International SEO for Websites in Search Engines
Has the local market become too small for you? Or perhaps expanding into foreign markets has been a key goal for your company since its inception? In either case, it is essential to ensure that customers from other countries have the opportunity to discover and benefit from your offerings. SEO for foreign search engines is an excellent method for building visibility and reputation, and additionally, in the long run, it is one of the most cost-effective models for acquiring customers online.
International SEO is, in many ways, very similar to SEO performed in the domestic internet space. However, it requires a deep understanding of specific business sectors and the nuances of search engines popular in different regions. Of course, it is also important to have experience in creating content in other languages and building link profiles for the selected country and industry – for example, in Germany, the Czech Republic, France, or the UK.
This is precisely why it’s worth entrusting your international SEO efforts to the professionals at Verseo. See what you can gain.
International SEO for Businesses
SEO for foreign markets is a service for any company looking to expand beyond its domestic market. It is an excellent choice if:
- Your business is thriving in your country and you want to expand its reach,
- You started your business with the intention of selling goods or services abroad,
- Your services are typically global in nature, such as being provided remotely,
- You already have many international visitors to your site and want to turn that into business success.
In all of these cases, international SEO will help you generate greater profit. If your website is already optimized for search engines according to SEO principles, it works in the same way abroad.
However, remember that simply translating your website into another language is not enough. SEO for foreign websites requires knowledge of the market and the creation of a cohesive action plan. This is exactly where the specialists at Verseo come in. We will help you reach customers in the country you are targeting for business.
We have the experience and know exactly where to start – your website is in good hands.
International SEO vs. nationwide SEO
International SEO is based on principles similar to those used in nationwide positioning. It also requires selecting the right keywords, creating high-quality content, and planning link-building strategies.
Although the structure is similar, the audiences differ. Therefore, simply translating the text on your website is not enough to achieve sales success.
What differences should you pay attention to in order to effectively position your website in another country?
Different Culture and Trends
Products and services that are popular on your local market may not necessarily attract attention abroad. Similarly, not all foreign trends are popular in Poland.
Your offer and the way you present it should be tailored to the preferences of consumers from the specific region. It’s not just about what you’re selling, but how you promote it. You need to take into account cultural and legal factors (not all products that are legal in Poland can be sold in other countries). It’s also important to consider current trends, as they influence the purchasing decisions of your target audience.
Remember, search engines prioritize sites that are adapted to the needs of users.
We will understand the expectations of your potential customers and tailor our actions on your website accordingly.
Different Purchase Decision-Making Process
What works well in one place may not work abroad. To attract the attention of consumers in other countries, you need to understand how they make purchasing decisions and how the sales funnel operates in a specific region.
How do we do this?
We will analyze data collected on your website and information about your competitors’ activities. Based on this, we will plan the strategy.
Different Keywords
This is not just about language differences. Popular search phrases can vary by region. This is why simply translating your website is insufficient.
We will use keyword analysis tools and select the right keywords to ensure your website is visible online.
Popular Search Engines
If you want to be recognized abroad, you need to reach customers through the channels they use. The foundation is SEO for search engines popular in the target country.
In Poland, almost 90% of users choose Google, but in other regions, the situation may be completely different. For example, in the Czech Republic, many people use Seznam, or in Russia, the majority of internet users prefer Yandex.
We will optimize your website for the most popular search engines in the target country. This way, you will reach the largest group of potential customers.
International SEO – How We Do It at Verseo
Improving your website’s visibility abroad is a multi-step process. We approach it comprehensively, starting with an in-depth market analysis in the country where you want to rank.
You choose:
- The region where you want to expand your business
Global SEO often doesn’t yield results. Therefore, it’s better to choose one or a few (but not too many) regions where we will conduct SEO activities for you. - The domain name
Your domain should have a country code TLD, such as .de, .uk, .ua, etc. These domains are favored by search engines in the target country and also build more trust among internet users. - The language of the website
Translating your website, or ideally creating content from scratch, is essential. Paid ads should also be in the relevant language if you plan to use them.
We’ll take care of the rest.
See what our international SEO process entails.
How We Start International SEO
Keyword Analysis
Choosing the right keywords, relevant to the industry and suited to user needs, is one of the most critical aspects of SEO, both domestically and internationally. Keywords should precisely describe your business, reflect trends, and consider your competitors’ actions.
