Shopify - How does Weglot manage your website's SEO
In this article, you'll learn how Weglot manages your Shopify store's SEO to ensure that Google indexes your website's language versions.
The multilingual SEO of your website will differ according to your integration. Weglot offers three types of integration for your Shopify website:
- the JavaScript integration (translations are made client-side on the same URL as your orgiginal page) which doesn't offer any SEO advantages;
- the subdomain integration (translations are made server-side on a dedicated URL like
[language-code].mywebsite.com); - the subdirectories integration (translations are also made server-side, on a different URL like
mywebsite.com/[language-code]).
If your Shopify store uses subdomain or subdirectory-based integration, its URLs should change.
To check which method you're using, simply visit your translated website and look at the URL.
For example, if your original site is mywebsite.com in French and it's translated into English, the English version will follow one of the formats below, depending on your integration type:
Subdomain integration, your translated URL will look like: en.mywebsite.com
Subdirectory integration, your translated URL will look like: mywebsite.com/en
Otherwise, please log in to your Weglot Dashboard > Your project > Settings > Setup page, and you should see if the subdomains/subdirectories option is activated:
If this option isn't activated, it means that you're under our JavaScript integration which doesn't offer any SEO advantages.
If you're using subdomains/subdirectories, here's what Weglot allows for your multilingual website's SEO:
I. A unique URL for each page version
With subdomain-based integration, your website URL should be [language-code].mywebsite.com . With subdirectory-based integration, your website URL should be mywebsite.com/[language-code] .
This structure allows Google to index your translated pages.
II. Hreflang tags for Google indexing robots
Weglot automatically adds hreflang tags to your website's source code. These tags inform Google about multiple versions of the same page, thus enhancing search engines' indexing. You can find these hreflang tags in your website's <head> tag.
Note: using this method, it's not mandatory to edit your website's sitemap.
The "x-default" tag
The "x-default" hreflang is not necessary for most websites and is not added to your website by Weglot.
This tag is specifically used to indicate which version of your site should be served to users whose language isn't explicitly covered by other hreflang tags. This is typically only needed for a homepage that serves as a language selection page and doesn't match any specific language itself.
If you wish to add it to your website, you can do so manually. We recommend checking the documentation for the technologies used on your website (e.g., your CMS or hosting platform) to understand how to implement this.
For more detailed information, you can also refer to the Hreflang Google documentation.
III. Content translated within the source code, not only dynamically
With subdomain or subdirectory-based integration, your website content is server-side translated. This means that HTML content is directly translated into your website's source code, while JavaScript translation is neither seen nor indexed by search engines.
IV. Detect and translate your website's SEO metatags
Weglot automatically detects and translates your website's SEO meta tags.
E.g., the English version of the website's meta-description:
E.g. the French version of the website's meta-description:
Note that Weglot also translates the "alt" attributes of the <img> tags, corresponding to the alternative text displayed if an image cannot be rendered.
Weglot follows Google's SEO best practices. It means that every translated pages should be indexed and displayed for foreign visitors, with no additional work required from the website owner.