The Guide To International SEO

While many business owners are conditioned to think of search engine optimization (SEO) as a domestic matter. The reality is that SEO strategy must be tailored for any country or language.  What works in one location may not work in another.  

That’s why it is essential that you have an international SEO plan before your website goes live. Know all about creating an effective global SEO strategy so your site can succeed worldwide.  

What Is International SEO?

International SEO is a method of optimizing your website to be seen by internet users outside of the country that you are targeting. 

This can be done for any country, but it is especially useful if your business targets customers from another nation. In order to have success in international search engine optimization, knowing how Google’s algorithm works. And also what factors will help rank your site higher than competitors is important. 

By understanding how Google ranks websites and the different elements that influence rankings, businesses can improve their chances of getting found online when searching for products or services related to their industry. 

What makes this even more beneficial is the fact that once One part of an SEO campaign improves such as increased traffic from organic searches, other areas also improve such as conversions which leads to better sales and revenue.

An international SEO campaign involves a lot of multilingual and multiregional elements that are unfamiliar to non-techies.

A professional international SEO expert who knows how to optimize your website for global visitors is always beneficial.

This could have countless benefits including better brand reputation, international audience, better leads and profit.

Ways To Implement International SEO

The world is getting smaller and international SEO has never been more important. If you do business in other countries, your site needs to be optimized for those countries as well; otherwise, you risk losing valuable rankings and traffic potential. By following these tips, you can implement international SEO into your existing strategy.

1. Summarize Content ‘There Is No Spoon’

When you are writing for an international audience, there is one thing that is very important to keep in mind. A combination of words can have different meanings to people from different countries. For example, the phrase “I’ll be right back” has a completely different meaning in Australia than it does in the United States. Since users will first read your content before they search for it, write the first paragraphs of your article and highlight important terms and phrases to let people know what subject it’s going to be about. This not only reduces bounce rates from being so off-topic but it also saves you from losing rankings because people didn’t understand what they were searching for in Google.

2. Create Localized Content for Each Target Country

Whether you are expanding to a new country or just want to cater to your current international audience, it’s important to create localized content for each target country. This means using the same keywords and phrases that users would use when searching in that particular country as well as sharing cultural norms and values of those countries. The more accurate your information, the better. If you are going to be opening a new office or building a new team in that country as well, be sure to hire native speakers or those who have visited that country before. This will give you an advantage over sites whose content is not localized and will increase your rankings, bringing more traffic to your site.

3. Create a Global Navigation Bar

Another important aspect of international SEO is creating a global navigation bar that is easy to use and understand. This will not only help your international audience but it will also help the ability of search engines to crawl your site since they have an easier time clicking on things. If you have already implemented this for your American users, then you are ahead of the game. If not, then now is the time to do it.

4. Create Different Meta Descriptions

Another important aspect of international SEO is creating different meta descriptions for each country’s version of your page or site. You can find out what countries are visiting your website by checking your Google Analytics for this information. Doing so will make your meta descriptions more effective because they will be directly targeted to the correct audience. For example, if you are targeting English-speaking countries like Canada and England, you would want to make different versions of a “sticky post” in WordPress with a unique meta description for each location so when users from those areas come across the posts in Google, they will be more likely to click on it.

5. Use HTTPS for Your Entire Site

When you are implementing international SEO, another important aspect is using HTTPS across your entire site and not just for pages that need an extra boost in rankings. Google has said before that this is a ranking signal and would like to see all sites use it. HTTPS is also a sign for users that your site is secure and will help them feel more confident in sharing their information with you.

6. Create Language-Specific Content

Another important aspect of implementing international SEO into your existing strategy is creating language-specific content to target those countries as well. You can either create a completely new blog or website for these regions or add a new section to your existing one.

Google more knowledge of these regions and will help boost your rankings in that country, or countries. 

7. Use Social Media to Gain Insight into SEO Trends in Different Countries

Popular ways to implement international SEO is by

• using social media to gain insight into what your target audience is looking for in each country.
• This way, you will know exactly what kinds of content they want from you
• and how to make it more appealing.
• You can do this by checking out what content is performing well in that country
• and what kind of social media platforms your primary audience uses on a day-to-day basis.

Conclusion 

International SEO does take some time, but it is definitely worth the effort.