Shopify International Domains: Subfolders or Country Domains

Shopify international domains should start as subfolders for a first foreign market, such as example.com/en-ca, because they need little setup and share the ranking and authority of your primary domain. Country-code domains like example.fr make sense when you have a specific plan for one market and the budget to build that site’s authority from scratch. This follows Shopify’s Help Center page on choosing an SEO strategy for international domains, read on October 23, 2026.

The three options

Shopify lists four setups: primary domain only, subfolders, country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) and subdomains. The last two use the same menu choice in Markets.

The fourth option, primary domain only, shows languages and currencies on one URL. It needs no setup and creates no region-specific URLs, so Shopify says it will not help you win search traffic from secondary markets.

Which one to choose

Choose subfolders if you are adding your first foreign market, if the store is one brand in several languages, or if you do not want to pay for and renew another domain per country. Choose a country domain when you have reason to think customers in that country prefer a local address, when a local team will run that site, and when you can meet the registration rules. A subdomain fits only when you cannot use subfolders and do not want another purchase.

You can combine methods and switch between them. If one market uses several domains, give each a different language, otherwise search engines may flag duplicate content. International domains cannot be created from your myshopify.com address, and selling in several currencies requires Shopify Payments, so check multi-currency selling before you promise local prices.

A worked example

Take a US store on example.com that starts selling to Canada and France. Canada shares English, so a market for Canada on example.com/en-ca adds Canadian dollars and Canadian prices without a new site to promote. France needs French, so a second market on example.com/fr-fr gets the language, euro prices and its own catalog if some products do not ship there. Both subfolders inherit the authority example.com already has. A year later, if France has its own team, its own marketing budget and customers who expect a .fr address, the French market can move to example.fr; the old subfolder URLs then need redirects to the new domain, and the new domain starts building its own authority.

The same store should not open example.fr on day one just because the domain was available. A separate domain is one more address to renew, connect and promote, and Shopify’s own comparison puts it last for speed of building search authority.

Set it up in Markets

1. Go to Markets and open the market.
2. In the Market settings section, click Languages and domains, then Manage domains.
3. For subfolders choose Use subfolders, enter the suffix in the Domain suffix box and click Save.
4. For a country domain or subdomain choose Use a separate domain/subdomain, select it from the Domain or subdomain list and click Save.

To run several domains on the primary market, choose Use multiple domains, add the domain, set the Default language and save. A country domain bought elsewhere has to be connected first under Settings > Domains; the steps are in connecting a custom domain.

Before you switch a market to its new URL, check three things. The language must be published, because Shopify gives each published language its own URLs. Content needs translations, by hand or with AI translations in the Translate & Adapt app, through CSV files or a compatible translation app; checkout and email notifications switch to the customer’s language once the language is published. And visitors who match no market see your backup region, which Shopify sets to the store’s home country, so a country you have not added still lands on the default domain.

Redirects and languages

Shopify creates hreflang and meta tags automatically for every international domain or subfolder, and the sitemap includes all published languages. You can switch the automatic hreflang tags off under Online Store > Preferences; if you do, add your own to the theme. Shopify’s URL redirect page says in one place that a redirect applies to the language and market subfolders and in another that it does not apply to all of them automatically. When the destination should differ by market, for example yourstore.com/en-ca/old-page to a different page than yourstore.com/en-fr/old-page, create a redirect for each subfolder, and test the old path in every market.

For the search side of several languages, the Shopify SEO hub has the guides. If you are weighing a second store instead of a second market, read about multi-store management; the wider setup guides are in the running a store hub.

Frequently asked questions

Are subfolders better for SEO? Shopify recommends them for a first setup because they use the primary domain’s existing search ranking and domain authority, while a country domain builds its own from zero. That makes them the easier route; no setup guarantees rankings.

Can I use .de and .fr with one store? One store can run both, because each market can use its own domain through Use a separate domain/subdomain, and you buy and connect each domain separately.

Does Shopify add hreflang? Shopify creates hreflang and meta tags for every international domain or subfolder you set up. You can switch it off under Online Store > Preferences if you prefer to add the tags yourself.