Personal Whitehat Company Page - Primary Language: EN vs. DE

[zotix]

Dear Community,

When it comes to SEO, im still learning the proper techniques to Rank better on Search Engines.
I have a general question that might be pretty apparent to most of you, but it's still a little unclear to me—especially since the whole content will be built primarily in this language.

So, I'm currently working on my Whitehat Consulting Page, which will also post articles on social media, such as LinkedIn.
On LinkedIn, most of the content is shared in English, but even though my primary Market is still Germany / Switzerland & Austria, for providing my Services.

In terms of SEO and primary and secondary Language, I'm not really sure what to choose.

Primary English or German?

I will also work with Article writers, probably from BHW, together; they might be in English.
Especially in Consulting, many terms are used in English as well for German content.


That is why my question is, what should the primary language be?
Considering the fact, that I will use YOAST SEO Premium & WPML Multilanguage, as well as manually crosscheck the translations.

Im curious about your advice - because I want to tackle the German, Switzerland & Austrian markets in the first place and work & keep on good SEO stats locally, but also have quality content & the opportunity to use Services that are provided in English.

Thank you very much!

Best regards,
zotix

 

[tazarbm]

In terms of SEO and primary and secondary Language, I'm not really sure what to choose.

Primary English or German?

in terms of SEO it doesn't matter, but since your market is German speaking you should obviously make the site directly in German. And since multilingual sites are not uncommon nowadays you can make separate pages for English and put them either in an EN subdomain (ie. en.myconsultingsite.de or en.myconsultingsite.com) or in a folder (ie. myconsultingsite.com/en/ or myconsultingsite.de/en/)

And the content you post to LinkedIn you can make in English and link to your English version of the site

That is why my question is, what should the primary language be?

German

because I want to tackle the German, Switzerland & Austrian markets in the first place and work & keep on good SEO stats locally

again, make the site directly in German, and - since you're so keen on mentioning that you're targeting De/At/Ch I would also pick a .de domain name, just for the extra localization boost

 

[zotix]

Thank you very much for your answer!
So YOAST SEO suggested the variation with:

folder (ie. myconsultingsite.com/en/ or myconsultingsite.de/en/)

But I have my Consulting Page with both TLDs: ".com" as the generic TLD & also the country code TLD = ".de" - to keep brand consistency, I also own the ".net" TLD.
So, in this case, would I redirect the ".de" TLD to the specific folder or just 301 redirects to the .com?

So, write everything in German & Translate it with WPML, plus optimize with YOAST SEO to English?
And for Blog Posts, do I do it the other way around?

Regarding paid traffic, I guess you would recommend picking the German Keywords.
I'm just wondering if it does not make much difference for organic Traffic. Since I do not have that much expertise in this field, I'm happy to learn the correct Approach.

Thank you so far!
Much appreciated

zotix

 

[tazarbm]

But I have my Consulting Page with both TLDs: ".com" as the generic TLD & also the country code TLD = ".de" - to keep brand consistency, I also own the ".net" TLD.

you want to rank all 3 sites simultaneously?? Or you just purchased those 3 domains (de / net / com) so that nobody else can have them?

Because if it's the latter, it's simple: just make your site in German and use the WPML plugin to translate the content in English, and use the .com domain name, then 301 the other 2 domains (de / net) to the .com one without even bothering with creating a site for them.

But if you want to have all 3 domains ranking simultaneously and competing with each other in these 3 countries I'm not sure what the best approach is, I'll have to think about it. And then there's also the question of whether you intend to expand into other markets in the future, or you just want to operate in Germany, Austria and Switzerland all the time.

Because if you intend to expand to other countries, probably the .com / .net are the better options as these TLDs rank in every market on the planet, while .de might only work in German speaking countries.

So, in this case, would I redirect the ".de" TLD to the specific folder or just 301 redirects to the .com?

that's a good question, but I don't know what to say...

If this was my site I would 301 directly to .com, but that's because I would not bother keeping 3 sites live, I would use 1 site and 301 the other 2 domains (without a site installed onto them) to the .com and be done with it!

