SEO
How to Implement an International SEO Strategy (Step-by-Step Guide)
International SEO is the process of optimizing your website for users across multiple countries or languages. It’s crucial if you want to reach an international audience through organic search.
But creating an international SEO strategy can be daunting—even for professional SEOs.
In this guide, I’ll break down the process and walk you through it step by step.
Many of you will know which markets you intend to target. This is often determined by non-SEO factors such as the ability to operate in specific markets.
Despite this, it’s worth understanding which markets hold the strongest potential for your business. Your business may:
- Naturally decide to serve this market in future.
- Be missing out on a market with huge search demand.
- Be missing out on a market with low search competition.
You can get a rough idea of the markets with search potential by entering competitors into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer. Just check the graph that shows traffic share by country.
You will, of course, need to dig deeper than this. But we’ll tackle that in the chapter on keyword research. For now, this should give you a good idea of potential markets.
Before getting too carried away with detailed keyword research, you need to plan out your technical approach. Ensuring you have the right technical foundations is vital to every international SEO strategy.
Each market requires dedicated URLs
To target several markets effectively, each landing page requires a separate version of content sitting on dedicated URLs for each language. Having country-specific versions of the page is also recommended for a hyper-focused approach.
Dynamically translating copy that sits on the same URL is a no-go. Google recommends using dedicated URLs, as this allows its crawlers to efficiently discover, read, and index all versions of your content.
Deciding on the URL structure
There are several choices to consider when deciding on the URL structure. All viable options have pros and cons.
ccTLD
This option is very popular, most notably because users are familiar with the top-level domain of their country. This contributes to users having that feeling of being in the right place when they land on the page.
On the other hand, you’ll need to consider the cost of purchasing several domains. In the opinion of many SEOs, you’ll also be diluting your PageRank by splitting content across several domains. This is because you’ll need to build up SEO authority across multiple domains as opposed to a single, stronger domain.
Pros
- Target country is clear to users
- Ability to use localized hosting for enhanced page load times
Cons
- Usually more costly, as you’ll need to purchase several domains
- Maintaining several domains can be technically challenging
- URL doesn’t specify the language (e.g.,
.cacould be for English or French speakers)
Subfolder
Subfolders are not only very popular among SEOs but also webmasters. This is because all of the content sits within a single domain.
It’s also much easier to create a new version of a page by simply changing the URL path (or slug) compared to rolling out a new page on a completely different hosting setup. Reporting is easier too, as you’ll only need to install your analytics tag on a single domain.
Pros
- Relatively straightforward to set up
- Customizable naming (e.g.,
example.com/germany) - Easier to track and report
Cons
- Users may not be as familiar with URL structure
Subdomain
Subdomains are less popular but do have some unique benefits. The ability to use customizable naming conventions is a notable one. This is not achievable with ccTLDs.
The cons, however, are closely aligned with those of the ccTLD. Despite subdomains effectively being an extension of your main domain, Google will have to learn how to crawl these separately at first.
Pros
- Ability to use localized hosting
- Customizable naming (e.g.,
france.example.com)
Cons
- Maintaining several domains can be technically challenging
- Users may not be as familiar with URL structure
Parameterized URL
This option should be avoided at all costs. Parameterized URLs are not user-friendly and can confuse bots too.
This option is not recommended by Google for internationalization.
For these reasons, let’s take the parameterized URL option completely out of the equation.
Jamie’s Verdict
When starting from scratch, I personally prefer the subfolder option. For me, the benefits of hosting all content under the same domain should not be overlooked.
That said, it’s OK to prefer a different route, as many SEOs do. You won’t be penalized, as all three options are supported by Google.
Consider creating multiple languages per country
If you are serving countries where the users’ first language can be one of several, you may need to consider providing content in multiple languages per country.
For example, say you are looking to serve all potential customers in Canada. You’ll need to target both English- and French-speaking users. As a result, you’ll need to roll out a French-Canadian version as well as an English-Canadian version.
Can I just create language-specific versions?
It’s perfectly within Google’s guidelines to only target users by language. For some types of content, you may even get away with this approach. I recommend searching your top keywords to see how the best ranking results approach this.
Taking on a language-first approach may be the perfect starting point for your business, particularly if you are tight on resources. You’ll be working with fewer pages, which also results in less of a chance of things breaking.