We don’t limit ourselves to just a few popular terms. We also use long-tail keywords, which are more specific queries consisting of several words.
Long-tail keywords are particularly popular in the German market.
Market Analysis
Understanding the specifics of the market is a fundamental step. It helps you know how to make your first business moves in a new market and who your competitors are.
We will analyze the characteristics of the target market and review the content of companies’ websites in your industry. We’ll propose actions that will help you gain visibility. We’ll also identify the necessary SEO tasks to ensure your website can become visible outside of Poland. We’ll estimate how much time it will take for your business to break through to foreign audiences with your offer.
Website Functionality Analysis
Preparing your website for international markets involves more than just SEO. Your website must meet search engine requirements technically, as this also affects its ranking.
Your website should:
- Load quickly,
- Be responsive, meaning it should display correctly on all types of devices,
- Be useful, containing content that is relevant to your industry and beneficial for users,
- Be unique, with no copied content from other websites or repeated content within your site, such as product descriptions.
We will check if your site meets these requirements and make changes to ensure it’s user-friendly and search engine-friendly.
Can a Polish SEO Agency Handle International SEO?
This is a common question among entrepreneurs. Are you unsure whether to entrust SEO work to a local agency in the target country or use a Polish business?
Remember, there are no hard and fast rules in this field. The internet is global, and search engine algorithms don’t consider who is making changes to the website or from where.
Why Choose a Polish SEO Agency?
Wondering why to opt for a Polish SEO agency? When you choose to collaborate with us, you can count on easy communication in your native language. You won’t be limited by time zones or expensive phone calls. If needed, you can arrange a face-to-face meeting to discuss the details.
The same currency, laws, and GDPR rules also work in your favor. You and the SEO agency operate within the same legal environment, which can simplify many formalities.
If you plan to expand into multiple markets, you don’t need to hire different SEO professionals in each country. One agency can manage all the activities for you.
Effective international SEO is possible – we conduct it ourselves and have achieved success in this field.
Keep in Mind…
When choosing local SEO services, the location of the agency doesn’t matter. Similarly, for international SEO, a Polish agency can successfully manage your campaigns.
SEO for Germany
Interested in SEO for the German market? SEO for Germany requires an understanding of the local business environment, access to high-quality link-building resources, and experienced copywriters or certified translators with native-level skills. We can provide all of this if you’re considering SEO for your website targeting Germany, whether on Google, Bing, or other search engines.
SEO for Czech Republic
Want to improve your website’s visibility in organic search results in the Czech Republic? Contact us! We know the specifics of the Czech market. We also have reliable Czech translators and a solid link-building resource base. Additionally, we offer technical optimization that will benefit not just the Czech market but any other market as well.
SEO for France
SEO for websites targeting the French market will help you build visibility on selected search engines such as Google or Bing. Over the long term, SEO for France is one of the most cost-effective methods to attract international clients for your business. However, be prepared for higher financial investments compared to markets like Poland or the Czech Republic.
SEO for Multiple EU Countries
Do you want to position your website across multiple foreign markets? International SEO for Google or Bing requires knowledge of local business conditions to convert traffic into successful conversions. International SEO also requires access to multiple translators, native speakers, and a base of local sites for quality link-building.
What Can You Gain from International SEO?
You are most likely wondering if international SEO will be effective in your case and what benefits you can gain from it. Check out why it’s worth considering.
- Traffic to Your Website Will Increase
You are not limited to the country where your headquarters are located. You can reach customers in other countries and even on different continents. This will help you build brand recognition and increase conversions. - You Can Sell Products to Customers Worldwide
Globalization makes business boundaries virtually non-existent. Online shopping can be done with just a few clicks and products can be ordered from the farthest corners of the world. If your products are valued by customers in other countries, simply start selling them. International SEO will help you reach people who are interested in your offer. - SEO Is Universal
If your website is well-optimized in the Polish internet market, there’s nothing preventing it from succeeding in international markets as well. SEO principles are similar worldwide, which means you can reach potential customers from any location, even those hundreds of kilometers away from the country that is relevant to your business.
Table of contents
You are reading now:
International SEO
- International SEO for Websites in Search Engines
- International SEO for Businesses
- International SEO – How We Do It at Verseo
- What Can You Gain from International SEO?
