Setting Up Domains for Your Global Markets

When expanding your online business internationally, it’s recommended to create a dedicated URL and assign appropriate languages for each market where you offer a localized shopping experience. This ensures customers see product information, pricing, and promotions in their local language and currency. It also improves your store’s visibility and credibility in local search results, which can lead to higher conversion rates.

In SHOPLINE, markets can use either the main domain or customized domains. The domain type affects how customers access a market storefront and whether its language settings can be managed separately.

This guide explains the available domain types and how to set up domains for primary and non-primary markets. 

In This Article

• Understanding Available Domain Types for Markets
• Setting Up Domains for Your Markets
• How Domain Type Affects Market Languages

Understanding Available Domain Types for Markets

In SHOPLINE, you can use different domain types to provide a localized experience across markets: main domain, subfolders, and subdomains. The selected setup affects how customers access a market storefront and whether its language settings can be managed separately.

Use Main Domain with Primary Market Language

When a market uses the main domain, it shares the store’s primary domain (e.g., yourstore.com). This setup is simple and centralized, making it suitable for merchants who want to manage domain and language rules in one place. 

Please note that markets using the main domain follow your primary market’s settings and cannot be adjusted.

Customize Domains with Market-Specific Languages

If you want to provide a market with a more independent access path and its own language settings, enable Customize domains with market-specific languages.

• Subfolder: A subfolder adds a suffix under the main domain to separate market-specific content (e.g., yourstore.com/jp-). This is a good option if you don’t have multiple domains but still want to offer a localized experience. The URL changes based on the enabled language or region.
• Subdomain: Subdomains let you assign a unique URL prefix to each market (e.g., jp.yourstore.com). This option is suitable if you have already added multiple available domains and want clearer separation between market-specific storefronts. With a subdomain, you can customize the preferred languages shown in that market.

Setting Up Domains for Your Markets

After creating a market in SHOPLINE, you can configure how customers in that market access your storefront by setting up a domain structure. Follow these steps:

1. From your SHOPLINE admin panel, go to Settings > Markets and click the market you want to configure.

   

2. Click the Domains and languages to access the domain and language settings for that market.

   

3. Select one of the following domain options based on your business goals:

• Use main domain with primary market language: The market shares your store’s primary domain (e.g., yourstore.com).
• Customize domains with market-specific languages:
  • Subfolder: Enter a subfolder path (e.g., yourstore.com/jp-) to localize content under the main domain.
  • Use subdomain: Assign a unique subdomain (e.g., jp.yourstore.com) to this market.

4. Add at least one language to the market. For details, refer to "Managing Languages for Your Global Markets."
5. Click Update to save your changes.
6. After configuring the international domain, ensure customers are redirected to the appropriate URL based on their language and location preferences.

How Domain Type Affects Market Languages

Whether a market’s languages can be managed separately depends on the domain type currently in use.

• Markets using the main domain follow the primary market’s language settings.
• Markets using customized domains can add, remove, and manage market languages separately.

For detailed instructions on adding languages, removing languages, and changing the default language, refer to "Managing Languages for Your Global Markets."