Working with worldwide SEO can be tricky. As Google prioritizes promoting high-quality sites and pages, it is imperative you localize your website and follow regional best practices to rank locally. If you are looking to get started optimizing your pages but don’t know how to begin, read on.

Do I need international SEO?

One important question worth asking before you dive in: do you need international SEO? If you have a think, you may realize there is no set answer.

The truth is, even as the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, your business may not require localized versions of pages. This is especially true if you do not plan on expanding internationally. For example, if you are a site that focuses on domestic shipping in your country, there is no need for international versions of your website.

Another big factor in answering the above question is cost. If you plan on optimizing your website, depending on the scale of your project, you may require putting in substantial costs. This cost comes in hiring native speakers to translate your content, web developers to optimize your sitemap, and more.

Best practices for localizing site pages

If you would like to build your international website and localize site pages, below are some best practices to follow.  

Localize sitemap and site language

Undoubtedly, one of the most important things when it comes to SEO localization is language optimization. This is one of the first indicators to Google that your site is relevant to your target users. There are many elements to consider when you are optimizing your site language.

Country code top-level domain (ccTLD)

At the site level, you can localize your entire sitemap with a localized domain. You can choose from multiple options when localizing your domain.

The strongest but often slightly expensive choice is to use a country code top-level domain (ccTLD). You can use this to signal your country, state, or territory in which your site is operating and targeting. For example, yourwebsite.fr for France, yourwebsite.co.uk for the United Kingdom.

Subdomains

You can also use subdomains to signal the locality of your site. For example, au.yourwebsite.com. They can be helpful if you want to preserve a specific generic top-level domain (gTLD), such as .org and .edu.

Subdirectories

Additionally, you can use subdirectories tagged onto your domain. An example is yourwebsite.com/au/. Subdirectories help your user orientate themselves when they are on your website. They also signal to search engines that Australians are the intended target of your site.

Hreflang tag attributes

Aside from using subdomains and subdirectories, you can also use hreflang tag attributes to tell Google which language your page is in. This is especially helpful if there are two official languages in your target market. For example, yourwebsite.com/ca/ can be split into yourwebsite.com/ca-fr/ and yourwebsite.com/ca-en/ for both French and English speakers.

However, an hreflang is weaker than using ccTLDs because it is a signal and not a directive. Other factors can – and may – override this signal, causing a different version of your page to rank higher in local SERPs.

Localize on-page content

Of course, you should also ensure your on-page content is localized. Make sure you only publish copy that is in the language of your target market. This is straightforward for most countries that have one official language. However, for others, there is more you must consider.

If you are targeting a country like Canada where there are two official languages – French and English – make sure the content on both versions is of high-quality. Under no circumstances should you use Google Translate in your content.

Cultural considerations

When optimizing your content for locals, you should consider cultural factors that can have a significant impact on its reception. Avoid sensitive topics and make it clear that your content is for your intended audience by keeping the layout and color schemes appropriate.

For example, in countries such as Japan, it is perfectly normal to have websites with busy layouts. Pages have lots of icons and images, and local users are comfortable with blinking signs, widgets, and ads. However, many European users prefer sleek layouts with large, bold text and minimal disruptions when reading. Keeping user expectations into account is a requirement when optimizing your website.

Contact details

If you operate in multiple regions, ensure your business contact details on each version of your website are accurate. These include:

• Your contact number(s)
• Your local address
• Your operating times
• The language in which you respond to queries

Have a relevant backlink profile

Having a diverse and natural backlink profile is a must for all sites, regardless of whether they are following international SEO best practices. However, if you are taking care of multiple regional sites, ensure they have a relevant profile by gathering backlinks in your target language and market.

This means: if you are building an Australian site, you should ideally only have English-language sites pointing to your own. Your sites should ideally be Australia-based, which can be identified through a ccTLD (website.au) or an hreflang tag attribute (website.com/en-au).

Questions to consider when localizing your site pages

If you have decided that international SEO is for you, there are some questions you can ask yourself in your planning. This can simplify your strategy creation, and it can help you narrow down your options.

What are your target markets?

Figure out what your target markets are by seeing which markets you service. If you are an international business and you are happy to target any market, you may want to narrow down your list by seeing from which areas you have the most traffic.

Who is your target audience?

Aside from understanding where your audience is from, you should also aim to understand their demographics and the languages they speak. For example, if you operate in Belgium, make a point to understand if your Belgian audience speaks Flemish, Dutch, or French.

Which localization elements should you prioritize?

Even though you may want to get everything right immediately, you may not have the time or money to do so. Prioritize your markets and audiences and the localization factors that you have in mind. For example, it may be relatively easy to set a country code top-level domain but building a localized backlink profile will take a longer time.

This is the same for your content. Figure out the most important pages you want to change first, such as your homepage and contact pages, and slowly localize the rest of your pages.

How are my keywords doing?

When you set up a website in another language and culture, you need to make sure your keywords match your users’ search intent. Make sure you review your keywords when you set up localized versions of your webpage to make sure you can compete in regional markets. Sometimes this means reaching for keywords with lower search volumes.

Conclusion

Creating regional versions of your website can be a good way to expand your business internationally. However, depending on the size of your business, it can be a big undertaking. Many companies prefer reaching out to SEO agencies for a comprehensive audit of their existing site. They may also prefer utilizing the services of an agency to localize their web pages. If In doubt, reaching out to professionals is always a good idea.

Ludovic Gauthier