International SEO: 10 Things to Consider

The world continues to become more globally connected. This extends to businesses and, importantly in this case, their digital marketing efforts. Search engine optimisation is a key component for a company to be seen by its audience. Yet, for an SEO campaign to be successful in different markets, it’s essential to identify opportunities and organise strategies for each target location.

That’s where international SEO comes into the equation.

What is international SEO?

If you’re already aware of SEO and how it functions, you will understand the premise behind international SEO. The difference, however, is the greater focus on boosting your website’s organic visibility within international markets. Doing this opens the door to audiences in specific countries, upping brand awareness and reach in the process.

You don’t necessarily have to put in extra work for your content to rank in countries outside your primary market. Via your rankings tracker of choice, you may have spotted that web pages and blog posts are being seen globally. This is great news for two main reasons. One, your business already has traction in international markets. Two, it demonstrates your content is high-quality.

However, it is important to remember each country is home to a unique audience. While certain countries feature similar linguistic and cultural ties, there are many differences that can impact your content’s performance in particular markets. Even something seemingly minor as UK and US spelling variances can be detrimental, let alone when you’re dealing with an entirely different language.

Is it worth going out of your way to tailor content for specific markets? Well, you just have to take a quick look at the amount of search traffic Google accounts for in different countries. Here are some 2021 figures from Statista for Google’s contribution to desktop search traffic:

• India: 94.19%
• Brazil: 92.50%
• Hong Kong: 90.38%
• Spain: 89.74%
• Italy: 88.62%
• Australia: 87.98%
• Canada: 85.34%
• United Kingdom: 84.20%
• Germany: 82.58%
• France: 79.87%
• United States: 79.80%
• South Korea: 79.12%
• Japan: 76.28%
• Russia: 45.32%
• China: 8.78%

These stats make for interesting reading. For instance, it reveals Google has a larger market share in numerous other countries than the UK. It also shows that the search kingpin has a relatively minimal presence in China – although this is unlikely to be a customer market of interest for your business.

Simply put, if the intention is to target one new country as part of an expansion or to become a global powerhouse, your international SEO has to be on point. Target audiences across the world begin their purchasing journey with Google, and you have to be present and ready to guide them along the way.

Now you know what it is, below we have put together a handy international SEO checklist with 10 aspects you must consider for success.

1. Check what the numbers say

International or otherwise, you never jump into any SEO campaign without putting together a strong, cohesive strategy. That strategy begins by conducting the necessary research that will serve as your campaign’s foundation.

First, you have to analyse current numbers. Does your website already feature an international audience? You can check this with ease. Simply open up your Google Analytics account, click on the Audience section, and find out the number of users visiting from specific countries. If you’re receiving an ample supply of international traffic, this means one thing: there’s already demand for your business in these markets.

The next aspect to gain insight into is the language used by these site visitors. This might seem tricky to do initially, but that magical Audience section of Google Analytics is here to help again. From here, you can see what language they’ve set their browsers to, whether it is en-gb, en-us, fr-fr, or any other selection that’s available.

With this initial research, you quickly learn about your current international audience. You also know the viability of expanding into new territories and how much international SEO work is required.

2. Analyse the competition

Another important element to analyse is the competition. Without knowing who you’re up against, it’s impossible to put together the full picture regarding your international SEO efforts.

There are two ways to view this competition. On the one hand, you could feel these rivals are already taking up a lot of the SEO real estate for your target audience – and you may have to explore less crowded avenues as a result. Alternatively, you may feel that if the competition has successfully built up a profile in a new country, your business can do the same.

There’s also the possibility of tapping into a fresh market that your competitors have yet to explore. In this case, you could steal a march to build up a commending – and lucrative – presence before your rivals have time to react. Although you still have to proceed with some caution. Is there a reason why a specific country remains untapped land? Make sure your business is one that fits into the culture and trends of your new target country.

