6 Ways to Boost Your International SEO Results

It is not easy to gain significant brand recognition outside of the country of origin with traditional marketing strategies. Instead, learning about and implementing cutting-edge international SEO methods and techniques is the best way to have an advantage in order to get noticed in international online waters.

One of the main focuses of all businesses is driving sales in the highly competitive, globalized marketplace.  Companies rely heavily on having a strong digital presence. This is especially true if the goal is to expand abroad.

Copying and pasting your website layout and content from one country to another will simply not work. There are many considerations that go into account like customs, legal, culture, etc. Here are some ways to get the most out of your international SEO campaign.

1. The basics, translation

We need people to understand us. One of the most fundamental ways of improving international SEO is to invest in a professional, flesh and blood translator. These professionals will translate the content you put up into the relevant language.

Content consumers need to know that you are serious about working with them. Grammatical and spelling errors can damage that trust instantly as they show a lack of true understanding of the region you are trying to do business in.

Some of the content that needs to pass through a professional’s keyboard is the ALT text of images, blog posts, emails, newsletters, etc. Metadata of titles and descriptions are also important since these appear in the search results.

If you are translating web content, it is important not to mismatch languages. That is, do not translate a part of it, either it is the entire thing or nothing at all.  The reason is that if the metadata is in one language and the actual content is in another, it really tanks the SEO ratings.

But, the world is becoming increasingly automatized and digitalized, why are we insisting on human translators as opposed to an electronic one? After all, the human factor is slower, requires pay and vacation days. The truth of the matter is that software and AI are not quite there yet. Words are translated individually instead of entire sentences, idioms are not factored in, etc.

It will turn your content into a clearly generically translated mess. If you think you can get away with an electronic one, just enter a few sentences into any online translator and check the results.

2.  Smart keyword usage

Keyword usage has changed over the years and what was one the norm does not apply today. Keywords are one of the widely used aspects of SEO and serve the purpose of potential clients finding you when they go looking online.

A keyword can be anything closely related to your field of expertise, what you are selling be it a product or a service.

SEO algorithms can sense if you are not playing fair with your keywords. What that might be? Linking towards irrelevant subjects that have little or nothing to do with your chosen industry or niche.

You could also be spamming certain keywords, which is never a good idea. It needs to be as natural and organic as possible while seamlessly putting in a relevant keyword or two.

There are several positions that a keyword can be effectively placed in. It is not just the content that can contain them.

• Web pages
• URLs
• Headings
• Image descriptions
• Various metadata
• Titles and emails

just to name a few.

If any keyword research needs to be done, Google AdWords is a great app to start.  There are other tools out there that can be used also. About half of all searches include four or more words. That is where the so-called longtail keywords come into play.

The longer the keyword is, the more specific and specialized it is. The reason that is a good thing is that there is less and less competition as the number of words increases.

Of course, there is a number of words in a keyword that can be considered too high which will be negatively reflected in your SEO rankings.

As with all things in life, the optimal balance can be found in moderation. Any extreme or inconsistency will bring bad results to your SEO optimization endeavours. Top SEO companies in Sydney can help with the right choice for your particular set of variables in a professional way.

The message, the product, the service, the brand and a targeted audience are just some of the variables that go into the equation that is a successful SEO campaign. With the right keywords as your main tool, you will have the highest prospects that the right people will find you and your message.

3. Content is key

The meat, the bread and butter of it all is content. Without quality content, every other endeavour is for nothing.

Content is a tool used to convey value to customers which they can share and enable you to reach new audiences. So, how does content increase sales?

When a potential client makes a search inquiry online regarding the information about a product or service, they will come across several types of content. Social media posts, blogs, web pages, etc. will all be listed as a potential answer to their inquiry.

If you were to have the best, most relevant, engaging and authoritative content on the internet, your brand will come out on top for any potential client. This, in turn, gives you the chance to build relationships and close deals with future customers.

Good content comes in many shapes and forms. The goal should always be to continuously create content using all of the following formats:

• Blogs
• Videos
• Podcasts
• User-generated feedback content
• Guests
• Ebooks
• How-to guides
• Product reviews

and many more.

The more area you cover, the higher the quality of your overall content. Combine that with keyword optimization for the content type you are presenting and clients will be finding your message every time they make a search.

4.  Using data tools

Google is by far the most well-known search engine in the world. That being said, it is not the only one on the market.

Many search engine algorithms constantly shift, change and adapt to the market demands in order to provide people with the most relevant links.

Search trends across the world are always changing due to many factors. That means you will have to follow along by regularly tweaking topics, phrases and terms in order to sustain your SEO campaign.

Data analytics like Google Analytics, Moz and other platforms can prove very useful, especially for international markets.

These will keep you on track and enable you to make quick changes and adjustments whenever the need arises. If your SEO efforts experience an occasional dip, it is usually not anything to worry about.

A quick, calculated and researched change here and there and you are most likely set to go. It is a downward trend one has to be worried about.

While this can be indicative of a larger, more serious problem, usually a quick resubmit of your site to be indexed again by the search engine algorithm will result in rankings and visibility resurgence.

SEO future and changes can never be predicted with absolute pinpoint certainty. These tools are used to preempt as many negative effects a change might bring.

It is always better to be proactive and prevent damage than trying to remedy an otherwise preventable situation by going into damage control.

5. Performance

Page loading times are now more important than ever. In the era of broadband internet and fibre-optic speeds, everything has become incredibly fast and in consequence, inpatient.

Content performance is important for several reasons. If your website is slow, that will automatically be registered by the search engine algorithms. This, in turn, tanks your rankings. Even if potential customers do find their way onto your website, the interaction dynamics shift completely when performance issues are introduced.

The average attention span of an everyday online content consumer is incredibly low. Some say it is as low as 2-3 seconds before their patience is out and the attention turned somewhere better.

And consumers are really not to blame if your website cannot meet their needs, there are many more that can do it just a bit faster and better.

Negative interaction with the website can hurt ratings even further. It can really be a downward spiral if not remedied quickly.

On the other hand, if your site is fast to present the requested content, people are much more likely to come back and recommend it. As we can see, it is very important to optimize page loading speeds and server response times.

For a quick speed test of your website, just search for free, online tools on the web. Usually, as a website gains more traction and traffic, basic hosting services become inadequate. Check with your hosting provider for better hosting services as those are usually the main culprit in bad access times.

6.  A more mobile world

Mobile devices are predominantly used for browsing online content. Stationary devices like personal computers have been second for some time now. Even the laptop is not as widely used for this task as it used to be. Smartphones and tablets have simply become incredibly convenient and affordable, everyone has one.

The point is that your website has to be optimized to accommodate these devices in all of its resolution shapes and sizes. And there are many of them which exponentially increases the number of variants one has to accommodate for. Search engine algorithms account for your ability to display your content properly on a mobile device.

A comprehensive international SEO strategy does require quite a few things to be taken into account. A combination of technical, creative and cultural skills will ensure that your brand will resonate with international audiences seamlessly.