The Ultimate Guide to International SEO: How to Reach a Global Audience

With over 1 billion users, China leads the world in global Internet users, followed by India with nearly 700 million users. Other countries in the top 10 include Brazil and Japan. 

That’s a lot of users you could reach with your content. How? International SEO. It can help bring your content, products, and services to global search results, and it’s the perfect way to grow your business.  

After all, there are tens of millions of people out there looking for content just like yours, but if it’s not targeted to the right country (or in the right language), then they’re not going to find it.  

Key Takeaways

• International SEO uses SEO tactics like crafting custom URLs, translating content and getting backlinks from local sources to improve visibility and rankings in foreign markets.
• Businesses that see a lot of visitors or sales from certain countries may be good candidates to focus on international SEO. 
• Before embarking on an international SEO strategy, ensure you have the resources and capabilities to execute it as well as to handle the resulting sales. 
• Factors like URL structure and accurate translations can have a big impact on results. 
• Understanding cultural context is key when conducting keyword research. 

Table of Contents

•  Key Takeaways 
• What Is International SEO?
• Why International SEO is Important
  • When Should You Start Your International SEO Campaign?
• How to Implement International SEO
  • Research Your International SEO Strategy
  • Choose Your URL Structure
  • Language Target Your Site
  • Tailor Your Content
  • Prioritize Which Countries You Target
  • Start Building Your International SEO Team
• Global SEO vs. International SEO
• International SEO Best Practices
• Successful International SEO Case Study
• FAQs
• Conclusion

What Is International SEO?

International SEO is the process of optimizing your website’s visibility for search engines to display  to users in different languages and countries.  

Google accounts for the majority of search traffic in many countries outside the U.S. For example, 92.9 percent of search traffic in India originates from Google. In Italy, it’s 87.84 percent.   

The following graph shows the percentage of search traffic from Google in a selection of countries: 

If you track your organic presence with a rankings tracker like Ubersuggest, then you might already notice that your content is ranking in different countries. This is normal; good content is good content whether it’s read in the U.S., U.K., Australia, or anywhere else in the world. 

Even with close cultural and linguistic ties between certain countries, there are also a lot of differences. For example, in Australia, people drink beers in tinnies and stubbies, but many Brits and Americans might be wondering what exactly those are.  

The point is that each country has a unique audience that should have its own SEO strategy—and this is before you consider throwing different languages into the mix.  

Knowing what international SEO is can help your business navigate worldwide differences to maximize your presence in multiple countries.  

Why International SEO is Important

Millions of U.S. companies sell their products and services abroad, and some of the very biggest rely on international sales as a huge part of their business. 

You might think, “That’s all great for those companies with massive budgets, but what about small businesses?”  

Here’s the answer: an international SEO strategy can give small businesses a great return on investment to sell their products and services in other countries and further compete  

International web traffic is there for the taking, and, one of the most important aspects of SEO is matching user intent. Google and the other search engines are trying to make sure users get information that best meets their needs. For many searches, locality plays a big part in the search results. 

With our tinnies and stubbies examples, someone in Australia might type in those terms looking for what kinds of beer they can buy in a can. When an American searches for those terms, they’re probably to find out what on Earth those words mean. The two results would be completely different. 

International SEO allows you to address different user requirements. But you have to be mindful about how you do it. 

When Should You Start Your International SEO Campaign?

An expanding global e-commerce market can mean huge opportunities for your business—if you can implement an international SEO strategy. 

For the time and effort you’ll have to put into international SEO to pay off, you’ve got to be confident that the benefits are worth it. Before you start to invest in your international SEO, ask yourself some qualifying questions: 

• Do you already have an international audience? Check the audience section of your Google Analytics to see if there’s a significant amount of international traffic.  

• What language are your users’ browsers set to? Again, you’ll find this information in the audience section of your analytics.  

• How are your competitors ranking? You can use a VPN to change your virtual location to see what search results people are seeing in different countries.  
• What are people searching for? Use Ubersuggest to see what terms people are using to search in different countries. 

• Consider your capabilities: If you don’t have the expertise or resources to sell in other countries, then you probably shouldn’t bother too much with international SEO.  

How to Implement International SEO

How should you go about implementing international SEO? This international SEO checklist will help you formulate an international SEO strategy to grow your presence around the world.  

Research Your International SEO Strategy

Ultimately, everybody has a marketing budget, and wasting it on irrelevant targeting will reduce your ROI. Ensure you are optimizing resources with a strong SEO strategy that supports long-term success with international audiences.  

