How to Implement International SEO?
What Is International SEO?
Google has several versions for every language and every country. There’s lots of growth potential, even in emerging countries or simply in other languages.
If you are placed in a different nation or another language, there’s an opportunity to gain more traffic and even more sales in those other regions, and that’s precisely why you’d want to do International SEO.
International SEO is the method of getting ranked in search engines based on a specific country and specific language.
This guide will cover the basics of international SEO, International Targeting SEO and the benefits of International SEO. So without further ado, let’s get started!
As search engines like Google have different versions based on region and language, International SEO also works in two major ways.
- Multi-lingual (Multi-Language) and
- Multi-regional (Each Country).
Multilingual international SEO is the process of the website being translated into various languages and having the site be ranked in multiple language versions of Google.
If we are able to translate our website to a different language, we have nearly doubled the number of visitors who visit our site.
As an example,
English is the biggest language, and Spanish is second in importance. If you’re not Spanish, it’s an enormous chance that you are going to miss it. However, international SEO will do the work for you.
or
You live in the USA but want to get ranked in Australia based on Google SERP; then, you have to make international SEO based on the Australian people’s mindset and behaviour. You have to customize your content according to their needs. Thus Google will realize that your content is made for Australian visitors, and you get ranked in Australian google search results.
International Targeting SEO
Before diving into international SEO, it’s important to consider a few key factors.
First, evaluate your infrastructure. For instance, if you aim to rank in Spain, do you need to have staff based there? This is an important consideration.
Additionally, if you’re launching a new eCommerce website, think about the shipping charges. International shipping costs can be substantial, so it’s crucial to factor them into your planning.
International Targeting SEO
It’s not the best idea to think about doing international SEO before you dive into the deep end. Take a look at a couple of things before you go.
The first thing you need is the infrastructure. If you’re planning to be ranked in Spain, does your business require staff on the ground in Spain? It’s something to consider.
What are the shipping charges going to be in the event that you are launching a new eCommerce website? Shipping costs could be massive, right?
Do you have the personnel to assist with a language other than yours you speak? Or to analyze the country of another?
What is your expertise on the SEO, and what do I am referring to by that is-
If you’re considering translating your website to a completely different language and have thousands or hundreds of pages, consider the number of pages and how much information you’ll need to translate to create a new website that looks as beautiful as your original website?
There’s a lot that is involved in that.
Multiregional international SEO is the process of the website customization according to a group of people’s mindset, culture, tradition and intention and getting ranked in search engines in various country versions of google.
Many automated translators permit you to translate your website’s live content into a different language; however, a lot of the time, the grammar is not correct.
It’s hard to read. So, It’s necessary to let someone read through and manually sort of cross-checking all that, but it’s not as accurate as if you’d done it manually.
If you choose to use either the English translation or Spanish version, or the one in the language you’re using first, send it to a translation firm. Translation companies translate it and return it to you.
Then you can assign the keywords. Check that the assignment is optimized. Make it available for publication or go live on your website. Think about it. If you’ve got a large website, it’s an enormous task.
However, you can also rank your website by just doing international SEO in a specific country. In that case, you have to follow and apply some specific set of methods. By doing that, you are trying to make Google understand that your site is for a specific region.
So let’s have a look at some of the methods you should know initially. However, more is also considered a ranking factor that you can also apply, but those will make this guide much longer. I am planning to write a series of advice and guides on these topics.
URL Structure:
You must ensure you have content on its own and that the URL is in order, which is mandatory.
The URL structure is an extremely important international SEO item. Additionally, it is among those that are most frequently debated.
What you need to determine is whether you are going to be country-specific for your domain or will you use a subdomain that is similar to
-us.example.com
or set up a subdirectory as
-example.com/us
What you shouldn’t do is to use URL parameters like-
-example.com /?%$=&.
You want to ensure that you have a clear URL structure. This is an excellent option, and many users use this method, particularly if they’re only planning to reside in a single country using the international SEO method.
What I’m going to be saying is that there’s an issue with this. In the US, there is a tendency to give more credence to domains like the example.com type domain instead of example.us.
Also, make sure to conduct some basic study before you decide to jump in and register an international Domain name extension.
Additionally, subdomains are usually an acceptable alternative. Subdomains are indeed extremely clear to users.
Server Location:
What is the location of your servers situated? This is a bit of a relic from the past. Google did take a look very closely at the server’s location. Then it would affect your ranking.
If the server is in Ireland for your website being delivered to Ireland, this could provide advantages for you to rank higher in Ireland.
However, search engines nowadays don’t pay attention to this as much, and they’re more interested in the Geo settings that can be set manually.
Unique Content:
If, for instance, you create a website geared towards Ireland, Canada, and Australia and they all have precisely the same content, there’s nothing distinct in it. Google may not rank these pages in isolation.
What Google needs is that they would like to see content that is particular to each country and specific to each language. If not, and even if it’s similar content, and you’re able to sort of mix it up somehow, the search engine might not consider it.
Therefore, you cannot manipulate the system that way. However, it could work 20 to 50 percent of the time. But, I would not take the chance.
Language Codes:
It is also essential to make sure you have the proper language codes. I’m referring to the fact that “en” is a language code for English, or “es” is a language code for Spanish. Also, you need to ensure that these codes match up well.
Local Content:
Be cautious when it comes to local content. If Google is landed and redirects users towards an unrelated area that doesn’t line to the correct location, they could index the content in a way that isn’t correct.
Be cautious about this. Directing them to a particular language can affect your rankings just a bit. Be very cautious to ensure that you direct them in the correct direction.
Benefits of International SEO
Why should you do multi-regional and multilingual international SEO? and what are the benefits?
Well, To generate revenue from traffic and sales? Also, to reach and assist specific users.
Implementing international SEO ensures that more potential visitors will come to your site, ultimately increasing both your traffic and profit.
There is one more thing that you will get by practicing International SEO. If you are some kind of guy who wants to serve people of a specific language or region, then this is the most practical and direct way to do it.
If you’re looking to provide a superior user experience on your website, you’ll want to ensure that you’re providing content that is tailored specifically to the region and specific to your users’ local language.
When your website expands, as does your business, your customers are likely going to need it. Get the information into the format that they are most accustomed to digest.
Final Words
Make sure you are carrying out all of the standard SEO duties and that you have an external link plan in place. the standard tasks you need to complete for your main website. As a result, in addition to content marketing, we ought to be building links, producing fresh content, and maybe blogging.
The most crucial thing to keep in mind is to handle Google the same way you would an individual consumer. If you take this action, you should not experience any problems with local content, indexing, or language views.
To learn more about Sitemetrik’s expert international SEO services, click here!
Baris Coskun
Baris Coskun is 8 years experienced SEO Expert that specializes in content and technical SEO strategy creation/implementation progress for large-scale, multilingual, and international targeting websites.