You wouldn’t want to limit yourself to boundaries when you have started a business. This is where international SEO comes in, allowing you to tap into the global market. International SEO is a way to reach a global audience. How? Why? And most importantly, what is it? We will find out below.
What You’ll Learn in This Article
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What is International SEO?🌐
International SEO is a technique for optimizing a website to rank well worldwide, not just in your city or country. By optimizing your website using international SEO, you are telling the search engines which countries you want to target and what language to use to do that, including different languages.
The main goal of this technique is not to be a frog in the well and limit yourself to the locals but to be global and attract organic traffic from all around the world. Every country is unique, and every country has a unique audience, so limiting yourself to one group will not benefit you in the long run.
Why Is International SEO So Important?
International SEO is important because it allows businesses to expand their reach and tap into new markets. Well, it’s obvious that your website or business will do better if you have a larger audience from all around the world. That’s what makes international SEO so important: it’s accessible to a wider audience.
Targeting the international market involves catering to local cultures and languages, creating content specific to each country’s demographic, and seeking input from native speakers to build a strong online presence globally.
By going global with your business through international SEO, you will be exposed to different culture, linguistics and different target audience.
Importance of international SEO
The following are some of the reasons why International SEO is important.
This will help you create content differently and eventually improve the website’s visibility in international search engines and attract more diverse audience.
Here are some of the reasons why International SEO is important.
• Increased Reach: By optimizing your website for an international audience, businesses can reach new customers in other countries and increase their customer base.
• Improved Visibility: International SEO helps businesses rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) in different countries and languages so potential customers can find them online.
• Target audience: International SEO considers cultural differences and language preferences so several businesses can connect with their target audience in each country.
• Competition: By using international SEO, you have an edge over your competitors who are not going global or are not optimizing their content for a different country or language. By expanding your reach and establishing a strong online presence in new markets, you can compete with other businesses in your industry and get a bigger piece of the pie.
• More Revenue: By reaching new customers and improving your online visibility, your business can generate more revenue and grow. This means a larger audience will see your products, and more people can use your products and services.
How Do You Develop An International SEO Strategy?✔
By creating an international SEO strategy you can expand your reach, improve your user experience and increase your brand presence in new markets and all this at a cost effective way. Conducting thorough market research, including understanding target audience preferences and behaviors, as well as analyzing competitors’ SEO strategies in specific markets, is crucial for success. But now the question is how can you do that?
Here are the top international SEO tips for you.
Focus on the markets and the target countries you want to reach:
Before you start any strategy, you will first have to know your audience’s demographics and the geolocation of the target. For example, targeting Japan through SEO has its own nuances. Once you have decided that, you start by checking how well your website ranks in your target countries. This will also give you an idea of the additional countries that can be your potential markets.
You can do this by using various tools such as Google Analytics, SemRush Domain Analytics, and Ahref’s Site Explorer. You can enter your domain names using these tools and check your rankings. You can also enter the relevant keywords you are using to check your domain ranking.
To check your website’s position in Google Analytics,
Step 1: Log in to your Google Analytics account
Step 2: Select Geo.
Step 3: From the dropdown list, select the language or location to see the number of sessions from the country you are targeting.
How to check website position on GSC
If you want to dig deeper and check your website’s ranking according to the websites you are using, you can use SemRush Domain Analytics.
Step 1: Open your SemRush account
Step 2: Type in your domain name on the search bar and click search.
How to Use Semrush to Track Keywords and Positions
You will get a detailed organic search report that will show you the keywords you have been ranking for and also the monthly estimate for your domain. But if you can’t see your domain name on the list, you can improve your keywords by searching your competitor’s domain and checking how you can improve yours.
You can also check your potential market using Ahref’s Site Explorer.
Step 1: Log in to your Ahrefs account.
Step 2: Enter your domain name in Site Explorer and hit search. You will get organic search traffic, backlinks, and paid traffic for the domain.
As seen in the image above, Ahrefs has comprehensive coverage of organic search traffic worldwide with its monitoring of over 150 million keywords in the US alone and additional keywords for more than 150 countries so you can get an accurate view of website performance.
Using these tools will help you filter out which country you can target properly.
Technical aspects:
Just changing the language won’t get you to the top of the search engines of your target countries. So to boost your performance you will also have to focus on the technical aspects of your international SEO. You can do this by following these steps:
Step 1: Set a goal
To technically move ahead, first decide what your ultimate goal is. Whether it’s to target a country or the language, if you are targeting a country or its audience, you should follow a country targeting approach. This is basically the practice of optimizing a website for a target country or market.
