Expanding your business into new international markets can be a game-changer, putting your products and services in front of countless potential customers.
However, if not done correctly, it can harm your business and even disappoint your loyal clientele. It's crucial to consider the best practices of international SEO to ensure your expansion is successful.
Our guide on international SEO will equip you with the knowledge to navigate the complex world of foreign search engines, keyword targeting and multilingual websites. By the end, you'll know exactly how to rank highly and connect with your new audience in a way that will boost your brand and profits.
Table of Contents
What Is International SEO?
International SEO enables search engines to identify which countries you want to reach and which languages you should use in your business to target global audiences or native speakers.
By using techniques like search engine optimization (SEO), you can attract organic traffic from various geographical regions and linguistic groups.
With international SEO, your website gains the potential to be discovered by search engines beyond your own borders at a faster rate. You can open the door to global possibilities and extend the reach of your website with international SEO tactics, giving your website the power to capture the attention of people from all around the world.
Why Is International SEO Important?
The rewards of leveraging international SEO include helping users find the content they need, expanding website visibility and brand recognition and providing you with growth opportunities.
With a solid foundation in place, it also enables websites to attract more targeted traffic, boosting sales and improving KPI and goal alignment.
By aligning international SEO with the broader strategic plan, your company can establish realistic goals and allocate the necessary resources to effectively expand your online presence worldwide. This approach plays a critical role in achieving overall business objectives.
Moreover, international SEO strategies that are fully integrated into your business plan can help your teams make accurate decisions, adjust workflows, and achieve greater efficiency.
How To Do International SEO in 6 Steps
- Step #1: Understand Your Intended Audiences
- Step #2: Learn the Technical Requirements
- Step #3: Conduct Keyword Research for Your Target Markets
- Step #4: Localize Content and Landing Page Optimization
- Step #5: Use Internal Linking Properly
- Step #6: Create a Backlink Profile for Each Targeted Country
Let us walk you through mastering the process of implementing international SEO.
Step #1: Understand Your Intended Audiences
Knowing which markets have strong search demand and low search competition can immensely help with your growth strategies.
While non-SEO factors may guide your market choices, you should not miss out on potential opportunities. You need to get a rough idea of your competitors’ traffic by country. Start your journey to worldwide market domination with this simple yet effective tactic to uncover potential markets.
Step #2: Learn the Technical Requirements
It's crucial to lay the right technical foundations for international SEO success. To effectively target multiple markets, each landing page demands unique content residing on dedicated URLs designed for each language.
For even more hyper-focused results, creating individual country-specific versions is highly advised. Google strongly suggests utilizing dedicated URLs that enable its crawlers to efficiently crawl, read and index all of your content variations. The key to unlocking global SEO success is making sure your technical infrastructure is up to par.
When choosing the perfect URL structure for your website, the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a popular choice for many. It provides users with a sense of familiarity and trust, as they recognize the top-level domain of their own country. Not only does this help establish a connection with your audience, but it also ensures they feel confident they have found exactly what they were looking for upon landing on your page.
You can also consider installing a content delivery network (CDN). With core web vitals being an important ranking factor, slow website loading times from abroad can negatively impact your website's ranking.
A CDN can distribute your website's content across multiple servers, allowing users to load your website faster from a localized server. This can result in a more satisfying user experience and better website performance.
Step #3: Conduct Keyword Research for Your Target Markets
Before launching your strategy, you need to conduct exhaustive keyword research in each market you are targeting.
And it is not just a matter of translating the same words into different languages. Note that terminology and search volume can vary widely from country to country.
By understanding what your potential customers are searching for, you can optimize web pages to increase traffic and conversions. It might be tempting to skip this step if we're only targeting one language, but it's important to remember that even within a single language, there can be significant variations in search behavior.
Harnessing the skills of talented SEO specialists who are fluent in the language they optimize for always leads to superior results. If you haven't already, it is advised to tap the expertise of professional SEO consultants and SEO agencies with extensive experience in the field. Several of these specialists offer multilingual services.
Step #4: Localize Content and Landing Page Optimization
To truly connect with users, understanding local nuances and terminology is imperative.
Not only does it optimize user experience, but it also catches Google's attention. Google's purpose is to deliver the best user experience. This means it prefers content relevant to the user's language and country.
Keep in mind that localization goes beyond just copy and metadata. This includes:
- Currency
- Time zones
- Phone numbers (if applicable)
- Office addresses (if applicable)
Localize what needs to be localized. Do not cut corners or you may risk losing valuable connections.
