Why it matters
A ccTLD is one of the strongest country signals, but subdomains and subdirectories are acceptable too, and Google marks URL parameters such as ?loc=de as not recommended. A separate ccTLD is not necessarily better, and sites should not move their domain for that reason; availability, cost, local regulations and commitment to the market decide.
How to meet it
For new markets, subdirectories on the existing domain are usually the cheapest start; ccTLDs make sense where the business is committed and can operate locally. Whatever the choice, use one consistent pattern for every version.
How to test it
The URL structure decision is recorded before the build, and every version follows the same pattern.
How Regensbot covers it
Decided from one URL.
An audit reads the response, the headers, the HTML, robots.txt, the sitemaps and the structured data, and the finding shows the evidence it saw.
Sources
Google documents01
Claims in the knowledge base06
- D2-C594ConsistentFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationSaid on stage
- D2-C595SourceFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationGoogle's documentation
- D2-C596ConsistentFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationSaid on stage
- D2-C597ConsistentFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationSaid on stage
- D2-C591ConsistentFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationSaid on stage
- D2-C598n/aFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationThe author's interpretation
Claim IDs refer to the Search Central Live 2026 knowledge base. The knowledge base (opens in a new tab)
- Consistent
- Google's documentation supports it without stating it.
- Source
- The claim is the cited document itself.
- n/a
- Nothing to verify: a quotation, framing, opinion or analysis.