If your business is going international, your SEO has to follow suit. It doesn’t make sense for your business to adopt local SEO practices or even enterprise SEO practices when you have decided to take your business across country borders. And while there isn’t much difference in the core things you do, the way you do it is much different. The difference is what Adidas or Nike do to their websites to rank high across multiple countries compared to a business that operates only within the national borders.
Taking your business international is already a big thing. But you can’t just take one part of your business global and forget about the rest of the things. Sure, it can be challenging when you are operating at a bigger scale than you have ever done before. But you need to understand taking your website international and ranking high in organic rankings across multiple countries is one of the best ways to get you rolling.
What is International SEO? And how is it so different?
International SEO is the process of optimizing your website so that it can be easily found and ranked by users in multiple countries. It is different from other types of SEO because it considers the unique challenges of ranking a website in multiple countries. These challenges include language barriers, cultural differences, and different search engines used in different countries.
There are a few reasons why you might need to adopt an international SEO strategy for your business. The first reason is if you are targeting customers in multiple countries. This could be because you have a physical presence in those countries or because you sell products or services to customers.
Another reason you might need international SEO is if you are targeting a global audience. This could be because you have a website in multiple languages or because you want to rank for popular keywords in multiple countries.
One of the key things when dealing with International SEO is to have a strategy. The strategy needs to be detailed, to the point, and should tell you exactly what you need to do in the months to come. This is because the scope of international SEO can be overwhelming, and there is a high chance that you will forget about things more than once.
So, how do you create an international SEO strategy?
Believe it or not, creating an international SEO strategy isn’t much different from a local SEO strategy. The only difference is the scale it is conducted in. And like all SEO strategies, International SEO begins with:
Knowing your target markets: This is the first and foremost thing you need to do. You need to know where your target market is, what language they speak, and what keywords they are searching for.
Understanding the technical requirements: Remember, organic traffic results are different based on the geographical location you are searching from. For all the obvious reasons, the businesses that appear when searching for bookstores in the United States are massively different than what you get in the United Kingdom. Now, your business has to rank high in both these geographical locations. Having the technical know-how to structure your business across multiple geographical locations can greatly help you understand how SEO works and how it can be used to your advantage.
Using different URLs for different markets: One of the best ways to expand your SEO efforts internationally is by using different URLs for different countries. For example:
bookstore.com/us/
bookstore.com/uk/
This is an effective way to show Google that you have a presence in multiple countries and that you are catering to the needs of users in those countries.
Creating multilingual content: Another great way to expand your reach internationally is by creating multilingual content. This could be in the form of blog posts, product descriptions, or even simple things like your website’s title and metadata. Creating content in multiple languages gives you a much better chance of ranking high for keywords in those languages.
It is also important to note that when creating multilingual content, you must ensure that it is high quality and relevant to your target market. Creating low-quality, irrelevant content in multiple languages will not help you rank higher in search results.
Keyword research across multiple countries: We had to put this here. Just because a keyword is popular in one country doesn’t mean it will be popular in another. You need to research popular keywords in the countries you are targeting. This can be done using Google AdWords Keyword Planner or other similar tools.
You can do a few other things to improve your international SEO efforts, but these are some of the most important. If you want to learn more about International SEO or how to take your business global, consider talking to an SEO expert. They can help you with scaling your website and ensure that you are getting the SEO spot on.