SEO Tips for International Expansion Success //

A fair amount of traffic to your website from a particular country might indicate a great opportunity. Maybe a PR campaign became viral and people are now searching for your product all over the world.

No matter the reason, expansion, new product launches, or diversification must be supported by prompt and detailed analysis of each element, not only in the overall strategy, but also in SEO.

There are both significant rewards and substantial risks when you enter a new market.

Search marketers often agree on the factors that contribute to market entrants’ success.

• Extensive keyword research and competitor research.
• Analysis of the target market.
• Analyse of new entrants.
• To allow paid and/or digital PR campaign planning, self-contained ecosystems are possible.

These studies will help determine if the brand is able to enter new markets, if it’s the right time, and if there are opportunities to scale. These are the key factors to success in any new market entry or global launch.

This article will discuss six aspects that I used to be successful in entering new markets and working with clients previously.

Before we get into the details, it’s important to remember that every market, brand, agency, and market is unique. Your work should not be governed by a single checklist.

This and other advice can be incorporated into your strategy to ensure that it aligns with the wider business goals. Finalizing a strategy requires collaboration with other departments within your organization.

1. Assessment of market profitability

International keyword research

Your international expansion strategy will be aided by keyword research and in-depth analysis of your target market.

• Allows you to collect information about the search volume, traffic and keywords related to your product/service in the original languages for new markets.
• Show potential differences in the language being used (remember, translation and localization do not suffice now).

Keyword difficulty, which is a key indicator, is important beyond search traffic. It indicates how competitive keywords can be in different languages, regions, and language fusions.

This article about international keyword research, intent, is a great place to start.

Important tip – If you intend to translate your existing set of keywords into another language, ensure they are not only translated and localed but also aligned with how people search in the target country.

In the North of Mexico, and in some areas of the Southern U.S.A, Spanish is a common language. This means that many questions in this area of the world are answered by mixing English with Spanish.

As an example, take the fashion term “maxidress”. People might search for “vestido largo” in Spain. In some parts of Mexico, they might search for the “maxi vestido”.

This is Zara Mexico’s example. It shows how people search and influences the presentation of products and categories. The products are called “vestido maximi,” as mentioned.

Similar products in Zara Spain are called “vestido longo”.

You can do extensive international keyword research:

• This will give you an idea about the resources and capabilities that you need to enter the market.
• This will help you decide if you’re ready to grow or if you should wait.

Google Analytics data

Analyze the top converting traffic sources with Google Analytics or other tracking software. Pay close attention to where your brand receives constant traffic around the globe.

Traffic is vital, but it’s important to evaluate conversions and revenue before expanding to a new market.

Do a detailed report to determine if you are able to meet the new demand from these countries.

Do you require a new warehouse for your business? You may need to develop a communication strategy that emphasizes delivery times if you don’t have a warehouse.

You might also consider running an incentive campaign to increase conversions, especially if delivery times are a problem.

2. Social networks in the target markets

This is a crucial step in establishing a market.

This might seem unrelated to SEO. You might be wrong at first glance.

It will also determine your strategy for paid media, and the type and content that you produce to increase brand awareness and build links.

What is the importance of social networks?

A large portion of online shoppers start their buying journey by researching brands on social media.

It is important to remember that:

• Not All consumers will start their brand research via social media.
• It is not always TikTok if they begin on social media networks.

Below is a chart that shows the age ranges of people and where they start brand research. This is especially important when purchasing high-value items.

These are useful information for planning:

• What content should you create for digital PR?
• These are the types of influencers you should work with.
• For launching in a new country, the right paid media channels are essential.

In some cases, the paid campaign can be done on social networks. In others, it will be more successful via Google Ads.

It is important to identify the top social networks in your target country. This is especially important for those in age brackets who start their brand research via social media. In some countries it might be TikTok while in others it could be Instagram.

3. Hreflang

rel="alternate", hreflang=" X".

