e-Commerce has grown substantially in the past few years. A trend that skyrocketed during the pandemic continues to grow. To succeed in eCommerce, a company needs a solid SEO game plan. Expanding into new markets worldwide requires an International SEO consultant to help your brand reach potential customers organically and at a fraction of the cost of paid campaigns.
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What Is international SEO?
International SEO is ideal for a business that wants to expand beyond its borders and reach new markets. Whereas a conventional SEO strategy focuses on keyword phrases and search habits of consumers in a specific location, international SEO is designed to attract leads across the globe.
What does an international SEO consultant do? Experts in this field analyze demographics and trends in various locations and map out a strategy on how to reach these customers.
Language, localization, branding, and domain targeting are also in the purview of an international SEO consultant. SEO consultants like those etribal adopt a comprehensive and bespoke approach that will best suit companies to reach their target customers.
What Is Different in International SEO?
The following sets International SEO apart:
1. Website language
The best SEO expert will ensure that keywords will not just be relevant and have the highest chance of ranking but will also be suited to the language of the target consumer in a specific country, their interests, and search habits.
2. Technical solutions
Deciding what language the website will be in is just the first step. Technical considerations, such as domains and subdomains, URL structure, and implementation are also important parts of an international SEO strategy.
3. Global content
When you move into new markets, consumers may have different priorities and interests. The best SEO consultant will help you gauge this.
What Are the Benefits of International SEO?
- Keyword accuracy
The best SEO company will find keywords that will bring traffic to your website. International SEO will give you access to global traffic from the world’s leading search engines. An International SEO consultant will research keywords that are popular in target regions and most likely to rank to help your target customers find you.
- Coordinate multi-lingual sections of the website
Professional SEO services will smooth out different sections of your website and will harmonize content in various languages. Accurate site architecture will ensure areas of your website don’t compete with each other.
- Accurate organization of multi-lingual content
The best SEO expert will categorize your content in different languages and will help you avoid duplications and inconsistencies. Correct indexing will make your site more user-friendly and will enhance engagement.
- Facilitate geolocation features
Make the most of technical features to extend your domain. Geolocation solutions will help your true customers find you and will give your product more visibility.
How Long Does International SEO take?
The amount of time an international SEO consultant needs to optimize your website depends on many factors, including how much content you have, how many languages you wish to provide and how complex the site is.
Tasks can be completed in as little as two weeks to a month or could take up to several months. For established websites, optimization can be done more quickly. Consult with SEO professionals like etribal for an estimate and time frame for your SEO needs.
What does an International SEO Consultant do?
An international SEO consultant will first help the company decide which country they plan to expand or improve on. When your business determines this, the SEO consultant will create a map of the website and determine whether it is technically sound. The next step is to check the hreflang, which communicates to Google which language the website or page is relevant for.
The consultant will then update Google search console to include the most recently added region. Consultants may also test links to ensure they are relevant in additional languages. The best SEO company will determine who your competitors are in various regions as a starting point to compete in these new markets.
How Does International SEO Work?
1. Decide Which Countries Provide the Best Opportunities
The first step is to look carefully at your business, products, and services and consider who your customers are. This will give you some clues about which countries are the best places to direct your efforts.
2. Create a Market Strategy
The best SEO consultant will map out an in-depth strategy that will fit the region you’ve chosen.
3. Determine the Most Effective Marketing Channels
An international SEO consultant will help you decide which channels are likely to yield the best results and the greatest return.
4. Strategic Launch
A consultant will plan a launch that will get results and reach your ideal customers in new markets.
5. Determine Cost per Channel
After the initial launch, consultants will gauge the results and determine how much each channel costs versus the return they receive.
6. Scale across More Countries
Once the strategy is perfected and works based on market research and results from the initial launch, you can expand to other countries. These could be based on competition, ease of ranking or other factors such as size of potential customers who seek out and purchase your product.
What Does International SEO Involve?
1. SEO Consulting
A consultant will find relevant keywords that are most likely to rank and generate traffic.
2. Website Performance & Reporting
A technical analysis allows the best SEO expert to determine your website’s ranking potential and how to optimize your site to achieve it.
3. Geotargeting
This involves determining where users are and the location they are accessing your website from.
4. Mobile SEO
Make sure your website is accessible and optimized so users can access it on a mobile device.
6. Link Building
Links should be relevant and should help customers find the content or products they need.
7. Keyword Research
Not all keywords are created equal. An international SEO consultant will choose keywords that are best for different markets.
8. Website Design
An organized website that has fast page speed, low image size, and easy to read content design, that encourages users to stay on the website will rank high on search engines.
9. Social Media
A social media strategy is essential to reach your audience and can help greatly in distributing your websites content.