This means creating a localized version of the website and tailoring the content, keywords, and technical elements to the target audience’s needs.
SEO goal pyramid
If you are targeting the language, follow language targeting approach where you will optimize a website for a target language which means translating the content and tailoring the keywords and technical elements to the target audience’s needs.
Understanding the right URL structure is also crucial for international SEO. Competitors often use gTLDs with subdomains and subfolders, dedicated URLs for specific markets and languages, and discuss the pros and cons of each structure.
Country codes of the world
Step 2: Website structure
Once you have decided on your goal and your targeting approach, work on your website to get better visibility and better SEO results by optimizing your domain with different URLs to give a personalized experience to users. You can do this by:
• Country code top-level domains (ccTLDs): ccTLDs are domain extensions specific to a country or geographical location. For example .fr for France, .de for Germany, .in for India and so on.
• Subdomains are a sub-division of a main domain in the URL. For example, .fr for France, .de for Germany, .in for India, and so on.
• For example, www.de.blog.com is for Germany, and www.fr.blog.com is for France.
Step 3: Use CDN
Once you have a wider reach, you should use a Content Delivery Network (CDN). This system of distributed servers delivers web content to users based on their location.
In an international SEO context, a CDN can be a powerful tool for delivering localized content to users in different countries.
In this fast pace world, users don’t want to wait for the results to load when they are searching for something online. This is where CDN comes in. The goal of a CDN is to provide faster and more reliable content delivery by caching content on servers closer to the user, reducing the latency and improving the website’s performance and user experience.
Hire an SEO agency:
Though you know your business better than anyone else, an international SEO agency will have a better idea to make your business visible globally through their SEO strategies.
Talking about global SEO? You’ve got to see how link building in Italy fits into the mix.
On-Page International SEO BasicsSearch engines like Google aim to provide quality and relevant content. Hence, having an international site that’s optimized for both the language and region is what you need to set you apart from the competition. To be honest, most of the usual on-page tactics apply to international sites, too: 1. URL Name: Keep URLs short, concise, and relevant. For international SEO, use translated target keywords in your URL. Avoid using translation tools if possible. Accurate translations by a native speaker are essential to maintain quality and context. 2. Titles: Stick to best practices:
3. Meta Descriptions: Meta descriptions improve click-through rates. Structure them in two sentences: what the content is about and a call to action. Example: A list of recipes to improve your vegan diet and the flavor of every dish. Find vegan recipes from every country to add to your cookbook. 4. H1 Headers: Use H1s to describe page content accurately. Optimize image file names and ALT text for keywords and ensure they load quickly. 5. Copy: Stick to SEO basics with well-written copy that matches keyword intent. For international SEO, ensure nothing is lost in translation and use schema markup. Finally, link all your content across your site. This makes it easier for crawlers to find everything. Most international sites overlook this crucial part of on-page SEO. |
Tools You Can Use To Implement International SEO🛠️
If you are going to use international SEO as one of your digital marketing strategy, you should know the best tools that can help you achieve your purpose.
International SEO efforts involve market research, strategic planning, measurement of performance, content strategy for global audiences, leveraging social media and user reviews, and measuring and analyzing the success of international SEO.
SemRush:
SemRush is known to provide detailed information about anything you are looking for online, such as your domain’s performance online. By using Semrush as part of your international SEO strategy, you can get valuable insights into your target markets, identify opportunities to improve, and track your performance over time.
With the right approach and tools, you can reach your target audience in different countries and languages and succeed with your international SEO.
Google Analytics:
Google provides its tool, Google Analytics, to help international SEO strategies bloom. By using Google Analytics for your international SEO, you can get detailed information on your website’s geographic location and traffic analysis. It’s an integrated set of tools that helps you measure the global impact of your website’s content.
Hubspot:
If you are struggling to create content for your target audience, using Hubspot as a tool for your international SEO will help a lot. It will help you create a content strategy and organize your website in a way that will be easy for users and search engines to understand.
Google Search Console
Google search console
Google and international SEO go hand in hand, as Google provides tools for businesses to analyze their performance online. Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that can be used to support your international SEO. The tool will familiarize you with the types of queries that drive traffic to your site, specify your position on Google Search, and examine global site impressions.
What are the factors that may affect your International SEO strategy?
International SEO is good for businesses, but it has its own challenges. Before you implement international SEO, you should know that there are many factors that will affect your SEO. Some of the common ones are:
Language
One of the common factors that affect international SEO is language. Creating content in multiple languages and optimizing it for different countries is time consuming and challenging. But if you want to expose yourself to a bigger audience it’s time to step out of your comfort zone.
