International SEO: The Tips You Need to Get Started Now

Posted by bullseyemedia on January 3rd, 2013

Companies that serve a number of different companies across the globe have long been dealing with the problems involved with optimising their sites for a worldwide audience. While some SEO consultants seem to simplify the process in blogs and articles across the web, the reality is that it can be tougher than you think, particularly if you’re not that tech savvy. These tips, though, can help.

Develop Country Specific Top Level Domains: These are the .co.uk or .com.au type domains you often see online. They’ll help make sure you’re targeting specific countries with your search engine optimisation. You offer local content in their native language on native URLs. It’s also best to offer an English version of that content as well. Keep in mind, though, that if you don’t already own that domain, it can be tough to get it. Moreover, this process is made a little more difficult if you don’t have a physical location in the country where you’re trying to develop the domain.

Create Unique Native Content: Even if you don’t have a country-specific domain, you can still help your search engine optimisation efforts by creating native content. It’s essential, though, that you pay attention to the local market here. Terminology that may be relevant to your SEO in London might not fly as well in Paris or Sydney. While this is a great way to get your international campaign off the ground, the chances are good that it’s going to be a bit costly.

Hreflang Sitemaps: This is still fairly new technology, but the goal is to deal with duplicate content across domains in multiple countries. It’s a great theory, but it’s not quite as good in practice yet as it will be someday. The technicalities here are enormous, so while this is probably something you want to look at, if something has to go on the back burner, this can certainly be it until the technology is fleshed out a bit.

SEO consultants have been harping on creating language-specific sites for years, and most will encourage you to go with country specific domains. There are lots of other options, but in terms of search engine optimisation at the global level, that’s your best bet.

About the Author:

This article is written by Hitesh Patel, who is associated with Bullseye Media for many years. Bullseye Media is a leading UK based SEO Company. At Bullseye Media, they are a team of dedicated and experienced SEO experts who aim to help you achieve your business goals through better conversion rate and higher rankings in SERPs with their SEO or PPC services.