Swiss SEO glossary

This Swiss SEO glossary gives short, practical explanations of the terms that matter when a company wants to be found in Switzerland: languages and regions, international SEO, local search and Swiss business details. Each term links to related terms and to our services. For general SEO vocabulary, see the SEO glossary of our partner site.

Languages and regions · International SEO · Keywords and search landscape · Local search in Switzerland · Swiss business details

Languages and regions

• Language regions (Switzerland) – Switzerland is divided into German-, French-, Italian- and Romansh-speaking regions, and each one behaves like its own search market.
• Swiss Standard German – The written German used in Switzerland: Standard German with Swiss spelling, Swiss vocabulary and no «ß».
• Swiss German – The spoken dialects of German-speaking Switzerland – heard everywhere, but rarely written in searches.
• Romandie (French-speaking Switzerland) – The French-speaking western part of Switzerland, with Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, Fribourg and the French-speaking part of Valais.
• Ticino (Italian-speaking Switzerland) – The Italian-speaking canton south of the Alps, with Lugano, Bellinzona and Locarno, plus Italian-speaking valleys of Graubünden.
• Romansh – The fourth national language of Switzerland, spoken by a small minority in Graubünden.
• Röstigraben – The informal name for the cultural divide between German- and French-speaking Switzerland.
• de-CH vs de-DE – The language-region codes for German in Switzerland (de-CH) and German in Germany (de-DE) – two different target markets.

International SEO

• International SEO – Search engine optimisation for websites that target several countries or languages at the same time.
• Market entry SEO – SEO work that prepares and supports a company's launch in a new country – before, during and after the launch.
• hreflang – An HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and country a page is written for and where its other language versions are.
• x-default – A special hreflang value for the page that should be shown when no language version matches the user.
• ccTLD (.ch domain) – A country-code top-level domain such as .ch for Switzerland, .de for Germany or .at for Austria.
• Language and country folders – A URL structure in which each language or country version lives in its own folder, such as /de-ch/ or /fr/.
• Geo-targeting – Signals and settings that tell search engines (and ads) which country a page or website is meant for.
• Localisation – Adapting content to a market – language, currency, examples, legal details and tone – instead of only translating it.
• Transcreation – Recreating a text for another language and culture so that it has the same effect, even if the words change.

Keywords and search landscape

• Swiss keyword research – Finding the search terms people in Switzerland really use – per language region and with Swiss search volumes.
• Google Switzerland (google.ch) – Google's search results for users in Switzerland – shaped by their location and language, not only by the domain google.ch.
• Bing in Switzerland – Microsoft's search engine – a small share of Swiss searches, but present on many work computers and in AI assistants.
• AI Overviews and AI search – AI-generated answers in Google and in assistants such as ChatGPT, which summarise sources before (or instead of) the classic results.
• llms.txt – A plain-text file at /llms.txt that summarises a website for AI assistants: who you are, what you offer and which pages matter.
• Marketplaces and comparison platforms – Large Swiss platforms such as Digitec Galaxus, Ricardo, Tutti, Comparis or homegate.ch that take many top positions in Google.
• Google Search Console – Google's free tool that shows which searches bring visitors to your site and which technical problems Google has found.

Local search in Switzerland

• Local pack – The map with usually three businesses that Google shows for local searches such as «tax advisor Zug».
• Google Business Profile – The free business listing on Google Search and Maps with address, opening hours, photos and reviews.
• NAP (name, address, phone) – The combination of business name, address and phone number, which should be identical everywhere a business is listed.
• Swiss directories (local.ch, search.ch) – Swiss online directories where people look up businesses, phone numbers and opening hours.
• Location pages – Separate pages for each city or region where a company has an office or serves customers.
• Swiss backlinks – Links from Swiss websites – associations, partners, media, directories – that show Google your relevance in Switzerland.

Swiss business details

• CHF prices – Prices in Swiss francs, written the Swiss way – for example «CHF 1'900» or «CHF 49.90».
• Swiss VAT (MWST / TVA / IVA) – Switzerland's value added tax, with a standard rate of 8.1 % since 2024 and reduced rates for some goods and accommodation.
• TWINT – The Swiss mobile payment app, used by millions of people for shops, online purchases and payments between friends.
• UID number – The Swiss business identification number, written CHE-123.456.789, which every company registered in Switzerland receives.
• Zefix (commercial register) – The central Swiss index of companies registered in the cantonal commercial registers.
• revFADP (Swiss data protection law) – The revised Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, in force since 1 September 2023.
• Legal notice (Impressum) – The page that names the company behind a website, with legal name, address and contact details.

How to use the Swiss SEO glossary

Planning a Swiss launch? Start with the language regions and international SEO terms. Already active in Switzerland? The local search terms show where quick wins are. Missing a term in the Swiss SEO glossary? Tell us – we add the questions our clients ask most.

Frequently asked questions