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International SEO

Since customers are now used to using services worldwide and being able to conveniently order from anywhere, the demands on companies and their websites are also growing. However, this development does not only bring the advantage of an extended target group for companies but also the challenge of international search engine optimization.

International SEO describes the search engine optimization of a website for different countries and languages. Essentially, it is s for a company that serves more than one target market and wants to be a leader in each one. It is important to tailor the SEO strategy to the respective target market, accounting for the needs of potential customers as well as the local culture. A comprehensive internationalization strategy is necessary to ensure that a website performs well in terms of SEO not only in its country of origin but also in all other countries. The adaptation to the respective target market plays a central role because a simple translation of the website is far from sufficient here.

The translatability of the brand also plays a significant role, as not every brand name has the same meaning everywhere, and products or services may need to be adjusted accordingly. The rule here is: other countries, other customs. Users search differently from market to market, which is often related to their cultural background and correspondingly different needs and expectations. Therefore, localization is more important here than a mere translation of the website content.

Furthermore, it is essential to carefully consider the domain concept and make a strategic choice, especially with regard to multiregional and multilingual versions of a website.

However, if all important points are considered, international SEO can offer you significant advantages over the competition.

International SEO is mainly relevant for companies where it may make sense to additionally offer their own products or services in other countries. With the right international SEO strategy, different target markets can be addressed, visibility can be increased and in this way traffic on one’s own website, as well as sales can be significantly increased.

The biggest mistake is when one simply assumes a direct translation of keywords is sufficient. While translating keywords may be correct in meaning, localization takes local and cultural backgrounds into account.

Example:

If an insurance company from an English-speaking market also wants to gain a foothold in Germany and simply translates “car insurance” as “Autoversicherung”, they will lose a lot of traffic. The reason: In Germany, “KFZ Versicherung” is the keyword that is predominantly searched for, even reaching a search volume four times greater than the keyword “Autoversicherung”. Native speakers help to circumvent these semantic hurdles.

At Claneo we work hybrid. Our team of native speakers is responsible for our core markets: Germany, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Brazil and Portugal. Markets for which we rarely need individual analyses or texts are not covered internally, but rather organized with highly vetted freelancers (at least two per market).

Since Google is the main search engine in most countries, it basically comes down to strategy and content to be successful internationally.

At Claneo, we work with the six-eyes principle: An SEO analyst takes over the content strategy, an editor writes the content, and a proofreader does the final review. In addition, tools can help to accompany the process or to work with term weightings.

When adapting content to a specific target market, it is not just about translating the content, but primarily about adjusting to the local culture, language usage, search behavior, and the needs of potential customers. For the most thorough localization, using native speakers is recommended.

An international SEO strategy includes, among other things, the following points:

• Translations of content into target languages.
• Optimization of keywords and content for local search queries; for example, it might be useful to highlight local offers and promotions.
• Adjustments to the design and colors used, as they can have different meanings in other countries.
• Consideration of different time zones, payment methods, and units of measurement.
• Integration of local payment and shipping options.
• Consideration and compliance with the legal regulations and rules of the respective country.

If a website exists in at least two languages, it is referred to as multilingual. For example, this is the case when a Canadian company offers its website in both official languages: English and French. Here, Google recommends using a different URL for each language version of the page and marking it with the hreflang attribute.

On the other hand, if a website targets users in different countries, it is defined as multiregional. An example would be a German company that distributes its products in Austria and Switzerland.

A website can also be both multiregional and multilingual. For instance, it might have different versions for Germany and Switzerland, and for Switzerland, it provides content in German, French, and Italian.

A content hub can be beneficial for any company, as it can provide more than just product descriptions. From information gathering and questions about product usage to the after-sales phase, a variety of content can be offered throughout the traditional customer journey. Moreover, this content not only informs website visitors but can also be discovered through popular search engines and, for example, be repurposed for newsletters or social media. Thus, international SEO can also serve as an intriguing source of ideas for other marketing channels.