That said, most businesses have specific countries in mind. Rolling out country-specific content is the most optimal approach. This allows you to focus your content around the country that you intend to target.
For starters, you’ll want to serve your products or services in the right currency. Furthermore, you can tweak the terminology used, as this varies from country to country (even when the language remains the same).
These nuances not only matter for users but are also something that Google could pick up too. After all, it’s Google’s job to serve the most relevant result for each user.
Install a Content Delivery Network
Now that you are serving users in multiple countries, there’s never been a more crucial time to implement a Content Delivery Network (CDN). In the era of Core Web Vitals being a ranking factor, users having a slow experience when loading your site from abroad can impact your rankings.
CDNs utilize a group of distributed servers, ensuring your users load the page from a localized server as opposed to a single, centralized server. This helps to keep page load times down, resulting in a more satisfying user experience.
Now that we have the plans in place for the technical foundations, the next step is to carry out keyword research in each of our chosen markets. This is recommended, even if you decide to only roll out your international strategy in a single language.
Earlier on, I mentioned that terminology varies from country to country, even if the language remains the same. This, in turn, will have an impact on the keywords your potential customers are searching for.
Search volume will also differ from country to country, as population and search demand vary. This is something we’ll need to take into consideration when making projections based on keyword data.
For example, using Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, we can see that the U.K. holds the highest search volume for the term “home insurance” with 67K monthly searches.
These keywords will also impact on-page optimization, which I’ll talk about more in step #4.
What if I need keyword research in a foreign language?
Having worked agency-side in SEO for several years, I have often found myself in such a situation. Utilizing SEO specialists who are native speakers always results in the best end product. If you’ve yet to onboard in-house native specialists, I highly recommend leaning on your network and scouting through LinkedIn to find the right specialist for you.
This often ends up as the most cost-effective solution too. Using native specialists will save you from spending lots of time trying to work out what those keywords in your list even mean.
How about using auto-translation tools?
I’d avoid directly translating keywords from your native language into a foreign language. Often, translation tools do not take nuance into consideration. This will leave you with a list of keywords that your customers may not even be searching for (or even make any sense for that matter).
Don’t have the budget to hire a local SEO?
If you don’t have the budget to hire a local specialist to produce keyword research, translation tools will come in handy. As previously mentioned, translation tools aren’t always that accurate. So in this instance, they should only be used as a guide to help get you started.
Here’s an example. Let’s assume my business provides home insurance in the U.K. and is considering the potential of serving customers in Spain.
Using Google Translate to convert my top English keywords into Spanish, I now paste these translations into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.
Jackpot! Despite the tool only returning a couple of keywords, one of them— “seguro de hogar”—has over 6,100 monthly searches in Spain.
Reminder: Be cautious when using auto-translate tools. My starting keyword of “seguro de hogar” works a treat in mainland Spain. However, it is not as common in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America.
Clicking on this keyword, I see that Keywords Explorer now provides me with the best starting point for my keyword research in Spanish. We now have a range of related keywords that I can use to expand my list.
Scrolling down, I can also see the top-ranking URLs for this keyword. These will come in handy, as I can now plug these URLs into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to see what keywords my potential competitors are ranking for.
Involving a native expert at this stage is imperative. You may be able to get away with saving some budget by conducting the keyword research yourself. When it comes to creating the content, however, there are no tricks to keep up your sleeve.
With local nuance and terminology varying quite considerably, the user on the other end is likely to notice if you’ve cut any corners with the content production. Not understanding local terminology could be costly.
This is not only important for user experience but also for Google too. It’s Google’s job to serve users with the pages that offer the best experience to them. Therefore, Google will prefer to serve content that is relevant to both the country and language of the user.
Anything that can be localized should be localized. In addition to on-page copy and metadata, this can also include:
- Currencies
- Time zones
- Phone numbers (where possible)
- Office address (where possible)
One of the easiest mistakes to make when rolling out content internationally is internally linking to the wrong version. Not only can this lead to your users landing on the wrong version, but it may also send conflicting signals to Google.
What if I only have a limited number of pages to link to for a specific market?
If you are asking yourself this question, it may be too soon to launch in this market. Launching into a brand-new market with only a small number of pages will limit your path to results.
