International SEO Guide: 8 Best Practices To Remember
- October 30, 2024
- Business Insights

If you are in the digital marketing industry, then you have probably already heard of the term “international SEO.” International SEO is the process of optimising your website so that search engines can easily identify the countries you want to target and the languages you use for business. This involves tailoring your content, keywords, and overall site structure to meet the needs of different regions and languages. By doing so, you basically make sure that your website is accessible and relevant to a global audience, which can significantly enhance your visibility in international search engine results pages (SERPs).
As a digital marketer, it is important that you master the process of international SEO, as an effective international SEO strategy can bring about numerous benefits. It enables businesses to tap into new markets, reaching potential customers who may not have found them otherwise. This can then lead to increased traffic, higher conversion rates, and ultimately, greater revenue. Moreover, having a strong international SEO strategy helps build brand credibility and trust across different regions. It ensures that your business is perceived as a global player, capable of catering to diverse customer needs. To learn more about international SEO, read on as this article shares some of the best international SEO practices that every digital marketer must remember.
1. Define your global markets
To come up with an effective international SEO strategy, you first need to define your international markets. You probably already have a sense of which international markets you want to target based on non-SEO factors, such as your operational capabilities in specific countries. However, it is also beneficial to examine SEO metrics to identify which markets offer the greatest potential for your business. This analysis can reveal elements, such as:
- Markets you might naturally expand into in the future.
- Foreign markets with high search demand that you might be overlooking.
- Foreign markets with low search competition that you might be missing out on.
To help you get an initial idea on the markets with search potential, you can use some competitor analysis tools like Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to assess your competitors. You can look at the graph showing your competitors’ estimated organic traffic share by country.
2. Conduct keyword research for every foreign market
After defining your global markets, the next step is to perform international keyword research and to localise your international SEO strategy for each of your chosen markets. This is highly advisable even if you choose to only roll out your SEO strategy in one language. Keep in mind, however, that terminology differs from country to country, even if the language is the same. In turn, this will have an effect on the keywords your potential customers are looking for. Aside from this, search volume will also vary from country to country since search demand and population vary. This is something you need to consider in your SEO strategy when making projections according to keyword data.
3. Determine your URL structure
Planning your URL structure is crucial for international websites, as it determines where the content for each foreign SEO market will reside on your site. There are three main options you can consider, each with its own advantages and disadvantages: ccTLDs for International SEO, Subfolders for International SEO, and Subdomains for International SEO.
ccTLDs for International SEO
This option is popular because users recognise the top-level domain of their country, making them feel like they are in the right place. However, purchasing multiple domains can be costly, and many SEOs believe it dilutes PageRank by spreading content across several domains, requiring you to build SEO authority for each one.
Here are the pros of ccTLDs for international SEO:
- Clear target country for users.
- Ability to use localised hosting for better page load times.
On the other hand, here are its cons:
- Higher costs due to multiple domain purchases.
- Technically challenging to maintain several domains.
- Content and design changes need to be replicated across multiple sites.
- URL does not specify language.
Subfolders for International SEO
Subfolders are favoured by SEOs and webmasters because all content is within a single domain, thereby simplifying maintenance and allowing localised content for global markets. Creating new page versions is easier by changing the URL path, and reporting is also streamlined with a single analytics tag.
Here are the pros of subfolders for international SEO:
- Easy to set up.
- Customisable naming (e.g., example.com/singapore).
- Simplified tracking and reporting.
Meanwhile, here are the cons:
- Users may not be as familiar with this URL structure.
Subdomains for International SEO
Subdomains are less common than the other options but offer unique benefits, such as customisable naming conventions not possible with ccTLDs. However, they share some drawbacks with ccTLDs, like the need for Google to crawl them separately initially.
These are the pros of subdomains for international SEO:
- Ability to use localised hosting.
- Customisable naming (e.g., singapore.example.com).
On the other hand, here are the cons:
- Technically challenging to maintain several domains.
- Users may not be as familiar with this URL structure.
- Content and design changes need to be replicated across multiple sites.
