Decide between ccTLD and subdirectory structure for a new market launch and configure the geotargeting signals now that Search Console's country-target setting is gone

Steps

1. Weigh ccTLD (strongest but costliest per-market geotargeting, one domain's authority does not transfer to others) against subdirectories/subdomains (shared authority, faster to launch, weaker inherent geo-signal)
2. For subdirectory/subdomain setups, rely on hreflang annotations, content language, and server location/CDN choice as geotargeting signals, since Search Console's manual 'target country' setting was removed in September 2022
3. Register each ccTLD as its own verified Search Console property, since ccTLDs are treated as fully separate properties with no shared settings
4. Check hreflang health via the Enhancements/International section of Search Console (where hreflang errors now surface) rather than looking for a dedicated International Targeting report, which no longer exists
5. Use consistent, market-appropriate currency, address formats, and local business signals on each market variant regardless of URL structure, since Google increasingly infers geo-relevance from on-page content, not just URL structure
6. Document the choice per market, since mixing structures (some markets on ccTLD, others on subdirectory) is common and requires per-market Search Console properties either way