10 SEO Audit
The best SEO experts will periodically perform an audit to ensure there is nothing bad hidden behind the code or page source of your site. Checking meta descriptions, title tags, page depth and more will make sure search engines ranking your website highest.
11. Technical SEO
Technical SEO makes it easy for search engines to crawl and index your site.
12. Content Creation
Content that is engaging and useful will improve your site engagement and make search engines take note that your page is most relevant for a search query. It also helps drive conversion from a visitor to a customer.
What Is Included in International SEO?
1. Identify Needs
An International SEO consultant will help you map out what needs to be done prior to expansion.
2. Identify Opportunities
Identifying opportunities is the key to a successful transition into new markets. The best SEO expert can determine how to highlight what you have to offer and the challenges you solve to identify opportunities to rank on search engines.
3. Choose Target Audience
Understanding who is interested in your product or service is an essential first step. Pitching your offer to potential customers requires knowing what their challenges and needs are.
4. Choose Domain and Folder Structure
Understanding the importance of domains and structure will make your site structured in the best way for search engines to rank your website as well as making it most effective for user experience to navigate your site.
5. Understanding URL Definition
A URL isn’t just an address. A consultant can help you understand how your URL can make a difference in your traffic. Keep it short and keep it focused on the keyword you wish to target will drive the best search traffic and rankings.
6. Translation Needs
Customers appreciate companies that speak their language. Expert translation will not only make your brand understood but help it sell.
7. International Keyword Research
International customers aren’t just searching in a different language but may have a unique mentality. Consultants can help discover these nuances in the challenges they face.
8. Adapt Content to New Target Audience
Content shouldn’t just be understood–it should resonate.
9. Off Page International SEO
SEO is more than your website. You will also need brand building, social media, and content strategy.
What is Multilingual SEO?
English is spoken all over the world, but to make your brand noticed globally, you need to appeal to customers in the language they speak. This means translating content and developing unique keywords in other languages.
This may sound like a tall order, but professional SEO services can make it work for you. Not only will they work with translation services, but will find unique content and keywords that will allow potential customers worldwide to find your service and products.
Market research, knowledge and experience in specific markets can help you extend your reach.
What are Common Challenges of International SEO?
International SEO is about embracing world markets and trends. This can seem like a huge task, and it can be if you don’t know where to look. Truly understanding a new market, what speaks to international customers, and what their challenges are requires knowledge, experience and research.
The challenge of international SEO is to do enough market research to understand the market, the competition, the needs and challenges of customers and how the company solves helps and is positioned.
How to Choose an International SEO Consultant?
How can you find the best SEO expert for your company? Consider the following:
1. Work History
Pay attention to how long they have been pursuing their career and their high-profile clients.
2. SEO Knowledge
An SEO consultant should be well-versed in all areas of SEO and demonstrate their knowledge and expertise clearly and transparently.
3. SEO Record of Success
A consultant should be able to identify successes that are verifiable and compelling and provide clear metrics detailing that success.
4. Marketing Knowledge
Knowing how to choose the right keywords is only part of it. Understanding how customers think is also an essential quality to look for. Choose an SEO consultant that understands your industry, product and target region.
5. Understanding Business Goals
When you explain your company’s goals, they should make sense to the consultant. You should be able to tell that they are on the same page and are able to add value from their own experience from other clients.
6. SEO Tools Expertise
Knowledge is important but only a piece of the puzzle. Having cutting-edge SEO tools and solutions is crucial to maximise your success.
7. Company and Niche Fit
A consultant can have vast experience, but it may not make a difference if their niche doesn’t match your company.
8. Communication Skills
The essence of a successful working relationship is communication. If this is smooth, the rest may go swimmingly.
What Business Can Benefit from International SEO?
Any business that is seeking to expand or grow in another country can benefit from International SEO. ECommerce has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years and so has competition in almost every industry.
Large and medium companies need a solution that is scalable and can grow as they do. An international SEO consultant understands how to make this growth process comfortable, profitable and efficient. They can make the transition into new markets smooth and cost effective, so business owners can focus on what they do best–running their business.
Companies that want to make the most of their opportunities quickly can use the services of the best SEO consultants or work with a marketing network such as etribal. Marketing networks provide the best consultants from across the world so you can rest assured you have the best people working with you.
With international SEO, language and culture shouldn’t be a barrier to success and can be an advantage with the right global marketing strategy.
Do You Want to Find the Best International SEO Consultant?
For a tailor-made international SEO strategy, SEO services such as etribal will help you expand your business into new markets. etribal focus on what makes the most difference keeping costs down and maximising success.
Our international SEO consultants help you discover the right message and methods to reach potential customers worldwide and convert the traffic into leads and conversions wherever your customers are located.
