International SEO: Targeting Global Audiences

As your business grows, you may find that your audience extends beyond your own country's borders. When you decide to proactively target customers in different countries or who speak different languages, you enter the world of international SEO.

International SEO is the practice of optimizing your website so that search engines can easily understand which countries you want to target and which languages you use for your business. It's about ensuring that you are showing the right version of your site to the right user in the right location.

This is a complex area of SEO, but understanding the foundational concepts is crucial for any business with global ambitions.

When Do You Need an International SEO Strategy?

You should start thinking about international SEO if:

• You have an e-commerce store and you want to start selling and shipping your products to other countries.
• You have a significant amount of website traffic coming from another country, and you want to provide a better, more localized experience for those users.
• You want to translate your website into one or more different languages to reach new audiences.

Key Decisions in International SEO

1. Choosing Your URL Structure

This is one of the first and most important decisions you'll make. You need to decide how you will structure your site to target different countries and/or languages. There are three main options:

• ccTLDs (Country Code Top-Level Domains): This involves using a separate domain for each country you are targeting.

  • Example: yoursite.de for Germany, yoursite.fr for France.
  • Pros: This sends the strongest possible geographic signal to search engines and users.
  • Cons: It's the most expensive and resource-intensive option, as you have to manage and build the authority of multiple separate websites.

• Subdomains: This involves using a different subdomain for each country or language on your main domain.

  • Example: de.yoursite.com for Germany, fr.yoursite.com for France.
  • Pros: Relatively easy to set up and allows you to have different server locations.
  • Cons: Search engines may treat each subdomain as a separate entity, meaning authority is not fully shared.

• Subdirectories (or Subfolders): This involves creating a folder on your main domain for each country or language.

  • Example: yoursite.com/de/ for Germany, yoursite.com/fr/ for France.
  • Pros: This is the easiest and most common option for most businesses. It's easy to set up, and all the SEO authority is consolidated on a single domain.
  • Cons: You are tied to a single server location.

For most businesses, using subdirectories is the recommended and most practical approach.

2. International Keyword Research

You cannot simply translate your English keywords and assume they will work in another language. You need to perform keyword research from scratch for each target market.

• Cultural Nuances: The words and phrases people use can vary dramatically, even between countries that speak the same language (e.g., US English vs. UK English).
• Use Localized Tools: Use keyword research tools that allow you to see search volumes for specific countries.

3. Using the hreflang Attribute

This is a critical piece of technical SEO for international websites. The hreflang attribute is an HTML tag that you add to your pages to tell Google which language and/or country a specific page is intended for. It also signals the relationship between different language versions of the same page.

• Why it's important: It helps to prevent duplicate content issues and ensures that Google shows the correct version of your page to the user based on their location and language settings. For example, it tells Google to show your /fr/ page to users in France and your /de/ page to users in Germany.

Implementing hreflang tags can be complex, and it's often best to use a plugin or work with a developer to ensure it's done correctly.

Other Important Considerations

• Content Translation and Localization: Don't just use an automated tool to translate your content. Invest in professional, human translation to ensure the language is natural and culturally appropriate. Localization goes a step further, adapting your content, images, and offers to fit the cultural context of the target market.
• Currency and Payment Options: If you're an e-commerce store, you must display prices in the local currency and offer payment methods that are popular in that region.
• Server Location: If possible, using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) can help to ensure your site loads quickly for users all around the world.

Conclusion

International SEO is a significant undertaking that requires careful planning and a deep understanding of your target markets. It's about more than just translation; it's about creating a truly localized experience for your global audience. By choosing the right URL structure, conducting localized keyword research, and correctly implementing technical signals like the hreflang tag, you can build a strong foundation for expanding your business's reach across the globe.