Geo Pulse #53 — Configuring international targeting in Search Console

Geo Pulse #53 — Configuring international targeting in Search Console
Theme of the week: tell Google where you're aimed, then verify it listened.

The setup-and-check loop:

→ Pick your URL structure deliberately: ccTLD (strongest geo-signal), subdomain, or subfolder. Subfolders are easiest to manage.
→ For a ccTLD, geo-targeting is automatic; for gTLDs, set country targeting per property where the option still applies or rely on hreflang.
→ Submit a sitemap that includes hreflang annotations as an alternative to per-page tags.
→ Watch the International Targeting / hreflang error report weekly for 'no return tags' and 'unknown language code'.
→ Confirm the right pages rank in the right country via GSC's country filter in Performance.
→ Cross-check with a SERP check from inside the target GEO (proxy or the &gl= parameter).

Reference: Google Search Central's international and multilingual sites documentation. Set, then verify in Performance.