Your strategy should determine key targets, keyword choices, website structure, and more. But there are a lot more planning decisions that go into good international SEO. To prepare, you should: 

• Evaluate your resources and capabilities for international sales, as mentioned earlier 
• Gauge potential search volumes using tools like Ubersuggest 
• Dig into user intent by performing manual Google searches and seeing what comes up in the SERPs for key terms you think you’ll target 
• Note cultural differences, such as different words or phrasing 
• Highlight barriers to international sales and potential solutions 

How do you find that information to start? Nikki Lam, VP of SEO at NP Digital, suggests:

“Leverage local SEOs for ‘boots on the ground’ research and roadmapping. It’s possible to conduct research without living in a market, or speaking the local language, but working with someone in market and fluent in the local language will always produce the most insightful data sets. At NP Digital, we are also part of a premier Google program, The Google International Growth Program (IGAP). IGAP has been designed to help Google Partner agencies and their clients overcome the challenges of expanding internationally, and comes with exclusive tools, resources, and data to help with international research.”  

Choose Your URL Structure

A big factor in international SEO ranking is where the content you have created is actually coming from.  

If a German wants to learn about bratwurst, are they going to prefer to learn about it from a German website, or an American one that’s been translated into German? I think we know the answer to that question. 

Let’s say your website is www.bratwurst.com. Here’s what your options would look like: 

• a domain with a different ccTLD (essentially like an area code): www.bratwurst.de 
• a subdomain of your existing domain: www.de.bratwurst.com 
• a subdirectory on your existing domain: www.bratwurst.com/de 
• content on your existing domain that’s targeted at a certain language using a gTLD with language parameters: www.bratwurst.com/?lang=de-de 

While a separate domain is the strongest indicator that content is targeted at a specific country, it also requires an entirely new and separate website. At the other end of the scale, using a gTLD with language parameters might be the most convenient, but it gives a much weaker signal to the search engines.  

What you decide on will depend on your strategic planning and the level of focus you want to place on a given country.  

Language Target Your Site

Google wants to show results in people’s native language, so it’s going to evaluate your site according to this standard.  

If you’re serious about international SEO, you have to make sure the translation is accurate. You also have to make sure every aspect of your site is in the correct language, from the navigation bar to the content itself.  

You can also use language tags to help guide Google. For example, this “hreflang tag” tells Google there’s an alternative page available in German, allowing them to rank the correct page. 

<link rel=”alternate” href=”http://bratwurst.com/de” hreflang=”de-de”/> 

“Ensuring that your hreflang tags are set up correctly is foundational for optimal international SEO,” explains Anna Holmquist, Sr. SEO Manager at NP Digital. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that people don’t always want to browse in the language you expect. There are plenty of times when people might be in a different country and want to view your content in English. Instead of deciding for them, give them the option by including a button they can click to change the language.  

Tailor Your Content

In international SEO, user intent is about more than serving content in the right language. People want to see information that’s relevant to them, and they search in different ways.  

But beware: Just because a keyword works well for you in English doesn’t mean you can translate it directly into a foreign language and match user intent, as there may be cultural factors that play into meaning. In addition, word-for-word translations like those done by online tools may be inaccurate or just plain weird, as you can see from this product description on Amazon. 

There are two ways to determine user intent for a country other than the U.S.  

The first is to use a VPN to Google key terms from a location in the country you’re targeting. This allows you to see the search results as they appear to users in that area. The second is to use Ubersuggest. Just enter a keyword and set the country to the one you’re targeting. This shows you key metrics like search volume and keyword difficulty in that specific country.    

Prioritize Which Countries You Target

International SEO requires you to address countries or regions individually.  

Find out which countries already bring you traffic with interested users using the tactics mentioned previously. 

Then evaluate the overall market potential by exploring factors like population, percentage of Internet users, and general economic conditions. 

Do some research on competitors that are marketing in those countries to see what keywords they are ranking for and how competitive they are.  

Decide if you have the resources to sell in those countries (if you aren’t already). After all, the most successful international SEO strategy is useless if you can’t follow through with a sale. Remember to account for local laws and regulations. 

By targeting and prioritizing specific countries, you can make sure you optimize your time and efforts and that you aren’t spreading your business too thin.  

Start Building Your International SEO Team

You’ll need a crack team to handle the specific demands of building and executing an international SEO strategy.  