But again, it depends on your goals (whether you want to rank all 3 sites, and whether you intend to operate in those 3 countries only, or worldwide)

So, write everything in German & Translate it with WPML, plus optimize with YOAST SEO to English?

your main market is German speaking, so make the content in German! And also optimize it in German, as well.

And for Blog Posts, do I do it the other way around?

everything in German, This should be the main language of your site if you operate in German speaking countries, the other languages can be added easily later on as you expand to markets that speak other languages. And I just watched a short demo of the WPML plugin (since I've never used it before) and translating the content happens automatically and can be translated in many languages, so go straight for German content and you can add other languages later on if needed

Regarding paid traffic, I guess you would recommend picking the German Keywords.

you can do both, just make sure to link the landing pages to their relevant URLs (German landing pages to the .de TLD, or to the /de/ folder if you're going to have a .com / .net site, and the English landing pages to the .com / .net TLDs if you'll use these TLDs, while the German landing pages should be linked to the /de/ folder)

I'm just wondering if it does not make much difference for organic Traffic.

what makes much difference?

 

[zotix]

you want to rank all 3 sites simultaneously?? Or you just purchased those 3 domains (de / net / com) so that nobody else can have them?

Because if it's the latter, it's simple: just make your site in German and use the WPML plugin to translate the content in English, and use the .com domain name, then 301 the other 2 domains (de / net) to the .com one without even bothering with creating a site for them.

But if you want to have all 3 domains ranking simultaneously and competing with each other in these 3 countries I'm not sure what the best approach is, I'll have to think about it. And then there's also the question of whether you intend to expand into other markets in the future, or you just want to operate in Germany, Austria and Switzerland all the time.

Because if you intend to expand to other countries, probably the .com / .net are the better options as these TLDs rank in every market on the planet, while .de might only work in German speaking countries.

Thanks again for your answer!
No, I just purchased the 3 TLDs to secure them; since I want to sign up for the Trademark later on, I don't rank them separately.

Yes, that was initially the plan—creating one Version, translating it with WPML, Adjusting it manually, and optimizing it with Yoast SEO Premium.

The idea is to start with the lowest barrier, which is realistically DE/AT/CH—but even in those Markets, people are globally distributed, and all my CVs, while working as an employee in a consultancy, are mostly in EN + due to the fact that many teams are mixed. My daily speaking language was also English.
And, of course, you are right about the .com TLD; it's recognized worldwide, and I picked the name based on the availability of ".com" & Trademark Research.

that's a good question, but I don't know what to say...

If this was my site I would 301 directly to .com, but that's because I would not bother keeping 3 sites live, I would use 1 site and 301 the other 2 domains (without a site installed onto them) to the .com and be done with it!

But again, it depends on your goals (whether you want to rank all 3 sites, and whether you intend to operate in those 3 countries only, or worldwide)

That is precisely what I would like to do: redirect them with 301 to ".com," which is already my main Domain since my Microsoft 365 Business Package is linked to the ".com" Domain.
It would still be interesting to know if it makes any difference in terms of "indexing" if I point the ".de" TLD to the specific German page or, rather, to the "normal" page without myconsultingsite.com/de/

your main market is German speaking, so make the content in German! And also optimize it in German, as well.

everything in German, This should be the main language of your site if you operate in German speaking countries, the other languages can be added easily later on as you expand to markets that speak other languages. And I just watched a short demo of the WPML plugin (since I've never used it before) and translating the content happens automatically and can be translated in many languages, so go straight for German content and you can add other languages later on if needed

The answer to this is the same as the one above. I'm just hoping (my inner-me) that it's OK to develop in English because, thinking further, it is cheaper / more accessible for me to get articles for the blog written in English, which sounds native, than translate them on my own. The other way around, as a native German speaker, I could better translate them in "professional" German wording or adjust the auto-translated version, without spending money.

Also, thinking of "Link Building"-Services, which are mainly on English Guest blogs, it would be easier to get the Article on those pages & translate the Version to German.

you can do both, just make sure to link the landing pages to their relevant URLs (German landing pages to the .de TLD, or to the /de/ folder if you're going to have a .com / .net site, and the English landing pages to the .com / .net TLDs if you'll use these TLDs, while the German landing pages should be linked to the /de/ folder)

Okay, you answered the question, ".de." TLD should point directly to the German Version. If this is probably impacting SEO (positive), it would be even better.

what makes much difference?