Launching with a wider range of content will better help Google associate your website and brand with the market you intend to launch within. As a general rule, I’d recommend ensuring you have enough content to link to via your header and footer navigation when launching.
Include a navigation menu to switch between market versions
Even with the most effective geo-targeting in place, there may be the odd instance where a user lands on the wrong version. Providing dedicated navigation to switch back to the right version could be the difference between losing and gaining a potential customer.
Via the header of the Ahrefs website, for example, you can easily switch the language.
Even with the on-page signals that Google picks up through our content, it can still be confusing for Google to understand which pages to serve for a specific market.
Implementing hreflang is essential
Hreflang is a piece of code that usually sits in the backend of a page (or sometimes via sitemaps). It’s essentially a mapping process, providing Google with a list of the alternative URLs for a specific page.
This helps Google to understand:
- Which market the current page intends to target.
- Alternative options for users in other markets.
- A version to serve by default for users searching from markets without a dedicated page (optional).
Implementing hreflang will not only enhance user experience but also let your rankings benefit from close duplicates (in particular, the versions that use the same language).
While PageRank isn’t passed through the hreflang, Google will use the most authoritative version in the searched language to determine the ranking position. When a user then conducts the search, Google will serve the most relevant version for that user.
There’s no doubt that hreflang can quickly become one of the most complex areas of SEO. No need to fear—our Joshua Hardwick has compiled a dedicated beginner’s guide to hreflang.
Ahrefs’ Site Audit is the perfect place to review your hreflang implementation. First, you’ll need to run an audit on your website.
Once your audit is complete, head to the Localization report to uncover any errors.
Avoid geo-redirection
Redirecting users based on their IP address or by cookies should be completely avoided. This will not only frustrate users but also cause further confusion for bots.
Google will more frequently crawl content via a U.S. IP address. Therefore, you may be redirecting Google away from any non-U.S. content. Bypassing the redirect for the Googlebot user agent is also not advised. It’s important to ensure Googlebot has the exact same experience as your users.
Don’t just take it from me. Google advises against this too:
These redirections could prevent users (and search engines) from viewing all the versions of your site.
The documentation expands on this further by saying:
Don’t use IP analysis to adapt your content. IP location analysis is difficult and generally not reliable. Furthermore, Google may not be able to crawl variations of your site properly. Most, but not all, Google crawls originate from the US, and we don’t attempt to vary the location to detect site variations.
As an alternative solution to IP redirection, you may wish to prompt a user, who appears to be in the wrong location, to review their version of the site via navigation. Here’s how Apple implemented its prompt.
Regardless of whether you have a strong presence in your home market, you’ll also need to build authority in the new markets that you wish to roll out within.
A backlink from a highly authoritative site in the U.S. may not hold the same weight in Mexico, for example.
Quite often, this step is overlooked. Despite appearing last in this guide, it should not be written off.
It’s quite common for webmasters to follow the previous steps correctly, only to overlook this last step and end up with traffic that correlates with their lack of localized links.
So don’t forget to build your backlink profile and digital presence within all markets targeted, not just your home market.
Key takeaways
- Use the URL structure that fits your needs best (avoiding URL parameters at all costs)
- Localize your strategy as much as you can, from keyword research to content optimization
- Utilize hreflang to send clear signals to Google
- Site speed matters for users in all countries; installing a CDN is a must
- Continue to grow the quality of your backlink profile in all markets
Have any questions? Which URL structure do you prefer? Ping me on Twitter and let me know.
SEO
Google’s John Mueller On Website Recovery After Core Updates
John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate, provided guidance this week regarding the path forward for websites impacted by recent search algorithm updates.
The discussion started on X (formerly Twitter) by SEO professional Thomas Jepsen.
Jepsen tagged Mueller, asking:
“Google has previously said Google doesn’t hold a grudge and sites will recover once issues have been solved. Is that still the case after HCU?”
Mueller’s response offered hope to site owners while being realistic about the challenges ahead.
Addressing Recovery Timelines
Mueller affirmed Google’s stance on not holding grudges, stating, “That’s still the case.”
However, he acknowledged the complexity of rankings, saying:
“…some things take much longer to be reassessed (sometimes months, at the moment), and some bigger effects require another update cycle.”
