SEO · · 3 min read
International SEO for Spain and Norway — hreflang, local signals, and what's different between markets
Expanding to multiple markets introduces SEO complexity that can silently tank your rankings in both. Here's how to handle international SEO correctly for Spanish and Nordic markets.
By Mediseo
Running a business across multiple markets — even just two — introduces a category of SEO problems that don't exist on single-market sites. Get it wrong and you'll have your Spanish pages competing with your Norwegian pages for the same queries, or neither ranking because Google is confused about which to serve where.
We work across Spanish and Norwegian markets regularly. Here's what the technical and strategic picture looks like.
The hreflang problem and how to solve it
Hreflang is the HTML attribute that tells Google which version of your content is intended for which language/region combination. Without it, Google makes a guess — and guesses wrong often enough to cause real ranking problems.
The correct format: <link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/page/" /> in the <head> of every page, pointing to every language/region variant including the page itself.
The common mistakes:
Missing return links. Every hreflang relationship must be bidirectional. If your English page says "the Spanish version is /es/page/", the Spanish version must say "the English version is /en/page/". If either side is missing, Google ignores the entire set.
Wrong region codes. hreflang="es" is Spanish for any region. hreflang="es-ES" is Spanish for Spain specifically. hreflang="es-MX" is Spanish for Mexico. hreflang="no" is Norwegian. hreflang="nb" is Norwegian Bokmål (correct for most Norwegian content). Get the codes right.
Applying hreflang to non-translated pages. If a page doesn't have a translated version, don't add hreflang to it. Only tag pages that have actual equivalents in the other language.
Content localisation vs. translation
There's a meaningful difference between translating content and localising it, and it matters for SEO.
A direct translation of English content into Spanish or Norwegian preserves the meaning but not the search intent. Queries are different across markets — Spaniards search differently than they would in English, and Norwegian search terms are not English terms translated into Norwegian.
Localisation means:
- Keyword research conducted in the target language independently (not just translating English keywords)
- Content that references local context, local examples, local regulations where relevant
- Pricing in local currency, with local payment methods referenced
- Contact information relevant to the market (local phone number where possible)
A Spanish business page written by a native Spanish speaker with Spanish keyword research will outperform a translated English page for Spanish queries. The same applies to Norwegian.
Domain/URL structure decisions
The main options:
- Country-code TLD (ccTLD):
mediseo.esfor Spain,mediseo.nofor Norway. Strongest geo-targeting signal to Google. Requires separate link building for each domain. - Subdomain:
es.mediseo.com,no.mediseo.com. Moderate geo-targeting signal. Treated by Google as separate sites for most purposes. - Subdirectory:
mediseo.com/es/,mediseo.com/no/. Weakest inherent geo-targeting but benefits from consolidated domain authority. Requires correct use of hreflang and Google Search Console targeting.
For small to medium businesses, the subdirectory approach is often the most practical — it keeps all authority consolidated and is simpler to manage. For businesses where the local identity matters strongly (a Spanish company selling in Spain, a Norwegian company selling in Norway), ccTLDs are worth the added complexity.
Google Search Console for international sites
Add each language/region version as a separate property in Google Search Console, or use the URL prefix property with your root domain and use the International Targeting report to set country targeting.
Monitoring separately lets you:
- Track index coverage per language
- See which language versions are generating impressions and clicks in each country
- Identify hreflang errors in the International Targeting report (critical — fix these fast)
What's different about the Spanish and Norwegian markets
Spain: Competitive digital landscape in major cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville), significantly less competitive in secondary cities. Google is overwhelmingly dominant (95%+ search market share). Local SEO signals (Google Business Profile, Spanish directories like Páginas Amarillas, Yelp, and sector-specific directories) matter significantly. Content quality expectations have risen sharply in the last two years.
Norway: Smaller market with high digital sophistication. Google is dominant (90%+). Norwegian audiences are highly online and research-heavy before purchases. Conversion rates for well-targeted content tend to be higher than Spanish equivalents. Content must be genuinely localised — Norwegian readers are sensitive to translated-from-English content.
For businesses expanding into both markets, the investment in proper localisation and correct international SEO setup pays off at a rate that generic multilingual sites don't match.
International SEO is part of our SEO service. If you're managing multi-market presence or planning expansion, book a call to discuss what the right technical setup looks like for your situation.