So your company has grown, and you've decided to take your entrepreneurial venture global. You've managed to define your business strategy and determine which countries to target and the brands you'll likely compete with concerning these new markets.

Thus, to tap into the targeted locations successfully, you must carefully evaluate your search engine optimization opportunities, consider how to organize your digital presence, and secure the services of providers of international SEO strategies like Ocere

International Search Engine Optimization

As its name implies, search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is the practice of optimizing an online domain and any material published on its web pages to improve its visibility on Google and other search engines.

Similarly, international SEO aims to strengthen internet presence, except that it focuses on driving higher volumes of inbound, organic traffic from other countries. In other words, it enables search engines to identify the locations from which a brand or company is targeting.

Moreover, it shows the languages to be used for drawing in consumers who may speak in different tongues.

The reason why international SEO is essential for global enterprises is that most people prefer to purchase products that are marketed to them in their respective languages. In fact, research shows that seventy-six per cent of shoppers do. And a business will miss out on opportunities without it.

Advantages of International SEO

One of the most effective ways of growing a global business is through international SEO. After all, you'll have the edge over your competition if they fail to optimize their published material for specific languages or countries since you'll be tailoring yours to attract more traffic from the targeted countries. In doing so, you'll be able to effectively establish your organization globally, increasing customers and sales numbers.  

How to develop a strong International SEO Strategy?

An approach that may be effective in one location may not yield the same results in another because of a difference in culture and language. For this reason, a robust international SEO strategy should allow for flexibility and adaptation for different countries and regions.

To be successful, you must always cater to cultural differences in every country or language you produce content. To put it simply, it's vital that the material is localized and not merely translated.

Depending on the business's specific needs, you can choose to hire professional localization and translation services or opt for in-house linguists.

You must ensure that the intended audience can make purchases using their currency. Consumers will also expect their inquiries at all points of the buyer's journey to be addressed in their language.

While the localization of online properties may feel like a colossal undertaking, it's an integral component of any global business. With the proper technological support, planning, and expert services, you can include localization in your growth strategy.

Best Practices

As is the case with any digital marketing strategy, building a robust plan in international SEO is all about understanding the target audience and having the ability to anticipate and meet their expectations.

Define the Market Approach

Every approach to international SEO will be different. No two will ever be the same. The chosen approach will depend entirely on the business and its target audience.

If your company offers similar goods or services globally to various language customers, you'll need to use language-based segmentation, which involves content optimization so that the website appears the same for every language relevant to the enterprise.

However, if the company operates under a different brand name or provides different products or solutions, you'll have to approach every country individually.  

Conduct Market Research

Before you launch your strategy, it's always a good idea to conduct a market research first to define the audiences interested in purchasing your offerings and learn about what they feel is essential.

This can be done by looking into how they generally find their desired products or services and through a bit of keyword research. You'll understand who the target consumers are and how best to meet their needs.

Do a Competitor Analysis

Contrary to popular belief, it's not enough for a business to focus on its efforts alone. You must also look into what your existing and potential competitors are doing, especially if they're optimizing their material for the same markets you're vying for.

Understanding what strategies they're using for their digital marketing campaigns will help you stay ahead. You might even learn new tactics and strategies that you otherwise would have missed.

Plan the Strategy

Impulsively committing to implementing any strategy without prior planning is a recipe for disaster. Instead, build the strategy you'll be using for international SEO using your competitor analysis and market research results.

With Google Analytics, determine the source of your existing web traffic and check if you have a sizable audience in the market you're looking to get. If you do, begin optimizing your online domain for this location first.

Otherwise, use your business's global strategy and define the language or international market to optimize.

Pick the ideal Domains

If you have to build dedicated sites for individual countries, you'll need to choose your domains carefully. Before making your pick, partner with an agency that has experience or is familiar with the market you plan to get into.

It's imperative that the selected domain and name elicit the desired brand responses and associations from the local consumer. 

Don't cater to all Audiences at Once

International SEO is a colossal undertaking, and if you cater to all your audiences worldwide at once, you'll find yourself overwhelmed.

The reality is that you don't necessarily need to optimize your online properties and content for every country all at the same time. You can adopt a multi-stage roll-out approach.

Begin by accommodating one market at a time so you can gain insights that will enable you to implement your strategies successfully. In this way, you'll keep your organization from being overburdened.

Language-target the Website

Whether you've opted to create dedicated sites personalized for every country or have chosen to go for subfolders within one domain, you must always use the appropriate language.

It will serve as a signal to search engines like Google that the content you publish on specific pages or websites is relevant to users who are in specific locations.

As a result, you'll help your pages achieve higher rankings on the search engine results pages or SERPs.

Select the best Keywords

Keywords remain an integral component of optimizing content. If you've engaged in practices and strategies for international SEO, you mustn't forget to translate them into the appropriate language.

In some cases, it may even require transcreation. So handle keyword concerns ad hoc. When you get right down to it, certain phrases and terms will be much harder to translate or transcreate than others.

On the other hand, some may not even need transcreation or translation, like those in industries like IT or medicine.

Conclusion

For any global brand or company to succeed, it needs to make itself visible to its target consumer base, and there aren't many strategies as effective for this purpose as international SEO.

So, if you haven't implemented the strategy yet, be sure that you do. It will help you get your business more exposure. Need any help in improving your international SEO? Feel free to contact us

Frequently Asked Questions

International SEO involves expanding your website's organic visibility in global markets, allowing you to connect with users in particular countries, thus expanding your reach and enhancing your brand's recognition.

Local SEO caters to businesses with a narrow geographic focus, concentrating on engaging nearby customers via strategies like Google My Business optimization and localized keywords. International SEO, in contrast, targets a global audience across multiple countries, necessitating multilingual and culturally sensitive approaches to reach diverse markets. Local SEO builds community trust, while International SEO unlocks global opportunities for businesses with broader horizons, facilitating market expansion and a strong international online presence.

The cost of international SEO services primarily hinges on several factors, including the number of countries and languages you intend to target, your industry, and its level of competitiveness. It's crucial to tailor international SEO strategies to your unique business needs. Typically, pricing can vary between $1,000 and $8,000 per month.

Local SEO can provide advantages to any business with a physical presence or a focus on serving a specific geographic region. If you perform a Google search using key terms relevant to your enterprise and notice a map displaying three listings below the search results (commonly referred to as a map pack), then local SEO has the potential to boost your business growth.