International Shopify SEO for stores selling in more than one country
Shopify Markets makes selling abroad easy. Ranking abroad needs more: the correct URL structure, working hreflang, and keyword research done separately for each market.
Signs you need international Shopify seo
What you get
From $700/mo. Scoped on a call, fixed in writing before work starts.
01Market architecture
Subfolders vs. country domains vs. separate stores, chosen based on your brand, logistics and existing authority.
02Hreflang that validates
Return tags, x-default, and language-region codes checked across every market and template.
03Localized keyword research
“Trainers” vs. “sneakers” vs. “Turnschuhe”. Each market gets its own keyword map instead of a translation of the English one.
04Translation QA
Titles, handles, meta and alt text checked in each language, not left as automatic translations.
05Country-level content
Shipping, returns, sizing and payment content that actually differs by market.
06Per-market reporting
Search Console filtered by country, so you can see which markets are growing.
How I approach International Shopify SEO
Written by Saqib Ali, Shopify SEO lead & developer at Globe Skillz. Updated November 2026.
Saqib Ali
Shopify SEO & development since 2019. 180+ projects across 42 countries.
Case in point: one brand, 8 markets
For a kids’ travel booster brand, I redesigned the Shopify store and set up SEO across 8 markets for a flagship product launch. Later, a conversion-focused redesign rolled out to 20+ countries. The store now gets about 12.7K organic visits a month (+17%) and ranks for 3.4K keywords.
Common Shopify Markets mistakes
- Leaving auto-redirects by IP on, so Googlebot (crawling from the US) never sees your other markets
- Translated content with English handles and English meta descriptions
- Country subfolders with identical content and no reason to exist
- Missing x-default, which leaves Google to guess
We serve every market, including emerging ones
I work with brands selling into North America, the UK, the EU, the Gulf, South Asia and Australia. That includes stores in Pakistan selling at home and abroad.
Results from a real client
8 markets, 12.7K monthly organic visits
Shopify redesign and international SEO for a kids’ travel booster brand. Organic traffic up 17%, ranking for 3.4K keywords.
Should I use subfolders or separate domains for international Shopify SEO?
For most brands, subfolders (example.com/en-gb/) on a single store are best, because every market shares the same domain authority. Separate domains make sense when markets need very different catalogs or brands.
Does Shopify Markets handle hreflang automatically?
Mostly, yes. It still needs checking: custom themes, apps and translated handles can break it, and x-default and return tags often need adjusting.
Do I need to translate everything?
Start with the pages that earn revenue: home, top collections, top products and policies. Translate the blog selectively, based on keyword demand in each market.
Can you handle Pakistan or other emerging markets?
Yes. Search behavior and competition are different in each market, and I adjust the keyword research and content to match.
Often paired with
Want to know what’s holding your store back?
Send me your store URL. I’ll record a short review of the biggest SEO and technical issues I can find — free, and yours to keep whether we work together or not.