International SEO – FAQ
Whether over time the local market has proven too small for your business or from the beginning you had plans for international expansion, the topic of international SEO is of interest to you. How should you approach international SEO, and what is important to know? We invite you to read our article!
We’ve compiled frequently asked questions related to international SEO. We also aim to dispel some myths and misconceptions associated with this service, which is why we’ve prepared a set of 10 questions and answers that introduce the topic of effective SEO in markets outside your home country.
Are you concerned about the high price of this service? There’s no need to worry. While successfully optimizing a website for foreign markets involves higher costs than focusing only on Poland, it is definitely worth considering.
The benefits you can achieve are substantial. First and foremost, you gain access to a much broader audience, which is the primary value.
What affects the costs of international SEO? They are influenced by factors such as:
- Writing content in a foreign language,
- The cost of a foreign domain and hosting,
- Link building expenses and currency conversion when paying for such services.
However, keep in mind that SEO – both international and local – is always tailored to the specific needs of your business. Therefore, its price is never set in advance.
Do you want to commission this service to us? First, we will analyze what actions need to be taken on your site and, based on that, we will provide an estimate. You don’t need to worry about any hidden costs.
No. There are no rigid guidelines or regulations that would require you to use the services of a local agency for SEO or, more broadly, SEM. Of course, some might feel more comfortable hiring a company that knows the local context and has experience in its domestic market. However, this is a matter of subjective feelings and preferences. It is entirely possible to successfully work with a company or specialist who may not be considered “local.” In this case, what matters is the experience, approach to promotion, and simply the expertise in SEO.
From Verseo’s perspective, we know that effective international SEO is achievable – because we do it ourselves. The process may take longer, require closer cooperation with the client, or need greater resources, but it is certainly not impossible.
When deciding which agency to choose, other factors come into play, such as ease of contact (e.g., time zone issues), the ability to arrange in-person meetings (though this is not the most critical argument today), the legal framework in which potential disputes would be resolved, or the cost of the service and the currency in which payments will be made. When planning an expansion into multiple markets, do we want to hand each version of the service over to a different locally operating agency, or would it be more convenient to work with one agency that handles multiple sites? These are not insurmountable issues, but they do matter when making a decision.
Similarly, few people would insist on having their SEO done exclusively by an agency from their own town just because that is where their potential customers are.
Yes, SEO conducted by an agency from another country can be effective. Proper preparation of the website for the target market, a well-thought-out SEO strategy, appropriate keyword selection, harmonious collaboration between the agency and client, and the implementation of ongoing actions—all of these elements influence the effectiveness of SEO. This should not come as a surprise, as the same factors affect the success of SEO in a local or national context. In this regard, SEO is universal. It is not the case that one market requires unique and extensive content, while another allows for duplicate content without any negative consequences.
Similar factors can also impact the success of the SEO process, whether it is for a domestic or international market. Poor keyword selection relative to the content on the site, lack of optimization or inadequate optimization, and the allocation of resources that do not align with the goals to be achieved… sound familiar, right? These are universal challenges that affect the effectiveness and satisfaction with SEO services.
No. Let’s be clear: Google does not approve or disapprove of SEO services, and there is no indication that this stance will change. Therefore, Google is not concerned with who is handling the SEO of a particular website.
At the same time, Google encourages website optimization and ensuring high quality. This is supported by tools that Google provides for free and online, such as Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, and the Structured Data Tester (formerly known as structured data). For Google, it does not matter who is making the improvements on the website—as long as the improvements are made and implemented correctly. The team of specialists working on optimizing the site could be international, and Google will not award or penalize them based on their origin. What matters is the outcome of their actions.
Google’s recommendations regarding website optimization, visible in Google Search Console, will not differ based on the country. It is not the case that a duplicate (content, website, or page) will be accepted in one location and flagged as an error requiring urgent correction in another.
The answer to this question is the favorite SEO phrase: “It depends.” On one hand, the recommendations for avoiding common mistakes that could negatively affect your website’s ranking in Google are universal—international. As we mentioned in the previous point, in the context of Google tools used for assessing website quality, there is no situation where something that Google Search Console flags as an error for a Polish website would be considered an advantage for a German one.
