When entering the international level, it is necessary to take into account not only the demand of consumers. It is important to properly prepare and develop the site in order to compete for positions in Google, Bing and, if relevant, in local search engines. What technical nuances matter and how search promotion abroad differs, we will tell in the article. You can also learn why to raise money to expand your SEO internationally.
Languages or countries?
There are several ways to create versions of the site for users from all over the world:
- national domains . If it is possible or necessary to develop separate sites for each country, they are created on regional domains (.ru, .de, .fr, etc.). A very costly way, relevant for large corporations.
- Subdomains . In this case, a separate version is created on the main domain for each country, for example, de.site.com for Germany, fr.site.com for France, etc. This method allows you to get stand-alone sites.
- Subcategories . Here the domain also remains generic, the URL of the versions will look like this: site.com/ru/, site.com/de/, etc. This method is suitable when you do not need to cover many countries.
- Language options . You can customize the display of content for users who speak the language you want by adding the language parameter.
What to choose? This largely depends on the geography of promotion and the product itself. So, if you need a strong presence in Canada, you will need to create English and French versions for the local site. In the US, if targeting the mass market, you may need a Spanish version in addition to the English version. By the way, when focusing only on the English-speaking audience, you should not forget about the difference between American, British and Australian English.
When talking about a product, it is important to consider its positioning in different markets. When offers differ significantly from country to country, it is more convenient to use subdomains. If only translation is sufficient, consider subcategories or language options. You can also combine two options: subdomains and the ability to switch between all the official languages of the country.
Technical subtleties
International sites have their own rules that help search engines recognize and index versions in different languages:
- hreflang attribute . This attribute indicates to search engine robots the versions for different countries and languages, so it is required to be filled in. There are strict rules for working with it: for example, links must be on all pages, relinking is done “backward”, country and language are indicated according to ISO 639-1 format. To take into account all the nuances, you should carefully study the requirements of Google and Yandex for this attribute.
- Choice instead of redirect . Technically, you can immediately redirect the user to the desired version of the site with a 301 redirect. But the user's IP can be defined as belonging to another country, and the person will see something that is not relevant for his compatriots. Or in countries with several official languages, it is not always possible to “guess” which one is more convenient for the user. Therefore, it is recommended to give the possibility of self-selection of the country and / or language.
- Keywords and meta tags . Basic optimization should be carried out not by simple translation, but after searching for relevant semantics for each country.
And, of course, you need to monitor the correctness of filling out the sitemap and robots.txt, internal linking with links to the main domain and other technical parameters that are important for sites in any country.
Nuances of localization
The temptation is great to simply translate the site with Google Translate, but this is not enough to successfully reach a foreign audience. It is worth taking care of all the features:
- accurate translation, preferably verified by a native speaker;
- translation of all pages, menu items, user tips, features, thank you pages;
- compliance with the laws of the country - the translated "Privacy Policy", compliance with the GDPR for the EU and the laws of other countries regarding the processing of user data, advertising, the sale of certain goods and the provision of services;
- local price formats, addresses, phone numbers, dates, times;
- marketing offers targeted at a specific market;
- design and content.
Last on the list, but not least, you need to pay special attention. It is important to take into account the local mentality, priorities, interests and adapt the proposal to the audience. Especially if you plan to enter not only the European market.
Promotion Features
When the site is ready, it remains “only” to get good positions for it in the search. Leading positions abroad are occupied by Google and Bing search engines.
- Need a lot of links . Moreover, necessarily natural and authoritative. The distribution of content by users on social networks is also valued.
- Important informational content . Firstly, it is on it that you can put links and even buy advertising. Secondly, in order to gain the trust of search engines and users, you need a reputation as an expert in your field.
If promotion in regional search engines is important, you should first study their requirements and features. It is unlikely that they will differ significantly from Google's recommendations, but there may be nuances related to local legislation.
Conclusion
Promotion of international sites is not an easy task, requiring close attention to technical optimization and content quality, crowd marketing and link building. Therefore, it is important to study the features of local sites, SEO and the market itself in advance in order to carefully prepare for successful promotion on the network.