If businesses based in North America wish to reach the quickly expanding, increasingly savvy international Internet audience, they must become more knowledgeable and intelligent about international SEO.
The international version of SEO, just like the domestic version, increases the chances that a certain website will jump to the top of search results, thereby allowing for increased conversion rates.
If businesses based in North America wish to reach the quickly expanding, increasingly savvy international Internet audience, they must become more knowledgeable and intelligent about international SEO.
The international version of SEO, just like the domestic version, increases the chances that a certain website will jump to the top of search results, thereby allowing for increased conversion rates.
The challenge internationally is to pick the appropriate SEO strategies for a large number of locales, cultures and languages. For those creating and using an international SEO program, it is mightily helpful to take a look at these five principles.
1) Plan International SEO Needs before Creating Websites Abroad
Do not make your international SEO strategy second-rate; it must be a central part of your planning process from the time you set out to expand internationally.
This planning process should begin with keyword research. Find out which keywords your target customers are going to use. This information is necessary to developing an international website that is designed for the key factors used by search engine algorithms: solid, fresh content that is keyword-specific; descriptive tagging; good media; and international and external links.
2) Authenticity is Key; Avoid Automated Translation
An authentic voice is vital to your business sounding not just sincere, but also knowledgeable and worthy of customers’ business. Since it is online, customers can easily share any faults on your website. This can strain your reputation before you even hit the ground in markets abroad.
In this way, multilingual brand messaging is not easy, and it should not be left to automatic machine translation. Businesses need to implement human experts who can quickly pick out errors in automated translations and fix them before customers notice.
3) Examine Both Your Images and Your Words
Your images are just as important as your words, and you therefore must give as equal consideration to picking them. An image can instantly signal your company’s knowledge (or lack thereof) to your target market. A good idea is to use a localization expert to help you pick out images that do not offend or put off your target audience. Every culture is different.
4) Let Your Prospects Pick Their Language
In many countries, there are enough residents from other areas that it is a good idea to allow visitors to pick their own language on your website. For example, in Canada, a target customer might speak English, French or one of many other languages.
Do not simply assume which language your customer wants to use; do not presume to know what is best. A good solution is to offer a dropdown menu with a host of language choices.
5) Stay on Top of Your Content
Pay careful attention to content that changes regularly. Also, be aware of the keywords used on your website. If you are not seeing the search results you want, try updating your keywords and then track the impact these changes have on your rankings. Make sure to re-submit your website for indexing each and every time you decide to make changes so as to ensure those changes are found by search engines.
Why International SEO Matters
An astonishing 90% of today’s Internet users live outside the United States, and most speak languages other than English. To break through into regions with promise for good business, enterprises are implementing the above principles to all of their electronic communication points with target customers and thus optimizing their chances for success.
In some ways, there has never been an easier time to reach an international customer base than today. That said, there are certainly obstacles to overcome when trying to expand your reach abroad.
A solid foundation of international SEO removes many of those obstacles by creating awareness online of language, cultural, and search preferences of each potential market.