That’s still the case. That said, some things take much longer to be reassessed (sometimes months, at the moment), and some bigger effects require another update cycle. https://t.co/WDy7Q4dpzb has some more.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024
Mueller pointed to a Google help document explaining the nuances. The document reads:
“Broad core updates tend to happen every few months. Content that was impacted in Search or Discover by one might not recover—assuming improvements have been made—until the next broad core update is released.
Do keep in mind that improvements made by site owners aren’t a guarantee of recovery, nor do pages have any static or guaranteed position in our search results. If there’s more deserving content, that will continue to rank well with our systems.”
The Comments Sparking Debate
Jepsen probed further, asking, “Is a core update what’s needed for HCU-affected sites to recover (assuming they’ve fixed their issues)?”
Mueller’s response highlighted how situations can differ:
“It depends on the situation… I realize there’s a big space between the situations, but generalizing doesn’t help. Sometimes it takes a lot of work on the site, a long time, and an update.”
It depends on the situation. https://t.co/F9s3Hli9t7 and https://t.co/pLdm29PjPD has some on that. I realize there’s a big space between the situations, but generalizing doesn’t help. Sometimes it takes a lot of work on the site, a long time, and an update.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024
The thread grew as user @selectgame raised concerns about Google Discover traffic, to which Mueller replied:
“Google Discover is affected by core updates as well as other parts of Search (and there are more policies that apply to Discover).”
Google Discover is affected by core updates as well as other parts of Search (and there are more policies that apply to Discover). If you’re seeing these changes when a core update rolled out, that might be what you’re seeing.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024
Growing Frustrations
Prominent industry figure Lily Ray voiced mounting frustrations, stating,
“…many HCU-affected websites – which have been making all kinds of improvements over the last 7 months – have only seen further declines with the March Core Update.
I have seen some sites lose 90% or more of their SEO visibility since the HCU, with the last few weeks being the nail in the coffin, despite making significant improvements.”
Ray continued:
“And in my professional opinion, many of these sites did not deserve anywhere near that level of impact, especially the further declines over the past month.”
Mueller hasn’t responded to Ray’s tweet at this time.
John, any chance you can comment on the fact that many HCU-affected websites – which have been making all kinds of improvements over the last 7 months – have only seen further declines with the March Core Update?
I have seen some sites lose 90% or more of their SEO visibility… https://t.co/lvYRAScRQQ
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) April 29, 2024
Looking Ahead
As the search community awaits Google’s next moves, the path to recovery appears arduous for many impacted by recent algorithm reassessments of “Helpful Content.”
Site improvements don’t guarantee immediate recovery, so publishers face an uphill battle guided only by Google’s ambiguous public advice.
Why SEJ Cares
The March 2024 core update has proven disastrous for many websites, with severe traffic losses persisting even after sites try to improve low-quality content, address technical issues, and realign with Google’s guidelines.
Having clear, actionable guidance from Google on recovering from core update updates is invaluable.
As evidenced by the frustrations expressed, the current communications leave much to be desired regarding transparency and defining a straightforward recovery path.
How This Can Help You
While Mueller’s comments provide some insights, the key takeaways are:
- Regaining previous rankings after an algorithm hit is possible if sufficient content/site quality improvements are made.
- Recovery timelines can vary significantly and may require a future core algorithm update.
- Even with enhancements, recovery isn’t guaranteed as rankings depend on the overall pool of competing content.
The path is undoubtedly challenging, but Mueller’s comments underscore that perseverance with substantial site improvements can eventually pay off.
FAQ
Can SEO professionals predict recovery time for a website hit by core updates?
SEO professionals can’t pinpoint when a site will recover after a core Google algorithm update.
Reasons for this include:
- Google releases core updates every few months, so sites may need to wait for the next one.
- It can take months for Google to reassess and adjust rankings.
- How competitive the query is also impacts if and when a site recovers.
Does making site improvements after a core update ensure recovery in rankings and visibility?
After making improvements following a Google algorithm update, regaining your previous rankings isn’t guaranteed.
Reasons why include:
- Your impacted content may not recover until the next core update, provided you’ve implemented enough site improvements.
- Google’s search results are dynamic, and rankings can fluctuate based on the quality of competitor content.
- There’s no fixed or guaranteed position in Google’s search results.
