi All!

When creating my store, I elected to create subfolders for each of my targetted countries. Because my product is a niche product, I have more than 25 targetted countries. Big mistake because of a need for massive indexing that far outweight the pros.

I want to change course and go for primary domain only.

Is it possible to organise temporary redirections so that I am not loosing all the indexing?

Best

Eric

Thanks Experts399. I think this topic is of interest to the community and I would like to get first some general views on that topic, on this forum, before moving to formal consultancy if required.

Best

Eric