4. Make use of a single language per page
The result of setting up your international site’s URL structure and conducting multi-region keyword research will be a localised content plan tailored for each foreign SEO market. Remember, however, that it is crucial to use only one language per page. For each piece of content, create a separate web page for every additional language you want to target. You must localise everything possible, including:
- Images
- Currencies
- Time zones
- Phone numbers (where feasible)
- Office addresses (where feasible)
Be sure to avoid dynamically translating content on the same URL. Google advises using dedicated URLs to help its crawlers efficiently find, read, and index all content versions. Creating country-specific versions of pages is also recommended if you aim for a hyper-focused approach, segmenting your international site by country and not just language. For instance, if you are targeting Singapore, you should create both British-English and American-English versions of each page. These details are important for users and can be recognised by Google. Google’s goal is to provide the most relevant results for each user, so it prefers content that matches both the user’s country and language.
5. Be sure internal links only refer to content in the same language
A common mistake that digital marketers make when expanding content internationally is linking to the wrong version of their content internally. This can cause users to land on pages in a different language and send mixed signals to Google. To avoid this, make sure you link only to content that targets the same country and/or language. If you have only a few pages for a specific country or market, it might be indicative that it is still too early to launch in that market.
Entering a new market with limited content can restrict your international SEO rankings and traffic, and negatively impact user experience due to insufficient useful content. On the other hand, launching with a broader range of content helps Google better associate your website and brand with the intended market. Hence, generally, it is advisable to have enough content to link to in your header and footer navigation for each foreign market when starting a new international SEO strategy.
6. Optimise content for the region and language
Content optimisation is an essential element of an effective strategy for international SEO in Singapore. In doing content optimisation, make sure all your content is tailored to your target region and its local language. This involves thoroughly checking all TLDs, translations, and content assets to ensure they meet local expectations. Also, remember to use the rel=”noopener” target=”_blank” hreflang tag. This HTML attribute indicates the geographic area and language of a webpage, thereby helping to distinguish similar pages aimed at different audiences. This prevents search engines from treating them as duplicate content. The tag basically looks like this:
<link rel=”alternate” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank” hreflang=”x” href=”https://example.com/alternate-page” />
7. Establish a backlink profile in every target country
Even if you have a strong presence in your home market, it is essential to build authority in the new foreign markets you want to enter. For instance, a backlink from a highly authoritative site in Singapore might not carry the same weight in Malaysia. This step is often overlooked, but it is definitely crucial and should not be ignored. To assess your backlinks in each country, it is highly recommended that you use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer > Overview > “Backlink profile” tab.
Scroll down to see a world map showing where most of your links originate. You can also use the “Country-code only” filter to view links from ccTLD domains exclusively. Monitoring this report over time can essentially highlight markets where your link-building efforts need more focus. Additionally, you can examine the same reports for competitors to see where their international backlink successes are coming from.
8. Decide whether to hire an international SEO agency
The final but essential tip in this international SEO guide that you should take into consideration is whether to hire an international SEO agency. When coming up with your strategy for international SEO, ask yourself whether you are considering handling international SEO on your own, or do you prefer to outsource it. Both options have their respective benefits. However, while you have the deepest understanding of your brand, SEO experts excel at grasping local preferences and crafting strategies that align with them. So, if you wish to better guarantee the success of your international SEO plans, consider hiring the services of a trusted agency, such as IT.com.sg in Singapore.
Conclusion
Overall, following the best international SEO practices is essential for a successful digital marketing strategy because it helps you ensure that your content is accessible and relevant to an international audience. By optimising your website for different languages and regions, you can effectively reach and engage with potential customers around the world. This not only increases your website traffic but also enhances your brand’s credibility and trust across diverse markets.
Similarly, implementing the international SEO strategies shared in this article can help search engines understand your target audience, thereby improving your rankings in international search results. Hopefully, this international SEO guide has already given you so much idea on how to expand your global footprint and stay competitive in the digital landscape.
Ref:
https://ahrefs.com/blog/international-seo
https://rockcontent.com/blog/international-seo/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/international-seo