Language is a key to distributing your content online. You should try to create content in your local language and the geolocation you are targeting. Speaking the same language as your target audience is crucial for answering questions, using hreflang attributes, and internal link building for international SEO. If you want to target different countries, your website should be optimized for local language and culture.
Here’s an insightful take on the right use of Hreflang tags and language accuracy by a Reddit user.
For example if your business is in America it’s obvious that you will be focusing mostly on English language. But if you want to expand to Indonesia you will have to make sure your target audience can relate better to your products and services in their own language. So what should you do? Optimize your website using their local language which is Indonesian.
Link Building
Understanding cultural differences and adapting your content and link building SEO strategy can be tough. So the more international sources linking to your website the better for your website ranking. To do this it’s a good strategy to write for local blogs or connect with influencers to point links back to your website.
Testimonials
Through online presence customers can make or break a website’s reputation, negatively and positively impact SEO practices. If you are better reviewed online it means you will have better connection with your main keyword which will improve your visibility.
To overcome these challenges, do research and planning, collaborate with local teams and experts, and stay updated with the latest international SEO best practices and guidelines. With the right strategy and approach, you can successfully navigate international SEO and reach your target audience in different countries and languages.
What to do?🤔
International SEO is one of the best techniques for marketers to follow. They, however, should use the right strategy to implement this technique. Here’s an international SEO checklist to follow:
Research and Identify the market approach
You need to research and decide on the market approaches you will implement. This can be done by doing keyword research and finding out the channels where your demographics discover new products.
Determine the countries and languages you want to target and research the search behavior and competition for each market. Then you will know who to target and how.
The reason for this is every country and every audience has different demands. And the approach you are using for one segment may not work for the other.
Know your competitors
You need to know how your competitors perform online to perform better. Do a competitive analysis to check your competitors’ performance in search engine optimization, content marketing and paid advertising.
If you see your competitors are not optimizing their websites, you can take advantage of this and improve your visibility.
If you see that your competitors are not optimizing their websites, you can take advantage of this information and improve your visibility.
Connect with your customers
The best way to connect with your audience is to make them feel comfortable and seen online. One of the best SEO techniques you can ever have is to answer in the language your audience speaks.
How to foster meaningful customer connections.
If they have questions, make sure you answer them in their native language. This will build a connection between you and your audience and increase their user experience.
Go for transcreation instead of translation
Creating and publishing high quality, relevant content for each target market is important when using international SEO. Many business owners prefer translation to do this.
While translation is easy to do when you are growing globally, translating using tools will not always give you the results you want. So always transcreate which means recreating content in a way that your target audience can understand in their language.
Implement a link-building strategy separately
Just like you build links for local SEO you should build links for each of your target audience in different language for different country. A link’s value changes depending where it came from, if your content is valuable to the users you are trying to reach your domain will rank.
By following these best practices, you can create an international SEO strategy that will help you reach your target audience and improve your search engine visibility in different countries and languages.
Conclusion
International SEO requires ongoing effort and adaptation to beat the competition. By having an international SEO strategy you can expand your reach, improve your user experience and increase your brand presence in new markets.
While it may sound easy, there are many technicalities behind it. With the right international SEO techniques, you will be able to reach your target audience, improve your visibility in different countries and languages, and rank high in search engines.
FAQs
1. What’s the difference between International SEO and Local SEO?
International SEO focuses on optimizing a website for global audiences in different countries and languages, while local SEO focuses on optimizing a website for local audiences in specific geographic locations. Though they are different, they are important for reaching target audiences and achieving success with search engine optimization.
2. Does Hosting Location Matter?
Yes, the hosting location matters because the website’s hosting server can impact your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) performance, particularly international SEO. Having a hosting server located in the same or a different country as your target audience can help improve your website’s search engine ranking for that audience, as search engines may consider the location of your server as a signal of relevance for that geographic location.
3. Do I Need to Care About Other Search Engines?
Yes, you need to care about other search engines if you want to reach a wider audience and maximize your search engine visibility. It’s always a good idea to optimize your website for other search engines in addition to Google. This may involve using different keywords and meta descriptions and optimizing your website’s content and structure to align with each search engine’s ranking algorithms.
4. Do I Need To Build Links For Each Website?
Because links are one of the key ranking variables used by search engines, link building is important and should be built for each website. When they crawl a website, search engines like Google take into account the number of relevant inbound links to that page. A website will rank better when it has more links of better quality.