However, this is only one side of the coin. One of the issues is choosing the appropriate domain. We will discuss this in more detail in the next question, as it is a particularly frequent inquiry.
We advise against copying the local version of your website 1:1. It’s important to ask yourself a few questions. Will the entire offer presented on the local version be available in the foreign market? Will the location of your headquarters or stores offering a product change? Will the blog posts or updates be equally interesting to a foreign potential customer? Is it worth publishing contact information for employees or representatives who do not speak the target language?
The new version of the website should be optimized in the appropriate language for that market. We need to check if the meta titles include prefixes or suffixes from the original version of the site. It is also important to verify contact information, the email address linked to the contact form, whether the list of distributors and partners is current and local. Make sure the website builds customer trust and facilitates purchasing or contacting the relevant branch. Avoid situations where a potential customer finds information like “this item is not available in your market.” If it’s unavailable, why is it listed on the website? Avoid situations where part of the content is in another language, such as copied from the original version of the site.
If we have completed projects in the local market corresponding to the version of the website, it’s a good idea to showcase them. Of course, this doesn’t exclude showing international projects as well. Projects placed in a local context, or those that take local tastes and preferences into account, are always welcome and may further encourage potential clients to use our services.
When planning an effective expansion into other markets, it is important to consider a suitable domain for your website. Google favors domains that are specific to the target market, such as .de for Germany, .it for Italy, or .fr for France. The mechanism here is similar to the way Google works with .pl and Google.pl. It is worth keeping this in mind and purchasing a relevant domain.
Of course, there are rare exceptions to this rule, which an SEO specialist can address on a case-by-case basis. However, as a general rule, you will need an appropriate domain for the given country, especially when you’re just starting your expansion into that market and have the flexibility to make this decision from the outset.
No. Google favors a website’s language version that corresponds to the local version of the search engine. This is independent of opinions such as “everyone in this industry speaks English, so why would we need a website in another language?”
Certainly. There is no need to limit yourself to general keywords when promoting your business in a foreign market. If your business has physical locations in another country, it is worth promoting locally. The same mechanism applies as with local SEO in the Polish market, using similar criteria for selecting keywords and determining their relevance.
Want to promote locally in a foreign market? In that case, it’s important to focus on Google My Business listings and visibility in maps. These factors do not directly influence rankings, but they significantly increase online visibility and the chances that someone will visit your website and take advantage of the services or offerings presented there.
We do not delve into others’ business concepts or the pricing of SEO services for foreign markets, but we can confidently state that the cost of SEO services for markets such as Germany, France, the UK, or Italy is likely to be higher than for a similar domestic service. This could be due to factors like the higher cost of creating content for the site, which may require the use of a specialized translator or copywriter fluent in the respective language at the required level. The service itself may (but not necessarily) differ in scope when compared to the domestic version. Much will depend on the individual arrangements between the agency and the client.
However, a higher price for international SEO does not mean it will be as high as what an agency from another country would charge for a similar service. The phrase “more expensive than SEO for Poland” does not imply that the price will be unattractive.
A well-optimized domestic version of the website can definitely serve as a guide for improving other pages aimed at specific international markets. It is important to implement best practices and focus on quality. However, a well-prepared domestic version will not automatically boost the French version, which may have its own domain and therefore operates as an independent site. Similarly, for backlinks, Google only considers those that lead to the specific version of the site. Therefore, if the domain or URL structure for the “foreign” version changes, proper 301 redirects must be set up. This is similar to the Polish version, as landing on a broken page instead of the relevant one will not be appreciated.
International SEO is not an easy process. It requires knowledge, experience, and continuous monitoring of changes in search engine algorithms. Therefore, it should not be handled by random contractors.
If you want to ensure that you achieve your goals, contact us. Here’s why working with Verseo is a great choice:
- We have extensive experience in positioning websites for foreign markets.
- We use advanced analytical tools that are essential for measuring the effectiveness of our actions.
- We work with multiple search engines, not just Google.
- Many clients trust us, and their websites rank in the top search results in various countries.
Are you wondering if international SEO is right for you? Call or write to us. We would be happy to talk with you, understand your expectations, needs, and concerns. We always tailor our services to the specific needs of our clients.
You can be sure we won’t offer anything that won’t work for you.