That's what I meant by saying that in terms of SEO, it doesn't matter which language:

in terms of SEO it doesn't matter, but since your market is German speaking you should obviously make the site directly in German. And since multilingual sites are not uncommon nowadays you can make separate pages for English and put them either in an EN subdomain (ie. en.myconsultingsite.de or en.myconsultingsite.com) or in a folder (ie. myconsultingsite.com/en/ or myconsultingsite.de/en/)

And the content you post to LinkedIn you can make in English and link to your English version of the site

So, as you read, I "hope" that writing the main content in English and translating / SEO Optimization in German is not a (significant) disadvantage.
I was thinking from the perspective of Article Writing, Link Building & SEO Services.

Thank you very, very much for your help!

zotix

 

[tazarbm]

It would still be interesting to know if it makes any difference in terms of "indexing" if I point the ".de" TLD to the specific German page or, rather, to the "normal" page without myconsultingsite.com/de/

if you 301-redirect any 2 of the 3 TLDs to the other one, the indexation of the 2 redirected TLDs won't matter anymore as google will still only rank the active TLD.

So, for example, if you 301 the .de and the .net to the .com it doesn't matter whether the .de and the .net will be indexed as your only concern at that point is to index and rank the .com

Also, thinking of "Link Building"-Services, which are mainly on English Guest blogs, it would be easier to get the Article on those pages & translate the Version to German.

fair point, there are more sites in English than in German, I can see why you would choose to go with English as default language....

The answer to this is the same as the one above. I'm just hoping (my inner-me) that it's OK to develop in English because, thinking further, it is cheaper / more accessible for me to get articles for the blog written in English, which sounds native, than translate them on my own. The other way around, as a native German speaker, I could better translate them in "professional" German wording or adjust the auto-translated version, without spending money.

true again

Okay, you answered the question, ".de." TLD should point directly to the German Version. If this is probably impacting SEO (positive), it would be even better.

I've no idea what the impact will be as I've not done this level of customization with my redirects. But it won't hurt your SEO regardless of which method you choose, so no worries

And if you don't see any positive impact with the 1st method you can always take 10 more seconds to change the destination URL of the redirection, no big deal

That's what I meant by saying that in terms of SEO, it doesn't matter which language:

oh... but I think that it does. I mean, logically, a .de domain name that has the content in German should always rank better than a .com site with content in English, in the German-speaking markets. At least one would assume so, which is why I recommended that if you are going to focus exclusively on the German speaking markets ONLY it makes sense to use all of the tricks in the book to help you gain that edge (ie .de TLD + German content)

So, as you read, I "hope" that writing the main content in English and translating / SEO Optimization in German is not a (significant) disadvantage.
I was thinking from the perspective of Article Writing, Link Building & SEO Services.

if your competitors are using German content google will probably favor them over you, just do a bit of research for your target keywords and see what sites come up and what their content looks like and try to mimic them, otherwise you might be fighting an uphill battle.

I don't know how true this still is, but a few years ago there was a thing in SEO that not many knew, which was called "the black sheep of SEO", which basically meant that if the sites ranking in top 10 all had 3000+ words of content and you tried to outrank any of the guys in the top 10 with significantly less content (say, only 1500 or 2000 words for example) you wouldn't rank no matter what you did.

