If you are planning to turn your business from a domestic powerhouse to a global force, you’ll need to learn and understand the nuances of international SEO. Search engines in other countries will find your site faster and give your business more exposure if you incorporate an international SEO strategy. Let’s learn some basics for starting your international SEO strategy.
How Does International SEO Work?
The results of Google and other search engines are tailored to the user’s languages and location. With international SEO, you can communicate to search engines that your site caters to visitors in a specific country or to those looking for your products or services in a particular language. In international SEO, language targeting, URL structures, and other localization signals play a critical role in improving your international rankings.
What Is The Importance of International SEO
Well the main reason that it’s important is if you are planning to break into international markets or possibly trying to target your products to people who speak another language. The more you tailor your site to an international user, the more exposure you’re likely to get in the country or group you’re trying to reach.
You can also gain an advantage over your competitors by using international SEO. Using international SEO, you can create content designed for a specific country or language if your competitors do not. International SEO can also boost your brand recognition. As a result of an improved global user experience, you’re more likely to be seen as a global player in your market, which means more visitors will return to your site, resulting in higher sales.
Factors That Play a Role In International SEO
Language & Accessibility
The language you use on your website is very important to the success of your international SEO strategy. If you are capable of having a website that can be shown in multiple languages you’re already off to a good start. The more accessible you can make the website to your international users the more likely they are to interact with it.
Customer Reviews
Reviews are always a pro to have on your website or Google My Business. But be sure that you are showing the best ones and that they can be read in other languages. Reviews are universally understood and seeing a five star rating from someone who speaks the same language is a big trust factor.
Link Building
Links are important for any kind of SEO practice, but they are even more important for international SEO. You should be sure to have plenty of links from international sources. A good way to go about this is to write for local blogs where you’re trying to expand, and even reach out to overseas influencers so they can link back to you.
Be Careful When Doing Keyword Research
In order to successfully optimize your search engine results, incorporating relevant keywords is crucial. However, when dealing with international SEO, a simple translation of keywords will not suffice. Instead, a process known as “transcreation” may be necessary for certain keywords. This is especially true for global industries like healthcare and technology, where English terminology is often used regardless of the official language in a given country.
You’ll also want to be sure that you make sure that the word you’re targeting is the actual word that your audience uses. For instance in English we say lawyer or attorney, in the UK they’re referred to as barristers. Subtle nuances like that are important to be aware of when writing content for international audiences.
The Takeaway
The key takeaway is that international SEO is all about accessibility for your international audience. If you can recreate your website to display the languages and cultural norms of the countries you’re looking to target, you’ll be able to reach more users around the world that are interested in buying your products.