What is the relationship between Google Discover traffic and core search updates?
Google’s core algorithm updates that impact regular search results also affect Google Discover.
However, Google Discover has additional specific policies that determine what content appears there.
This means:
- Improving your content and website quality can boost your visibility on Google Discover, just like regular searches.
- You may see changes in your Discover traffic when Google rolls out core updates.
- Your SEO and content strategy should account for potential impacts on regular searches and Google Discover.
Featured Image: eamesBot/Shutterstock
SEO
5 Things To Consider Before A Site Migration
One of the scariest SEO tasks is a site migration because the stakes are so high and the pitfalls at every step . Here are five tips that will help keep a site migration on track to a successful outcome.
Site Migrations Are Not One Thing
Site Migrations are not one thing, they are actually different scenarios and the only thing they have in common is that there is always something that can go wrong.
Here are examples of some of the different kinds of site migrations:
- Migration to a new template
- Migrating to a new web host
- Merging two different websites
- Migrating to a new domain name
- Migrating to a new site architecture
- Migrating to a new content management system (CMS)
- Migrating to a new WordPress site builder
There are many ways a site can change and more ways for those changes to result in a negative outcome.
The following is not a site migration checklist. It’s five suggestions for things to consider.
1. Prepare For Migration: Download Everything
Rule number one is to prepare for the site migration. One of my big concerns is that the old version of the website is properly documented.
These are some of the ways to document a website:
- Download the database and save it in at least two places. I like to have a backup of the backup stored on a second device.
- Download all the website files. Again, I prefer to save a backup of the backup stored on a second device.
- Crawl the site, save the crawl and export it as a CSV or an XML site map. I prefer to have redundant backups just in case something goes wrong.
An important thing to remember about downloading files by FTP is that there are two formats for downloading files: ASCII and Binary.
- Use ASCII for downloading files that contain code, like CSS, JS, PHP and HTML.
- Use Binary for media like images, videos and zip files.
Fortunately, most modern FTP software have an automatic setting that should be able to distinguish between the two kinds of files. A sad thing that can happen is to download image files using the ASCII format which results in corrupted images.
So always check that your files are all properly downloaded and not in a corrupted state. Always consider downloading a copy for yourself if you have hired a third party to handle the migration or a client is doing it and they’re downloading files. That way if they fail with their download you’ll have an uncorrupted copy backed up.
The most important rule about backups: You can never have too many backups!
2. Crawl The Website
Do a complete crawl of the website. Create a backup of the crawl. Then create a backup of the backup and store it on a separate hard drive.
After the site migration, this crawl data can be used to generate a new list for crawling the old URLs to identify any URLs that are missing (404), are failing to redirect, or are redirecting to the wrong webpage. Screaming Frog also has a list mode that can crawl a list of URLs saved in different formats, including as an XML sitemap, and directly input into a text field. This is a way to crawl a specific batch of URLs as opposed to crawling a site from link to to link.
3. Tips For Migrating To A New Template
Website redesigns can be can be a major source of anguish when they go wrong. On paper, migrating a site to a new template should be a one-to-one change with minimal issues. In practice that’s not always the case. For one, no template can be used off the shelf, it has to be modified to conform to what’s needed, which can mean removing and/or altering the code.
Search marketing expert Nigel Mordaunt (LinkedIn), who recently sold his search marketing agency, has experience migrating over a hundred sites and has important considerations for migrating to a new WordPress template.
This is Nigel’s advice:
“Check that all images have the same URL, alt text and image titles, especially if you’re using new images.
Templates sometimes have hard-coded heading elements, especially in the footer and sidebars. Those should be styled with CSS, not with H tags. I had this problem with a template once where the ranks had moved unexpectedly, then found that the Contact Us and other navigation links were all marked up to H2. I think that was more of a problem a few years ago. But still, some themes have H tags hard coded in places that aren’t ideal.
Make sure that all URLs are the exact same, a common mistake. Also, if planning to change content then check that the staging environment has been noindexed then after the site goes live make sure that the newly uploaded live site no longer contains the noindex robots meta tag.
If changing content then be prepared the site to perhaps be re-evaluated by Google. Depending on the size of the site, even if the changes are positive it may take several weeks to be rewarded, and in some cases several months. The client needs to be informed of this before the migration.
