International SEO Best Practices

International SEO is the process of optimizing your website so that search engines can easily identify which countries you want to target and which languages you use for business in the international market.

Understanding your target countries is crucial for international SEO, as it involves tailoring business strategies and digital marketing efforts to specific geographic locations.

If you know that a good share of your website visitors come from a different country than where you’re located, speak different languages, or both, then it may be time to make some changes to your website to create a better experience for all of your international visitors.

On the surface, international SEO may seem like a totally foreign concept, but in reality, you may be more familiar with it than you know. Think of international SEO as geotargeting, but instead of optimizing your website to attract traffic from your city or state, you’re optimizing it for different international markets and languages.

If you’re looking to create a completely internationalized site (i.e., one that specifically targets a different country and a different language), your high-level to-dos for accomplishing this “international geotargeting” are threefold:

• Specify your target country and/or region with an international-friendly URL structure (country targeting).
• Establish which language your pages are targeting with the use of language tags (language targeting).
• Create and maintain content in your target users’ language(s). These are the raw materials with which you’ll actually rank.

It is crucial to speak the same language as your customers to ensure effective communication and context in international SEO.

Sometimes, you may be only looking to target a specific language or a specific country. In these cases, you may only want to work towards one or two of those three goals. Say, for example, you have an online clothing company that specializes in T-shirts with slogans in Spanish. Since Mexico is just as relevant to your business as Spain, you’d want to target the Spanish language, but not any specific country.

Developing an international SEO strategy is crucial for businesses aiming to expand their global reach. A well-planned strategy helps you target the right audience, increase brand awareness, and drive more traffic to your website. Here are some key considerations to keep in mind:

• Identify your target market: Determine which countries and languages you want to target. This involves understanding where your potential customers are located and what languages they speak.
• Conduct market research: Understand the local market, competition, and consumer behavior. This will help you tailor your approach to meet the specific needs and preferences of your international audience.
• Define your SEO goals: Set clear objectives for your international SEO efforts. Whether it’s increasing organic traffic, improving search engine rankings, or boosting conversions, having defined goals will guide your strategy.
• Develop a content strategy: Create content that resonates with your target audience. This means producing high-quality, relevant content in the local language and considering cultural nuances.
• Choose the right URL structure: Decide on a URL structure that is easy to navigate and crawlable by search engines. This will help ensure that your site is properly indexed and ranked in search results.

URL structures for international sites

There are a few URL structures webmasters can employ to target a particular country with their websites. They include using a country code top-level domain (ccTLD), a subdomain, a subdirectory or subfolder, a gTLD with language parameters, or even using a different domain name entirely. Let's take a closer look at each one of these options:

ccTLD — As defined by Google, ccTLDs use two-letter codes to indicate to users and search engines in which country, sovereign state, or dependent territory a website is registered. Note that some country codes, like .ly for Libya, are used so commonly for other purposes that Google treats them generically.

Subdomain — Internationalized content is placed on a separate "third-level domain" that may or may not pass or receive link equity from the root domain.

Subdirectory — Internationalized content is placed in a specific subdirectory, or subfolder, of a root domain.

gTLD with language parameters — A general top-level domain (like .com, .net, or .org) is targeted to speakers of a specific language by appending a URL parameter.

Different domain  — Internationalized content is placed on an entirely different root domain than the non-internationalized site.

Search engines may interpret each different URL structure slightly differently, so each technique has its pros and cons — including the resources required to implement and maintain them. Before choosing the right structure for you, it's worth looking into more details about each option.

This table looks at a few combinations of potential URL structures that could be used to internationalize a site and who search engines interpret each structure is trying to target:

Whichever structure you choose, Google recommends that you organize your hierarchy in a similar way in each section of your site so that it's intuitive and easily crawlable.

Language-target your website (or website pages)

Show search engines which languages you're set up to handle using hreflang or language meta tags — bits of code that indicate in which language(s) your content is available. The following example would tell Google that an alternate version of the content is available in French at the link provided:

Example hreflang tag:

<link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com/fr" hreflang="fr-fr"/>

A few other best practices:

• Make sure that everything from your site navigation, to your content, to your help desk, is in the primary language of the region you're targeting.
• Don't use machine translations (they're still just not good enough).
• Don't automatically redirect a user to a different language based on location. It's fine to suggest an alternate language site, but you don't know (without asking) if that English-language searcher in France is an expat, a student of foreign language, or someone who's lost on the internet.
• Stay away from using cookies or scripts to show different-language versions of page. Search engines can't crawl that type of dynamic content, and human users may not be able to see it, either.

Tailor your content to your target user's language and culture

Make sure you are providing information that's suited to your target audience(s). By using the local language, currency, and timezone together with contact information like addresses and phone numbers, you're sending users and search engines strong signals that they're in the right spot. Also think about cultural differences when you're creating your design and content. Different regions look at things like color, layout, and style of humor in very different ways.

By making it unambiguously clear that your page is for them, you're increasing the chances that they'll have a positive experience.

