The Best Practices of Optimizing for International SEO
Do you think that there is no need to optimize the content separately for the local and international audience? If yes, then you are mistaken.The viewers in other countries might be using altogether different platforms or search engines to find your content.Hence, to be on top of the analytics and research; you must check whether you are serving the international audience well or not.Not only you need to follow a different strategy but also require more technical granularity. SEO servicessay that every bit of the SEO strategy requires search engine optimization from two perspectives; language difference and regional intent.Hire a seasoned international SEO agency for better results.
What does a what search engine consider while ranking international web pages?
There are many things that a search engine considers:
- URLs optimized for language and region.
- Content optimized for language and region.
- Contact info (NAP) on international directories and GMB pages.
- Local link from country-specific domains (ccTLDs).
Why localized content?
Localized content satisfies the users more because they get targeted deals and offers. Therefore, it is considered a vital element when you want to boost SEO.Localization goes way deeper. It brings a feeling that the site is not translated or foreign.Experts say that accurate localization is the key to success in the global marketing strategy nowadays.
Best practices that make the international SEO strategy successful Do some research
Before you start, it is always good to validate the starting point. Where are you as of now? What is your potential for different international markets?
Once you know the facts, it becomes easy to prioritize the targets.Expert SEO services can do it well.Look at various aspects such as search visibility, conversions, traffic, and conversion rate.You must get information about the countries that offer organic search visibility and traffic and the volume and trend of the same over a period.Know about the keyword and pages that attract search visibility.
Hreflang, what is it?
Hreflang is an HTML link or link tag attribute.It tells the search engine about the relationship of web pages in different languages.Thus, the right regional or language URL is served based on the country setting and language preference.For the perspective of search engine optimization of an international website, the attribute must be known to SEO experts.
It can be implemented in three ways:
- On the sitemap
- In the HTTP header
- In the HTML header of the page (as a link)
You should organize the site structure
To serve the international search engine optimization requirements; you should organize the website for language/regionspecific webpages.
A few primary consideration are as follows:
- Organize the content by subdirectories
- Organize the content by subdomains
- Use Country-coded top-level-domains or ccTLDS to optimize the website
However, the use of ccTLD might be confusing and unaffordable for some SEO experts.
Use of hreflang resolves the regional and language differences, but it results in duplication of the content.Hence, the use of sub domains and sub directories gains popularity. Sub domain solves the granularity issue, but for a new domain, SEO signals need to be built from scratch.The easiest way is to use the subdirectories. From the technical perspective, it brings the convenience of rolling out the optimization.
Use bidirectional links
The language-specific alternate pages should reference back to the alternates.It denotes that the consistency and quality of the coding. It means that if Page B is the alternate of Page A, then in the Page A also Page B should be referred as an alternate.It means the Page A and Page B both should list all alternatives they have cited in. Also, it should be specified that the pages are canonical.
An international SEO agencyknows how to do it effectively.
Make intelligent use of tools
When you want to develop an effective strategy to fulfill the international SEO needs, it is imperative to use tools.There are several tools available that can help you in the objective, but Python leads amongst all.These best practices will help in creating effective SEO strategy for international clients with the help of a seasoned international SEO agency.