Also, check that analytics and tracking codes have been inserted into the new site, review all image sizes to make sure there are no new images that are huge and haven’t been scaled down. You can easily check the image sizes and heading tags with a post-migration Screaming Frog crawl. I can’t imagine doing any kind of site migration without Screaming Frog.”
4. Advice For Migrating To A New Web Host
Mark Barrera (LinkedIn), VP SEO, Newfold Digital (parent company of Bluehost), had this to say about crawling before a site migration in preparation for a migration to a new web host:
“Thoroughly crawl your existing site to identify any indexing or technical SEO issues prior to the move.
Maintain URL Structure (If Possible): Changing URL structures can confuse search engines and damage your link equity. If possible, keep your URLs the same.
301 Redirects: 301 Redirects are your friend. Search engines need to be informed that your old content now lives at a new address. Implementing 301 redirects from any old URLs to their new counterparts preserves link equity and avoids 404 errors for both users and search engine crawlers.
Performance Optimization: Ensure your new host provides a fast and reliable experience. Site speed is important for user experience.
Be sure to do a final walkthrough of your new site before doing your actual cutover. Visually double-check your homepage, any landing pages, and your most popular search hits. Review any checkout/cart flows, comment/review chains, images, and any outbound links to your other sites or your partners.
SSL Certificate: A critical but sometimes neglected aspect of hosting migrations is the SSL certificate setup. Ensuring that your new host supports and correctly implements your existing SSL certificate—or provides a new one without causing errors is vital. SSL/TLS not only secures your site but also impacts SEO. Any misconfiguration during migration can lead to warnings in browsers, which deter visitors and can temporarily impact rankings.
Post migration, it’s crucial to benchmark server response times not just from one location, but regionally or globally, especially if your audience is international. Sometimes, a new hosting platform might show great performance in one area but lag in other parts of the world. Such discrepancies can affect page load times, influencing bounce rates and search rankings. “
5. Accept Limitations
Ethan Lazuk, SEO Strategist & Consultant, Ethan Lazuk Consulting, LLC, (LinkedIn, Twitter) offers an interesting perspective on site migrations on the point about anticipating client limitations imposed upon what you are able to do. It can be frustrating when a client pushes back on advice and it’s important to listen to their reasons for doing it.
I have consulted over Zoom with companies whose SEO departments had concerns about what an external SEO wanted to do. Seeking a third party confirmation about a site migration plan is a reasonable thing to do. So if the internal SEO department has concerns about the plan, it’s not a bad idea to have a trustworthy third party take a look at it.
Ethan shared his experience:
“The most memorable and challenging site migrations I’ve been a part of involved business decisions that I had no control over.
As SEOs, we can create a smart migration plan. We can follow pre- and post-launch checklists, but sometimes, there are legal restrictions or other business realities behind the scenes that we have to work around.
Not having access to a DNS, being restricted from using a brand’s name or certain content, having to use an intermediate domain, and having to work days, weeks, or months afterward to resolve any issues once the internal business situations have changed are just a few of the tricky migration issues I’ve encountered.
The best way to handle these situations require working around client restrictions is to button up the SEO tasks you can control, set honest expectations for how the business issues could impact performance after the migration, and stay vigilant with monitoring post-launch data and using it to advocate for resources you need to finish the job.”
Different Ways To Migrate A Website
Site migrations are a pain and should be approached with caution. I’ve done many different kinds of migrations for myself and have assisted them with clients. I’m currently moving thousands of webpages from a folder to the root and it’s complicated by multiple redirects that have to be reconfigured, not looking forward to it. But migrations are sometimes unavoidable so it’s best to step up to it after careful consideration.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Krakenimages.com
SEO
Studio By WordPress & Other Free Tools
WordPress announced the rollout of Studio by WordPress, a new local development tool that makes it easy for publishers to not just develop and update websites locally on their desktop or laptop but is also useful for learning how to use WordPress. Learn about Studio and other platforms that are make it easy to develop websites with WordPress right on your desktop.
Local Development Environments
Local Environments are like web hosting spaces on the desktop that can be used to set up a WordPress site. They’re a fantastic way to try out new WordPress themes and plugins to learn how they work without messing up a live website or publishing something to the web that might get accidentally indexed by Google. They are also useful for testing if an updated plugin causes a conflict with other plugins on a website, which is useful for testing updated plugins offline before committing to updating the plugins on a live website.