3. Keyword research

After all, this is still SEO! Keyword researchKeyword research helps websites unearth the best keywords to drive traffic and visibility. This research is supported by a number of powerful web-based tools, the best of which we’ve listed here. is always an integral component of any SEO campaign. Once you’ve identified your main international competitors, the next logical step is to see which keywords are indexed for target countries – and which ones you should be targeting with your SEO.

Those keywordKeywords are the words and phrases that potential customers might search for to find your business. research methods won’t differ from your regular SEO efforts. Okay, there is one small change – you have to select the specific country you want to research. That’s it. Otherwise, the process functions exactly the same as normal.

If you are already well-versed in keyword research, feel free to skip ahead to the next point. Yet here’s a quick rundown of what to consider with this integral international SEO element:

• Focus on relevant, valuable topics that support your business.
• Select keywords that are generating search queries.
• Remember to focus on user intent when picking keywords.
• If certain keywords are too saturated, place an emphasis on long-tail keywords.
• Make use of keyword research tools to learn the latest trends and opportunities.
• Regularly conduct keyword research to stay up-to-date.

Based on keyword research you have done for your regular SEO efforts, it’s likely you have an idea of what keywords will appear in international markets. With that said, it’s not something you can take for granted. You must conduct keyword research for each international market you intend to target. Fail to do this, and your content will inevitably miss the mark.

4. Do searches = sales?

Say the new market you are targeting is Canada. Now let’s imagine you’ve struck content gold, surpassing the competition, regularly featuring at the top of Google search results, and pulling in major traffic. Your work is done, right?

Well, unless you’re selling ad space, the answer is sadly ‘No.’

Even if you are generating millions of visits each month, this counts for little if these visitors don’t turn into conversions. Ultimately, the aim of the game is sales. The last thing you want to do is throw money and resources at an international market that isn’t going to bite.

There are various reasons why an international market will be hesitant to make purchases. Price, a lack of demand, and available alternatives can all play a role. It’s also integral to factor in your company’s expertise and selling capabilities. If you fail to possess the skills to effectively communicate and convince those in a new market, your international SEO strategy – no matter how proficient it is – will yield no results.

5. Decide on a URL structure

The research is done. Now it’s time to move onto the components needed to build an effective international SEO plan. Building requires a sound structure, and that’s where your website’s URLs come to the forefront.

It cannot be understated how key a URL structure is as a deciding factor for users. Ultimately, if a visitor feels the content isn’t coming from a local source, they’re less likely to click on said URL.

To illustrate this more clearly, say an Italian wants to learn how to make pizza. Stereotype aside, what website do you think they’ll visit to learn this information – a .co.uk domain or an .it one? You know the answer, we know the answer, and most importantly, so does Google.

The good news: you can change up your URL structure to better match the target country. The bad news: each available option has its drawbacks.

As for these options, there are 4 main ones you can utilise. Going back to our Italian example, say your website is www.makingpizza.co.uk. Here’s how these options would shake things up:

• makingpizza.it – This involves creating an entirely separate website under the .it suffix.
• it.makingpizza.co.uk – Add a subdomainA subdomain is a secondary website that is rooted within the parent domain. to your current website.
• makingpizza.co.uk/it – Add a subdirectory to your current website.
• makingpizza.co.uk/?lang=it – By utilising a gTLD containing language parameters, you can target a specific language for users from a specific country.

If your goal is to achieve the strongest indicator your website is targeted towards a specific country, going with a separate website domain is the only path to take. There’s no confusion for your target audience. If they see the suffix matches their country, they’re instantly aware the content is for them specifically.

However, the caveat of this approach is that you have to go through the trouble of creating and running an entirely new website. This is a major task, even if you’re simply copying and pasting your content in a different language.

As you go down the aforementioned list, the options become more and more convenient. Yet with that convenience comes the sacrifice of a strong signal with Google and other search engines.

The URL structure you go with is ultimately dependent on your strategy and the level of focus you’re placing on a particular country.