At a minimum, you should have: 

• Software developers or tools that can set up either separate domains, subdomains, subdirectories, or gTLD tags for your content targeting international audiences. 
• Writers and editors with knowledge of the culture (language, idioms, brands, popular figures, etc.). if you don’t have anyone in-house, consider hiring a freelancer from the country you target to review your content. 
• SEO specialists with experience in international SEO. If anything, this article should have taught you not to assume that traditional SEO techniques will work across any country  

If it’s too costly and time-consuming to build an in-house team, hiring an agency can be a terrific solution. In addition to getting fast access to international SEO expertise and talent, you can scale your activities up or down as needed. 

Global SEO vs. International SEO

Yes, there is a difference between global SEO and international SEO! 

Global SEO takes international SEO to a higher scale by optimizing websites and content for search engine results in multiple regions or all over the world. 

As you might imagine, this is a complex undertaking that requires significant resources. Different pages need to be created for different geographical areas, keywords are different for each country, and of course there are multiple languages involved. 

There are several scenarios where global SEO typically comes into play, such as online retailers that cater to an international market, SaaS companies with solutions that are used around the world, and international financial services. Western Union used global SEO strategies to establish itself as a leader in the cross-border payments industry. 

International SEO is best used for more strategic foreign expansion and outreach.  

 

International SEO Best Practices

Best practices can be boiled down to these key points on your international SEO checklist: 

1. Serve everything in their language: Don’t have content in one language and the rest of the website (this could be a subdomain or subfolder as well) in another. Go all in and serve the user with exactly what they need in their own language. 
2. Have country-specific content plans: Do country-specific keyword research and offer content that’s relevant to each group of people. Don’t simply duplicate what you’re doing in another country.  
3. International SEO should have an international backlinking plan: Match your backlinking strategy to each country you’re trying to rank in. Reach out to local publishers and aim to get backlinks from authoritative websites in that country.  
4. Make sure users aren’t redirected by their IP address or cookies: It can be frustrating when users want to go to a site for a specific region or in a certain language but keep ending up at the default language.  
5. Monitor and audit your SEO campaigns: User intent and effective keywords can change, so do an international SEO audit periodically to make sure your strategy reflects current usage and trends. 

People want content that’s optimized for them, not someone on the other side of the world. If you treat each country as unique and approach it with a unique strategy, then you’ve got a better chance of success.  

 

Successful International SEO Case Study

A good case study to look at for international SEO is Viking, a supplier of office supplies, stationery, and furniture.  

The campaign focused on seven key countries to increase online sales, drive website visibility, and increase brand awareness in the target markets. While these seven countries might be close in terms of location, they have very distinct cultures, with different languages, and unique buying habits.  

Viking’s strategy recognized this and treated each country as a distinct entity. Native language marketing experts were brought on to conduct keyword research in each country and create content that addressed user intent in each nation.  

This was backed up by a strong backlinking strategy that earned high authority, local backlinks that increased ranking power in each country.  

The results of the international SEO efforts saw a significant increase in organic traffic across each territory, with a 140 percent increase in Austria and a 60 percent increase in France.  

FAQs

Is it expensive to do international SEO?

International SEO can be expensive, depending on the scale of your efforts. If you’re focusing on multiple countries around the world, then costs will soon add up, but if your efforts are concentrated on a handful of targeted countries, then it’s much more manageable.  

Is international SEO worth the effort?

It all depends on the size of your target audience in a given country and your ability to turn traffic into profit. If there’s potential for a large audience, and you have the ability to make sales in a given country, then international SEO can be very worthwhile.  

How is international SEO different from regular SEO?

Regular SEO will normally target your home country or a chosen international country. International SEO looks to maximize your traffic outside of your primary target country.  

Are global SEO and international SEO the same thing?

No. Global SEO is more expansive and targets audiences in several countries or all over the world. International SEO prioritizes a few countries or a region. 

How long does international SEO take to work?

It takes time to see the results of international SEO. Many agencies will tell you it takes four to six months to see the results, and this is a good guide. The thing to remember is that the more you do, the more it continues to grow, so it’s a very cumulative thing.  

Conclusion

It’s a big world out there, and wherever you live, there’s a massive audience abroad who could benefit from your content.  

Rather than trying to reach all of them at once, as you might with a global SEO strategy, international SEO encourages you to focus on specific target demographics with country-specific strategies.  

Before you embark on international SEO though, you must do your market research with tools like Google Analytics and Ubersuggest. You need to be confident that there is an audience for your content in the country you choose, and that your business is capable of turning website traffic into profit.  

If you find your products and content would do well with an international audience, then it’s time to start optimizing for international SEO.