If your site contains the same content in different languages, you should add an hreflang tag.

The hreflang element aids search engines in determining which URL version should be presented to visitors who are from a particular region or speak a particular language within a global context.

Hreflang is a contributor to a great user experience by it:

• This function will deliver the search results in the language and location specified by the query.
• Avoid duplicate content problems

Below are some suggestions to help you implement hreflang.

• Valid hreflang attributes.
• Return links.
• Hreflang link for self.
• Your Hreflang elements
  

  
  .

• Hreflang HTTP headers.
• An XML sitemap hreflang implementation.
• Tools: hreflang generator, hreflang sitemap generator.

4. URL structure

Similar to the hreflang principle, which allows you to serve your users results that are relevant to their language or location, the URL structure choice is important as it will provide an indication to both search engines (and users)

These are the common URL structures: subdomain, parameter, gTLD and ccTLD.

There is no one size fits all when it comes URL structure. Your goals and objectives should guide your choice.

You should also consider the limitations of your CMS. Parameters are still used by some brands. Parameters are acceptable but not the best.

5. Shopping cart localization

It is not enough to translate and localize content. Content should also be compatible with the common language patterns and uses in your target country (e.g. Spanglish).

This principle applies to your website’s shopping basket. It is important to remember the following when a customer is about make a purchase.

• Currency : The currency must match the country of the user.
• Language : It must match the country of your user.
• Payment methods – Make sure to include Apple Pay (crucial), Google Pay and various credit cards as well as payment methods like Klarna or Paypal.
• Information about delivery as well as options for quicker and more cost-effective delivery.
• Section Coupon code

Consider that Apple Pay is 80% more popular among customers between 16 and 34 years old than other payment methods if they are your target audience.

Cart abandonment can be caused by insufficient information, unclear language or a lack of the preferred payment method.

6. International digital PR

It is essential to establish a country-specific strategy for each market. You might only need to use a handful of tactics depending on the niche you are in.

If you work in the gift, food, fashion, or sports industries, it is a good idea to find the most popular social network for your target audience and then collaborate with the influencers on those channels.

While you are laying the foundation for organic efforts, it is worth working with an influencer in a relevant social network to help you get into new markets.

Digital PR offers many opportunities to raise brand awareness and build links.

These tactics can be used if you don’t have a traditional PR department for your brand.

• Brand monitoring.
• Events.
• Promotional content
• Influencers.

It is crucial to adapt your approach to each market in order to build lasting partnerships.

Here’s a sample approach:

• Find influencers with TikTok
• Establish collaborations.
• Make assets that you can promote through media outlets.
• Use paid media.
• To increase trust and relevance, you can earn local links.

To get started, read ” Using Digital PR to Earn Links and Rank for Your Target Keywords”

NewspaperMap is another interactive map that displays all the available online outlets in any region in the world.

Click the pink bubbles to open a link that will take you to an online newspaper.

This is an example of zooming in on central London to see the Financial Times office location.

RocketReach is a tool that allows you to manually find the contact information of journalists once you have identified the media outlet you wish to work with.

Use the right SEO strategy to go global

Failure to expand is the most common reason for failure

• Impulsivity. Making costly decisions based upon temporarily high product demand in a particular location.
• Common biases.
• Insufficient analysis.
• Poor strategy.

The best SEO strategy can be implemented by your SEO team. Poor negotiation skills and inability to work with other teams can lead to friction and poor implementation. This could cause failure within two years.

It is crucial to thoroughly study each element in this article in order to avoid costly errors.

Do not base your expansion plan on a checklist. Use resources to learn about your business and the overall plan of the organization.

Below is a table that shows common biases and offers suggestions on how to overcome them.

Keep in mind that success factors for expansion include:

• Timing.
• Capacity to leverage assets
• Scalability.
• More than anything, work together!

The post 6 SEO Considerations for a Successful International Expansion was first published on Search Engine Land.