An essential factor for success in international SEO is choosing the right domain strategy. It is crucial to know in which countries the product or service will be offered in the future, and  also to ensure that the website won’t need a complete overhaul if further expansion occurs.

The following domains are conceivable for an international SEO strategy:

• Country code Top-Level-Domain (ccTLD): This strategy involves using country-specific domains like .fr for France or .de for Germany. Typically, these types of domains instill more trust in users, which can be crucial, especially in the e-commerce sector. However, using a Generic Top-Level-Domain (gTLD) like .com or .net is also an option.
• Subdomains: Different language versions of the website are provided under various subdomains (e.g., fr.example.com, de.example.com).
• Subfolders: An alternative to subdomains is using subdirectories (e.g., example.com/fr/, example.com/de/).

These options can also be combined in various ways. The best international SEO strategy depends on the company’s situation, the business model in place, and the goals being pursued. If a website is both multiregional and multilingual, it typically becomes more complex. What matters in the end is that the chosen strategy is well thought out and cleanly implemented to ensure successful internationalization and search engine optimization.

In our experience, a country code domain is a good choice if, for example, you were previously only active in Germany with the country code top-level domain “.de”. Furthermore, studies show that country code domains have a high reputation among local customers. A language directory makes sense if you already have a strong .com with high authority and then decide to localize.

For successful international SEO, interlinking various international websites is crucial. Here, the use of the hreflang attribute plays a significant role.

The hreflang tag signals search engines that multiple versions of a page exist in different languages and ensures that – depending on the country and language – the correct version is displayed. This allows search engines like Google to understand that, for example, the German version and the Austrian version of a page are not duplicate content but are related and both should be indexed.

In addition to interlinking international websites, it is advisable to generate backlinks in the respective target language. For this purpose, strategic link marketing must be done for each version of the website, meaning external sites should link back to your site. If relevant and high-quality backlinks are achieved, it typically leads to increased visibility of the page and better search engine rankings.

On an international level, it is essential to ensure that the generated links genuinely come from the same language region of the target country and appropriately refer to the respective country domain.

For an international SEO strategy, it is crucial to define and maintain consistent KPIs across all countries. Typically, one can consider various levels. A standard level would be impressions, such as how many impressions were generated and how the number of impressions is increasing. Additionally, the development of rankings for a defined set of keywords, focusing on the Top 100, Top 10, Top 5, and Top 3, as well as the evolution of click numbers from month to month and year to year, can be quite revealing.

From an SEO perspective, impressions, rankings, clicks, and user interactions on the website are the most critical KPIs. These numbers can also be easily compared with other countries, as long as one considers where they started and how the figures have evolved over time.

Generally, the larger the company, the more time international SEO will take. From the initial kick-off to the first implementations (meaning the launch of the first content) six months can be a relatively realistic timeframe.

There are various challenges that companies frequently encounter when implementing an international SEO strategy:

• Organization: The company has not internally communicated the “why” strong enough. Therefore, it is unclear why an international SEO strategy should be implemented, and employees haven’t been properly engaged and involved.
• Lack of internal resources: While employees are aware of the importance of the topic, there simply are not enough resources and capacities.
• Pure translation: The focus is more on mere translation than localization. Existing content is directly translated into various languages without further adaptation.
• Collaboration: The company either is not working with the right partner or is working with too many partners due to the vast number of markets. The result is having fragmented local strategies but no global strategy implemented across multiple countries.

Moreover, there are also technical challenges that companies frequently face in international SEO:

• Different technical infrastructures: Ideally, a B2B company has a global, .com, top-level domain with various country directories. However, it becomes problematic if there are different infrastructures or brand names across the different countries.
• CMS: The CMS is not capable of internationalization, for instance, if there is no option for hreflang mapping. It is a problem if hreflang cannot be implemented, leading to incorrect rankings across language directories.
• Classic SEO issues: Technical topics, such as speed optimization, image optimization, a site that is too large due to many subdirectories, or different infrastructures in various markets.