Once you have identified the countries you want to target when translating your site, you need to tell the plugin where to redirect the user. Enter the destination URL. Select redirection options You can use dynamic placeholders to ensure that users are redirected to the same page they were trying to visit on the site, only in the primary language of their country. This will ensure a reliable user experience even when there is a redirect.
In the settings, you can decide email data whether you want redirects to existing child pages or just to the main destination URL, like the home page. You can also decide whether the redirect will apply to search engines or not. You have a lot of options in this section, so take your time as you set it up.
Benefits of Geolocation Redirection
After reading this information, you may be wondering if it is really worth it. There are many benefits that you will get by redirecting your site visitors based on geolocation.
1. Better user experience
Provide your site users with a personalized experience by showing that you care about their primary language and their unique we’ll start down a long path needs. By allowing users to see product content in their native language, you help them feel more connected to that content, which can make them more likely to make a purchase.
Additionally, if you have an e-commerce site, you can display product prices in the user’s currency. This will make it easier for the user to calculate how much the product actually costs and compare it to similar options nearby.
It also builds trust in your brand, which helps strengthen your relationships with your customers.
2. SEO
Generally, by improving the user experience on your site, you are also improving your SEO. Search engine bots visit your site to index it. While redirects are often seen as a negative for SEO, showing search engines that you serve your customers in their preferred language can build trust with search engines.
International SEO is a complex task. Using a 302 redirect tells search engines that it is a temporary redirect and is not taken as seriously as a 301 redirect. And using a 302 redirect ensures that your site’s existing search rankings remain intact.
3. Reduce bounce rate
Even if you offer your site in different languages with a simple button click or drop-down selection, users may bounce before reaching the language they want unless you use automatic geolocation-based redirection.
By helping visitors navigate to the language that best suits them, you reduce bounce rates and help users easily consume your content.
Geolocation Redirection Errors to Avoid
While geolocation redirects offer many benefits, they can also bring some inconveniences if you don’t plan them accordingly. Beware of these mistakes that can cause more harm than good when redirecting users based on geolocation.
- Redirect all users to the homepage: If a user lands on a specific product or service page and then lands on the homepage for their language, that’s not a good thing. Make sure all redirects go to the page the user was trying to get to.
- Using a 301 redirect: This is a more complex redirect than the preferred 302 for this use case. Google lists 302 as the mobile list preferred redirect based on geolocation.
- Redirect all traffic, including internal site traffic: Some visitors travel to another country but still want to reach your site in their preferred language. In this case, you need to make it easy to navigate to the version of your site they prefer.
- Block Google bots: Most Google bots use IP addresses located in the US, so you don’t want to block these bots from seeing your site in other languages.