Studio joins a list of popular local development environments that are specific for WordPress and more advanced platforms that are that can be used for WordPress on the desktop but have greater flexibility and options but may be harder to use for non-developers.
Desktop WordPress Development Environments
There are currently a few local environments that are specific to WordPress. The advantages of using a dedicated WordPress environment is that they make it easy to start creating with WordPress for those who only need to work with WordPress sites and nothing more complicated than that.
Studio By WordPress.com
Studio is an open source project that allows developers and publishers to set up a WordPress site on their desktop in order to design, test or learn how to use WordPress.
According to the WordPress announcement:
“Say goodbye to manual tool configuration, slow site setup, and clunky local development workflows, and say hello to Studio by WordPress.com, our new, free, open source local WordPress development environment.
Once you have a local site running, you can access WP Admin, the Site Editor, global styles, and patterns, all with just one click—and without needing to remember and enter a username or password.”
The goal of Studio is to be a simple and fast way to create WordPress sites on the desktop. It’s currently available for use on a Mac and a Windows version is coming soon.
Download the Mac version here.
Other Popular WordPress Local Development Environments
DevKinsta
DevKinsta, developed by Kinsta managed web host, is another development environment that’s specifically dedicated for quickly designing and testing WordPress sites on the desktop. It’s a popular choice that many developers endorse.
That makes it a great tool for publishers, SEOs and developers who just want a tool to do one thing, create WordPress sites. This makes DevKinsta a solid consideration for anyone who is serious about developing WordPress sites or just wants to learn how to use WordPress, especially the latest Gutenberg Blocks environment.
Download DevKinsta for free here.
Local WP
Local WP is a popular desktop development environment specifically made for WordPress users by WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting provider.
Useful Features of Local WP
Local WP has multiple features that make it useful beyond simply developing and testing WordPress websites.
- Image Optimizer
It features a free image optimizer add-on that optimizes images on your desktop which should be popular for those who are unable to optimize images on their own. - Upload Backups
Another handy feature is the ability to upload backups to Dropbox and Google Drive. - Link Checker
The tool has a built-in link checker that scans your local version of the website to identify broken links. This is a great way to check a site offline without using server resources and potentially slowing down your live site. - Import & Export Sites
This has the super-handy ability to import WordPress website files and export them so that you can work on your current WordPress site on your desktop, test out new plugins or themes and if you’re ready you can upload the files to your website.
Advanced Local Development Environments
There are other local development environments that are not specific for WordPress but are nonetheless useful for designing and testing WordPress sites on the desktop. These tools are more advanced and are popular with developers who appreciate the freedom and options available in these platforms.
DDEV with Docker
An open source app that makes it easy to use the Docker software containerization to quickly install a content management system and start working, without having to deal with the Docker learning curve.
Download DDEV With Docker here.
Laragon
Laragon is a free local development environment that was recommended to me by someone who is an advanced coder because they said that it’s easy to use and fairly intuitive. They were right. I’ve used it and have had good experiences with it. It’s not a WordPress-specific tool so that must be kept in mind.
Laragon describes itself as an easy to use alternative to XXAMPP and WAMP.
Mamp
Mamp is a local development platform that’s popular with advanced coders and is available for Mac and Windows.
David McCan (Facebook profile), a WordPress trainer who writes about advanced WordPress topics on WebTNG shared his experience with MAMP.
“MAMP is pretty easy to setup and it provides a full range of features. I currently have 51 local sites which are development versions of my production sites, that I use for testing plugins, and periodically use for new beta versions of WordPress core. It is easy to clone sites also. I haven’t noticed any system slowdown or lag.”
WAMP And XAMPP
WAMP is a Windows only development environment that’s popular with developers and WordPress theme and plugin publishers.
XAMPP is a PHP development platform that can be used on Linux, Mac, and Windows desktops.
So Many Local Development Platforms
Studio by WordPress.com is an exciting new local development platform and I’m looking forward to trying it out. But it’s not the only one so it may be useful to try out different solutions to see which one works best for you.
Read more about Studio by WordPress:
Meet Studio by WordPress.com—a fast, free way to develop locally with WordPress
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Wpadington
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