How to implement International SEO in 4 Steps?
Do you want to spread your business all over the world by sitting in one country? Do your international customers use multiple languages? If your answer is yes, then you should go towards International SEO. By following the best practices of International SEO, you can generate more traffic, global presence, and loyal customer generation for the website.
INTERNATIONAL SEO is a complex process that takes place in several stages. But in this article, we will try to understand International SEO very simply and we will know how we can implement complete International SEO in just 4 steps. Let’s have a look at the list, which we are going to cover in this guide-
Table of Contents
- What is International SEO?
- Target Your International Audience
- Set International SEO-friendly Structure URL
- New website for every single country
- Adding Subdirectories in single website
- Adding Sub-domain
- Add hrefLang tag for language targeting
- Assist international SEO with additional signals
- Fit device performance
- Search engine preferences
- Want to spread your business globally?
What is International SEO?
International SEO is a part of search engine optimization in which we target customers from one country to another.
We target countries and customers whose language may differ from ours. Using geo-targeting, hreflang tags, and other localization signals, we deliver our content to our potential international customers.
Google always shows search results based on the language and locality of its users, the special indicators (hreflang, domain extensions, etc) you add to your website send a signal to Google and other search engines, from which the search engine easily identifies the thing that your website is correct for that specific country and language.
Search Engine Optimization and Multilingual Search Engine Optimization are one but many.
Let us know how you can complete International SEO implementation in 4 steps:
Target your International Audience
The first thing you need to know is In which country your audience is? Which language do they speak? What is their buying behavior? And so on.
Knowing all this, whether to optimize search results on a language basis or a geographic basis? Ask yourself the answers to all these questions and keep the answers clear.
For example, we will talk about Facebook here. When you install the Facebook app for the first time, it asks you the language. Similarly, when you visit the Air Canada site for the first time, it will ask you both, language as well as your country.
Just like these websites, you should also decide based on your business and the customer, how do you want to optimize your search results?
When a website asks you only your language, it means that website is using the same content for the user of every country.
On the other hand, the website which asks for both your language and country, then most of the content of such a website varies from country to country.
For example, if you create your account on the shopping website eBay, it will ask you about both language and country, and every time you change your country, the content of your page will also change.
“eBay operates in about 180 different countries and supports the local language of about 23 countries”
Create International SEO Friendly URL
When you are optimizing your website under geo-targeting, then you have to create a URL structure according to your targeted countries.
URL structure gives to Google and other searches an indication of which page of the website is for which country.
Most businesses create a new website for each of their target countries or add subdirectories to a single website. Some websites also add sub-domains for every single country which they are targeted।
Which method you choose depends on you and your resources.
Now we will talk about which method is good for you and why?
a) New website for every single country
This method is excellent as well as quite expensive because in this you have to create a website for each country you are targeting, keep in mind the ccTLD (Country Code Top-Level Domain) while creating the website. For example, if you are building your website for Spain, then your domain extension will be something like this – example.es
Some of its pros and cons are as follows-
Pros:- When the extension of your domain identifies a specific country, the search engine can easily understand your target country, giving you the beginning of a powerful international yoga strategy. The specific country domain extension has won the trust of your customers.
Cons- Managing multiple websites is a very expansive task as well as you have to create a separate authority for each website which is quite a tedious process.
Note: It is a powerful international SEO technique but not perfect for small businesses. It is a fundamental change for businesses that have capital and from this site. And if you are targeting a country like China, then it is difficult for you to rank in their search engine Baidu without the country’s top-level domain (.cn).
b) Adding Subdirectories in a single website
When creating subdirectories in International SEO, two words of the ISO code of the country are written.
For example, if we are providing our product services in Spain, if our target country is Spain, then we will create a subdirectory of yes on our website which will be displayed as URL: exmpale.com/es
If your business is a little small, then it is very beneficial for you, let’s look at its pros and cons-
Pros- It is very easy to manage and low budget, on just one website you can keep the content of each of your targeted countries separately. The authority of your website becomes very high because of visitors from different countries on the same website. Most international news websites or publishers use this.
Cons- If you are looking to implement International SEO then this is not the best option for you. Because it keeps your growth limited to a limit and proves to be a much weaker SEO strategy than the earlier method.
c) Adding Sub-domain
Sub-domains are a changed form of ccTLD, so it is very easy to set up and also very cheap. Google considers it a separate domain, but when you add subdomains to the website, you have to create a different SEO strategy for them in each word.
Pros- Its setup cost and processing are very easy, which can be managed easily.
Cons- It does not have any major disadvantages, but it is weak in giving signs as compared to ccTLD, if your team is small then it is a good option for you.
Add hrefLang tag for Language Targeting
If you have multiple language content on the same website, you can identify them differently with the help of hreflang tags. Hreflang tags are a type of small code that is embedded in the header section of your website. It shows Google which content of your website is in which language.
Before showing any content to its users, Google understands their search history, location, and language, etc. To give the best results, use hreflang tags on your website so that your content reaches the right readers.
If the same content on your website is lying in a distinct language, then this tag is also used to protect them from competing. If you are using a different website for each country, then there is no use of the hreflang tag. There are still many people adding it so that it sends a strong location signal to Google and other search engines.
Assist International SEO with Additional Signals
Technically, it is easy to achieve international SEO success by the correct strategy. In this process, you can give some extra support to your SEO strategy, with the help of which your international SEO strategy becomes more strong and your target country and language prove to be a boon.
a) Fit Device Performance
If seen overall worldwide, over 70 percent of internet searching is through mobile. But when we look at it country-wise, each country has its data like 72% of people in India use the internet from mobile and 28% on desktop.
If we look at the same in the United States, then only 41 percent of people use mobile and 51 percent of people use desktop, the remaining eight percent use tablet. If you are targeting different countries, then you need to know the data of the devices used there and optimize your content and website accordingly.
b) Search engine preferences-
According to a report, about 92 percent of the people around the world search for anything on Google, but in some countries like China, less than 50 percent of the searches are on Google. In China, over 65% of searches are done on Baidu. So when you are targeting a country like China in the International SEO, you should also take into account their search engine.
Some additional local signals can boost your International outcomes। Let us look at the strategies that give your user a good signal of the country and language-
- You should have good Internal and external linking with the main media channels of the targeted country.
- Your prices should be displayed according to the currency of the country.
- You must have a local office address phone number on your website, It influences your customers to make a purchase.
Want to Spread your Business Globally?
International SEO refers to providing the best experience for your international potential customers. With its help, you can give a very strong look to your business. By following the above steps, you can create a good and simple international SEO strategy. If you are looking for an Indian SEO agency that creates the best international strategy for you, then definitely call us today.
