What Is International SEO?

The internet has revolutionized our world. In the olden day i.e., the pre-historic era of 2010 people used to have pen pals. Pen pals were people from different countries who wrote letters to each other to find out what life was like abroad. Today, however, we are just a video call away from anyone anywhere in the world. As the internet has evolved businesses have been able to interact with global audiences like never before. This is because websites are is able to offer content, service customers, and take cross-border payments from across the globe in the blink of an eye. In 2021 no matter where someone is in the world as long as they have an internet connection there exists the opportunity to connect and sell to consumers who want and need your products or services. However, as global reach grows so does the competition. This is where international SEO comes in.

What Is International SEO?

International SEO is a process that ensures you have the right content listed by the right search engines across the countries, languages, and markets that you want to target. This means that the core aim of international SEO is to reach the right customers with the right messages. To truly understand international SEO, you need to understand general SEO.

SEO is the process of making improvements both on and off your website to search engines discover, understand, and direct users to your content. The ultimate goal of SEO is to get your product and service in front of the people that are searching for it. Search engines work by finding the most authoritative content and delivering it to users via the keywords they type in.

Aside from the set-up and technical elements related to international SEO you’ll find that as you move on in your international journey that international SEO success depends on your overall SEO processes. This means that just like regular SEO you need to build backlinks, quality content and make sure that your website is readable and useable for both searchers and search engines. 

Why is international SEO important?

International SEO ensures that searchers can find you in the countries your company wants to sell in. Essentially international or global SEO shows search engines that your website is available to consumers who speak different languages and that your website can solve problems for them. International SEO is not only the number one way to approach international business but it is also the most cost-effective way. Developing an effective SEO strategy means you have the edge over your competitors. By targeting customers abroad, you can grow your business model and boost your overall tally of leads, sales, and revenue with a relatively low investment. In days going by to enter international markets would require the help of costly management consultants. In today’s world, however, optimizing your website, content, and functionality which can be done in as little as a week could enable you and your product or service to reach new markets.

How does international SEO work?

SEO or search engine optimization is the process of getting your website to rank first or high on the SERP for search terms related to your products or services. International SEO works by getting your website to rank first or high on international SERPs. For example, a private airline operating in France may want to target customers in the United Kingdom. This means that they need to allow their site to be findable to potential customers in the UK. To enable their website to rank high on the SERP, they need to understand their target market and equip their website to be multi-regional and multi-lingual. Technically speaking, the first step will include building a solid web presence by being accessible to consumers through locally relevant keywords. Next, technical measures need to be conducted; this will make the website readable in a foreign language.

What are the benefits of international SEO?

International SEO optimizes your search presence for people in different countries who are searching for your products and services. This means that you can sell to customers who are in different countries even when they speak a foreign language. This is because international SEO uses geotags and other localization signals to target the customers who want your product or service. What’s more, companies can target content to solve user problems that your products or services can help with. In short, you can take your business to a global audience. Selecting relevant keywords means that you will be able to target specific search terms and optimize content and SEM campaigns to bring in more sales. What’s more that when you’ll be able to grow web traffic which can help locally and offer users an enhanced experience that helps you establish your business as a global brand.

Do You Need International SEO?

Companies that get a proportion of their traffic from visitors in foreign countries can take full advantage of International SEO. What’s more, if companies want to target countries that speak different languages or target foreign regional markets that speak the same language international SEO may be for you. If you target customers in a foreign market, you need international SEO. This means that you need to specifically target different countries that speak different languages. To do this there are roughly three core things that companies need to consider. First, you need to target a specific market with an international URL structure. Next, you need to establish what language your pages are targeting with the use of language tags. Finally, you need to create and maintain content in your user’s language. International SEO requires a few different methods and strategies but generally, International SEO best practice requires the same as local SEO best practice.

International SEO Examples:

Let’s look at some international SEO examples. You may be a US firm that wants to target Spanish speakers. Or, you may be a Canadian organization that either wants to or is required by law to support both English and French speakers. Finally, you may be a UK corporation that wants to reach out and support customers in multiple languages and regions. In this case, you might need multiple different websites hosted in multiple different countries. This means that you’d need an English language and French-speaking website in Canada alone. In any case how you approach international SEO is going to be based on not only your business objectives but also local laws, regulations, and customs. As you progress on your international SEO .journey, you’re going to need to continually reflect on your business needs. This means that you need to understand why you want to market in this place, who you’ll be marketing to, and account for any nuances or cultural or legal barriers that may exist or arise.

By Innovation-X