Step #5: Use Internal Linking Properly
When sharing your content across the globe, it is crucial to make sure you are internally linking to the right version. Optimal placement of content can help Google understand your business and prepare for your upcoming launch in the target market.
Pro tip: Ensure you have plenty of content to link to via your header and footer navigation, as it helps users navigate your site seamlessly. Remember to include a navigation menu that lets users switch between versions.
Even if you have the best geo-targeting practices, a misplaced user can turn into a loss of customers. You should provide them with an easy way to switch back to their intended version.
Step #6 Create a Backlink Profile for Each Targeted Country
Building authority is vital when expanding your business to new markets. Simply having a strong presence in your home market may not necessarily translate to success in other regions.
It's crucial to build your digital presence and backlink profile in each market you're targeting since a backlink from a highly authoritative site in one country may not carry the same weight in another.
Note the importance of establishing yourself as an authoritative voice in the markets you want to expand into.
4 International SEO Best Practices
- Incorporate Language Targeting
- Reflect Local Cultures on Your Website.
- Perform Fresh Keyword Research
- Build a Customized Content Plan
Boost your website's global reach with these top tips for international SEO success:
Incorporate Language Targeting
Expand your international reach by integrating the appropriate language targeting into your international SEO plan.
By doing so, you can reach a broader audience and capture potential leads beyond borders. Make sure to add the hreflang tag to your website to indicate the languages available for maximum impact. Emphasizing language targeting is a smart way to take your international SEO to the next level.
Reflect Local Cultures on Your Website.
To truly excel in global SEO, you need to embrace cultural immersion.
Your website's design and content should be tailored to the target audience's cultural preferences, providing them with a seamless and enjoyable browsing experience.
Don't forget the essentials—language, currency and time zone—all specific to the region. And when it comes to design, take some time to research each country's unique perspective on color and style. What works in the US may not necessarily fly in other parts of the world.
Perform Fresh Keyword Research
Effective content strategy requires tailored keyword research for your target region and language. Even if your content appears valuable, you may not be using the right keywords to reach your multilingual audience.
Do competitor research constantly to identify what keywords they are targeting, and set up country-specific tracking to monitor your keyword and URL performance. Keeping a close eye on URL ranking can also help identify any potential issues with hreflang. Do not miss out on the opportunity to improve your content's reach and execute targeted keyword research.
Build a Customized Content Plan
Boost your online presence and diversify your audience base with the power of language adaptation. By taking advantage of your keyword research, you can cater to cultural differences and preferences without altering the core message of your content.
With this proven method, you can successfully customize existing content for a new audience, such as updating focus keywords and replacing select content to resonate better with a particular region or culture. You can also maximize your reach with effective language headers.
International SEO FAQs
1. What is the difference between international SEO and local SEO?
By implementing International SEO strategies, businesses take their website to the world stage, reaching a global audience and expanding their brand's horizon. Meanwhile, Local SEO aims to target customers in a specific geographic area, catering to the needs of the local community and building strong customer relationships.
Whether it's a small boutique or a global enterprise, optimizing SEO strategies helps connect businesses with the right target audience and boost their online presence.
2. How to optimize international SEO?
Unlock global opportunities by creating a comprehensive international SEO strategy that involve:
- Identifying the international content and markets you are targeting
- Building a keyword plan with appropriate terms
- Developing an SEO-friendly URL structure and sitemap
- Aligning your language and country targets
- Allowing visitors to seamlessly switch between languages and ensure hreflang tags are in place
- Converting prices to local currencies
- Fixing any redirects or broken links
- Creating a link-building strategy for each market and staying up to date with global search trends.
To truly stand out, consider native content developers and industry specialists to keep your content fresh and engaging. By attending to these details, your site will be primed and ready to thrive globally.
3. What are the benefits of international SEO?
International SEO tactics can help you effortlessly target specific countries and make your brand appeal to diverse audiences. It allows search engines to pinpoint your desired audience while showcasing the languages you proudly use to communicate with potential customers worldwide.
International SEO: Conclusion
Expanding your business reach to customers worldwide is a game-changing move, but without implementing International SEO, it may be difficult for your business to gain visibility.
To help your online presence grow in global markets, it is important to learn about your target audience, ensure proper translations and stay on top of hreflang implementation.
Although challenging, a successful strategy can bring fruitful results like higher Google rankings and increased revenue. Meanwhile, failure to properly execute international SEO can lead to confusion for both search engines and users, ultimately affecting your business's profit margin.