The content was just an example to illustrate what I mean, but the "black sheep" label applied to other stuff too, not just to content (it could have applied to the way in which you structure your site, or whether or not you used schema, or certain LSI terms, etc)

Again, I don't know whether this black sheep thing is still something that google cares about or whether it was a short term obstacle, but if you see obvious patterns when you research your competition I think it's smart to replicate those patterns, which is why I recommended to take inspiration from your competitors (for example: if most of them have German content you might want - despite of how much it pains you to do so - to create German content yourself, otherwise you might not rank)

No, I just purchased the 3 TLDs to secure them; since I want to sign up for the Trademark later on

as far as I know you can only trademark the domain name itself, not its TLD. But I'm not 100% sure about this, so don't trust me blindly

I don't rank them separately.

that's good then! Less work and less headaches

The idea is to start with the lowest barrier, which is realistically DE/AT/CH—but even in those Markets, people are globally distributed, and all my CVs, while working as an employee in a consultancy, are mostly in EN + due to the fact that many teams are mixed.

yeah, almost the entire planet now speaks English as 2nd language (which is not necessarily bad), so I can understand why you'd want to do this...

That is precisely what I would like to do: redirect them with 301 to ".com," which is already my main Domain since my Microsoft 365 Business Package is linked to the ".com" Domain.

I don't know what the MS 365 Business Package is / does, but since you're already somewhat set-up with the .com you should probably stick to that

Thank you very, very much for your help!

no problem! Good luck with your thing

 

[zotix]

if you 301-redirect any 2 of the 3 TLDs to the other one, the indexation of the 2 redirected TLDs won't matter anymore as google will still only rank the active TLD.

So, for example, if you 301 the .de and the .net to the .com it doesn't matter whether the .de and the .net will be indexed as your only concern at that point is to index and rank the .com


fair point, there are more sites in English than in German, I can see why you would choose to go with English as default language....


true again


I've no idea what the impact will be as I've not done this level of customization with my redirects. But it won't hurt your SEO regardless of which method you choose, so no worries

And if you don't see any positive impact with the 1st method you can always take 10 more seconds to change the destination URL of the redirection, no big deal


oh... but I think that it does. I mean, logically, a .de domain name that has the content in German should always rank better than a .com site with content in English, in the German-speaking markets. At least one would assume so, which is why I recommended that if you are going to focus exclusively on the German speaking markets ONLY it makes sense to use all of the tricks in the book to help you gain that edge (ie .de TLD + German content)


if your competitors are using German content google will probably favor them over you, just do a bit of research for your target keywords and see what sites come up and what their content looks like and try to mimic them, otherwise you might be fighting an uphill battle.

I don't know how true this still is, but a few years ago there was a thing in SEO that not many knew, which was called "the black sheep of SEO", which basically meant that if the sites ranking in top 10 all had 3000+ words of content and you tried to outrank any of the guys in the top 10 with significantly less content (say, only 1500 or 2000 words for example) you wouldn't rank no matter what you did.

The content was just an example to illustrate what I mean, but the "black sheep" label applied to other stuff too, not just to content (it could have applied to the way in which you structure your site, or whether or not you used schema, or certain LSI terms, etc)

Again, I don't know whether this black sheep thing is still something that google cares about or whether it was a short term obstacle, but if you see obvious patterns when you research your competition I think it's smart to replicate those patterns, which is why I recommended to take inspiration from your competitors (for example: if most of them have German content you might want - despite of how much it pains you to do so - to create German content yourself, otherwise you might not rank)


as far as I know you can only trademark the domain name itself, not its TLD. But I'm not 100% sure about this, so don't trust me blindly


that's good then! Less work and less headaches


yeah, almost the entire planet now speaks English as 2nd language (which is not necessarily bad), so I can understand why you'd want to do this...


I don't know what the MS 365 Business Package is / does, but since you're already somewhat set-up with the .com you should probably stick to that


no problem! Good luck with your thing

To summarize: Thank you for helping out!

 

[Loree]

- If you think, English speaking countries / customers may become a sizeable portion of your business sometime in the future:

Make .com without "/en/", just ".com/" the default /English)
Make .com with "/de/" the German version
Redirect all others to the corresponding language path, .e.g. domain.de -> domain.com/de/

Hetzner.com does it that way but I believe they started with just hetzner.de decades ago.


- If you believe that German speaking countries will be the vast majority of your business for many years or even forever, then the question is if you perhaps use the domain.de and use domain.de/en/ for English.

It has a certain charm, may look more authentic and may help a bit with conversions in Germany if you make .de the main domain and redirect 301 the .com to domain.de/en/


It really depends on how your see your chances of going more international in the future