Signals and settings that tell search engines (and ads) which country a page or website is meant for.
Also called: geotargeting, country targeting
Google used to offer a country setting in Search Console; it has been removed. Today the signals are the ccTLD, hreflang, local content, local addresses and phone numbers, prices in the local currency and links from the country.
In paid search, geo-targeting means limiting ads to regions – for example only the cantons of Vaud and Geneva.
Why Geo-targeting matters in Switzerland
A .com website with a German version will not rank well in Switzerland just because Swiss users can read it. Swiss signals make the difference.
Our tip
Add a Swiss address, a +41 phone number and CHF prices to your Swiss pages – these are the clearest country signals.
Related terms
- ccTLD (.ch domain) – A country-code top-level domain such as .ch for Switzerland, .de for Germany or .at for Austria.
- hreflang – An HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and country a page is written for and where its other language versions are.
- NAP (name, address, phone) – The combination of business name, address and phone number, which should be identical everywhere a business is listed.
- CHF prices – Prices in Swiss francs, written the Swiss way – for example «CHF 1'900» or «CHF 49.90».
- 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/.
- Swiss backlinks – Links from Swiss websites – associations, partners, media, directories – that show Google your relevance in Switzerland.
Learn more
← All terms in the Swiss SEO glossary
Frequently asked questions
What is Geo-targeting?
Signals and settings that tell search engines (and ads) which country a page or website is meant for.