It's also worth noting that, implemented properly, international SEO should be nearly invisible to users. They should simply get relevant content, in their language, and within their region (when applicable). So, the signals are far more about helping search engines show the right content to the right people than they are about cluing users in.

Keyword research for international SEO

Keyword research is a critical component of international SEO. It helps you identify the most relevant and high-traffic keywords in your target market. Here are some tips for conducting keyword research for international SEO:

• Use keyword research tools: Utilize tools like Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer to find relevant keywords. These tools can provide insights into search volume, competition, and keyword variations.
• Analyze competitor keywords: Identify the keywords your competitors are targeting. This can give you an idea of what works in your target market and help you find opportunities to differentiate your content.
• Consider language and cultural nuances: Take into account the language and cultural differences in your target market. This means understanding local slang, idioms, and preferences that can affect keyword choice.
• Use long-tail keywords: Target long-tail, more specific, and less competitive keywords. These keywords often have lower search volume but can attract highly targeted traffic.

Technical considerations for international SEO

Technical considerations are essential for international SEO. Here are some key technical considerations to keep in mind:

• URL structure: Choose a URL structure that is easy to navigate and crawlable by search engines. This can include using ccTLDs, subdomains, or subdirectories, depending on your strategy.
• Hreflang tags: Use hreflang tags to indicate the language and region of your content. This helps search engines serve the correct version of your site to users based on their language and location.
• Canonicalization: Use canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues. This ensures that search engines understand which version of a page to index and rank.
• Mobile-friendliness: Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and responsive. With the increasing use of mobile devices, a mobile-friendly site is crucial for user experience and search engine rankings.
• Page speed: Optimize your website’s page speed to improve user experience. Faster loading times can lead to lower bounce rates and higher engagement.

Other SEO signals for local search engines

Other signals to show search engines that your site targets a specific country include:

• Hosting your site on a local IP
• Linking to local content
• Building links from local resources
• Finding ways to rank on local search engines like Yandex in Russia and Baidu in China

Optimizing for other search engines is crucial in international SEO, as factors like localization and language targeting can vary significantly. Search engines like Bing and others might weigh different criteria compared to Google, so businesses should consider an array of search engines, especially in regions where alternatives to Google are prevalent.

Measuring and analyzing international SEO performance

Measuring and analyzing your international SEO performance is crucial to understanding the effectiveness of your strategy. Here are some key metrics to track:

• Organic traffic: Monitor the number of organic visitors to your website. This can help you gauge the success of your SEO efforts in driving traffic from search engines.
• Search engine rankings: Track your website’s rankings in search engines. This includes monitoring your position for relevant keywords in different countries and languages.
• Conversion rates: Monitor the number of conversions generated from your website. This can include sales, sign-ups, or other desired actions.
• Return on investment (ROI): Calculate the ROI of your international SEO efforts. This helps you understand the financial impact of your strategy.
• User experience: Monitor user experience metrics like bounce rate, time on site, and pages per session. These metrics can provide insights into how users interact with your site and where improvements can be made.

Avoiding common international SEO mistakes

Avoiding common international SEO mistakes is crucial to ensuring the success of your strategy. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

• Not conducting market research: Failing to understand the local market and consumer behavior can lead to ineffective strategies. Conduct thorough market research to tailor your approach.
• Not using hreflang tags: Failing to indicate the language and region of your content can result in search engines serving the wrong version of your site to users.
• Not optimizing for mobile: Failing to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and responsive can negatively impact user experience and search engine rankings.
• Not using canonical tags: Failing to avoid duplicate content issues can confuse search engines and dilute your rankings.
• Not tracking performance: Failing to monitor and analyze your international SEO performance can prevent you from understanding what’s working and what needs improvement. Regularly track key metrics to stay on top of your strategy.

By following these best practices and avoiding common pitfalls, you can create a robust international SEO strategy that drives success in global markets.

If you're targeting a specific country, think about using a ccTLD. But, if you are focusing on language targeting only, a ccTLD probably isn't your best choice as they're meant for targeting a specific geographic area and not specifically the language spoken there. In these cases, you'll likely want to use a different internationalization technique such as using hreflang, subfolders, or subdomains in combination with or instead of using a ccTLD. If you choose not to use a ccTLD for your internationally targeted site, check out this discussion of the pros and cons of subdirectories versus subdomains.

Updated by Chima Mmeje — November 18, 2024.

Keep learning

• The Guide to International SEO - Just getting acquainted with international SEO? Start here.
• The International SEO Checklist - Aleyda Solis walks you through everything you need to know to get started with international SEO.
• International SEO – Google Technical Support
• Top 15 Myths for International SEO - Kaitlyn presents the story of how international SEO has evolved over the years and digs into what and what not to worry about in this process.

Put your skills to work

• Keyword Rankings - If you have an active campaign for your website, track keywords and ranking pages for your site plus three competitors in up to four different international search engines.
• MozBar - When you're doing some competitive research in a search engine results page, you can pull up real-time ranking info for your keyword queries and check out those results for the specified target region.
• International SEO ROI Calculator - This calculator helps you decide if an international SEO effort will produce a good return for your company at this time.