6. Native language is a must

That’s a shocking statement, right? Okay, it is an obvious point, but it needs to be stated clearly. If you are targeting specific international markets, it’s crucial your content is displayed in the primary language of international users. It also needs to be done professionally.

Businesses always search for shortcuts when it comes to their international SEO and adding new languages. And by shortcuts, we mean the use of machine translations. This technology is always evolving, but it is still miles away from being competent enough to translate entire portions of content.

If you are serious about international SEO, you’ll hire a professional to seamlessly translate your content. Furthermore, these translations have to cover every facet of your site – from the content itself to the navigation bar.

Oh, and instead of relying on them to do all the lifting, don’t forget to let Google know about any pages you have translated into a different language. Language tags, such as “hreflang”, lets the search engine giant know an alternative page is available, which they should be ranking for local search results.

7. Make it optional

It seems foolproof to have a webpage that automatically presents specific translated content to specific international audiences. However, users will not always want to explore your website in the language you may expect.

There are numerous reasons why your translation assumptions can be incorrect. For example, you might have UK-based travellers that have travelled to France, and want to see your content in English, but are getting the French translation. This type of automatic translation isn’t just a frustrating experience for the user, but it’s also likely to turn them away from your business.

Due to this, it’s recommended you don’t make the translation decision for them. Instead, make it optional. Include a button at the top of your webpage they can click to change to whichever language they desire.

8. Create tailored content

With international SEO, your content has to be tailored specifically for your new target audience. This isn’t just about taking your original content, serving it up in a new language, and expecting users to be happy with the result. It has to be crafted with the user’s intent firmly in mind.

People only want to view content if it is relevant to them. They will also find this information in different ways. For instance, a specific keyword may function perfectly in English, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will match user intent if it’s directly translated into a foreign language.

Furthermore, if these keywords fail to match your new target audience, you cannot simply stick with copying your regular content. You’ll have to analyse the right topics to focus on with your content, ensuring it is tailored to match the wants and needs of this audience.

9. Acquire local backlinks

When it comes to international SEO best practices, acquiring the right backlinks is undoubtedly near the top of the list – if not at the top outright. Getting linksHyperlinks, also known as links, are the connection points on a webpage that take you to other webpages. to point back to your content is necessary for improving its authority and capturing the attention of Google.

Backlinks are essential, yes, but they can be worthless if they’re obtained from the wrong places. With international SEO, it’s also not just low-quality links you have to be worried about. You also have to place an emphasis on gaining links from the native country you’re targeting with your international SEO.

For instance, you could be trying to establish your business in Germany. While gaining backlinks from high-authority .co.uk or .com domains will still have a positive impact, the aim should be to acquire these links from .de websites. Building up a collection of backlinks from German authoritative sites will give your SEO efforts a significant boost.

Of course, trying to get these links can be difficult when reaching out to local publishers. After all, this is a new market, and it’s unlikely you will possess the same knowledge and confidence as you did when gaining links for your regular SEO campaign.

Fortunately, you can receive assistance from a specialist marketing agency – wink, wink – if you’re not sure where to start in terms of finding international publishers and getting them to publish your links.

10. Prioritise the countries to target

If you haven’t gathered already, targeting a single country with international SEO requires a lot of work – and that’s an understatement. Due to this, you cannot go all Oprah Winfrey and start pointing at every country you see, declaring they will get the SEO treatment. You have to be selective in the markets you focus on.

If you decide to chase after the world – and all 193 countries it contains – your resources will be stretched too thin. Not even the biggest global organisations go all-out with their international SEO, and you have to follow the same protocol.

To prioritise countries to target, you have to account for various factors. This includes everything from a country’s Google usage to the current demand for the products/services your business offers. You also have to consider budget. Going from UK to US English is straightforward and external help won’t be required. The story is different if you need a professional translator who has in-depth knowledge about your target country’s culture.