Going Global: 5 SEO Steps For A Booming Business Growth

In this article, our Miami SEO specialists will take you step-by-step through the five SEO processes you must go through to enter international markets successfully.

Making the Decision to Go Global

It is now relatively easy for any company to establish a foothold in other countries. Targeting a specific country's market in greater depth may be worthwhile if you notice a high potential for growth or a sizable number of site visitors from that country.

However, investing in a new market without thorough planning can waste time and money. In-depth keyword research and analysis of competitors can shed light on the market's potential and help you avoid going into the market blindly.

Step #1: Intensify Your Keyword Research Efforts

To increase your online presence in new and foreign markets, you must include market-specific SEO in your marketing efforts. The first and most crucial step will be to conduct international keyword research to optimize your keywords for the target market.

RELATED: 15 BEST Keyword Research Tools for SEO

People looking for products or services are not looking for a standard dictionary translation of English keywords. Similarly, a multilingual audience may not be able to relate to a product or service.

For Example:

Let's assume that the target audience for your website consists of American shoppers for projectors. You've found that this keyword drives much traffic to your site, so you've decided to try your luck in Germany.

So, to get "Projektor," you translate the word. Although it's the literal translation, few native German speakers use it. The term "beamer" is more descriptive and would have been a better choice for SEO purposes.

Keyword research and analysis on Google Trends would have revealed that the word "Beamer" has over 4 times higher search volume than "Projektor." As a result, switching from a generic translation to a more commonly used word increases your reach fourfold.

People look for keywords and phrases they associate with a product or service, such as abbreviations, slang, or currently trending terms. It's impossible to meet your intended audience's needs without first learning their language.

Step #2: Perform a Competitor Analysis

The results of your keyword research will help you identify organic competitors in your emerging market. These organic competitors usually appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) for your target keywords. 

Organically identifying competitors in each market can be accomplished by utilizing the keywords and queries that proved most fruitful during the keyword research phase.

There may be some overlap between domestic and international organic competitors. Still, it's also possible that they will be very different.  

If you want to know which markets are worth expanding into, you should look into the presence of your main organic competitors, the languages their website is available in, and the quality of their content.

RELATED: 4 Steps to Find (and Beat) Your Organic Competitors

Configuring Your Global Domain

Your choice of domain name and structure in new international spaces can impact your website's local rankings and the public's perception of your brand, just as it does in your home market. So, it's critical that you concentrate on two things.

Step #3: Set Up Your Website

Becoming globally competitive requires learning the language and customs of a new nation. That's why you need the following:

• A multi-regional website aimed at multiple countries.
• A multilingual website that caters to a variety of languages.
• A global website aimed at a global audience.

The number of different website versions required is determined by the audience you wish to target. It could be one of the following or a combination of the two:

• Country targeting refers to the practice of focusing on one or more specific nations. For this reason, you'll need to create separate versions of your website for each country.

• You are said to be language-targeting when you talk to people who speak the same language. When it comes to this specific language, only one version of the website will do.

Different types and website versions are required depending on the country and language targeted.

A global website approach can be practical if your audience is already international and does not require customization. However, most users are more comfortable searching in their native tongue, making it harder for non-localized domains to rank in competitive niches.

Step #4: Select Whether to Use a Brand Name or a Localized Name

The domain name you choose can be associated with your company or brand, or it can be a renamed version of your company name that is more appropriate for the target audience in that region.

Some businesses opt to incorporate regionally specific keywords into their domain name. Some examples include:

• Burger King: In Australia, "Hungry Jack's" refers to the fast-food outlets of the chain. Except for the name, the packaging and design are identical. An Adelaide restaurant trademarked the original name in the 1970s, preventing market entry.
• Sprite: The original name for Sprite didn't work well in the Chinese market, so the brand is now known as Xuebi. Xue, which means "snow," and "bi," which means "blue-green," combine to form the Chinese version.
• Lay's: Lay's is hard to find outside the U.S. under its original name because the brand uses local names whenever it acquires a local business. In the U.K., the brand is "Walkers"; in Australia, it's "Smith's." Mexicans eat "Sabritas," and Israelis order "Tapuchips" for Lay's.

In most cases, going by the name of your brand or company is the best option, as it will help you build recognition and credibility in all of your target markets. However, localizing your domain name is preferable if your brand name has ambiguous meaning or is difficult to pronounce in a given language.

Transcreating Content

The term "transcreation" is a combination of the words "translation" and "creation," and it refers to the process of adapting a text to a different language and culture.  

It is essential to make your website as relevant as possible to users in the target market's country or region before launching it there.

Step #5: Translate Your Content for Your Audience

It takes time to develop original content. Most businesses have their websites' content translated to reach a broader audience in new markets.

The quality of your content affects your local market and how well your website performs in international search engines.

Poor, irrelevant content not adapted to local users can result from translating content without conducting proper keyword research in the new language and without knowledge of your new users' search intent.

That's why investing effort into extending your content development processes to accommodate for potential variations is essential.

Remember that you need to translate everything on your page, not just the main text. This necessitates localizing all on-page elements, including image alt tags, URLs, meta titles, descriptions, and headers.  

Search engine rankings can be negatively impacted if multiple languages are detected.

BONUS: Use Various Search Engines

Discussions regarding SEO typically center on Google because it is the most widely used search engine. On the other hand, Google is not the preeminent search engine in every area.

For illustration purposes, Baidu is the most popular search engine in China. In contrast, Yandex is the most popular search engine in Russia. Other popular search engines include Seznam in the Czech Republic, Naver in South Korea, and Yahoo in Japan.

When entering a new market, it is critical to conduct adequate research and get acquainted with the peculiarities of the most popular search engines operating in that sector.

Start Using SEO for Business Growth

It's essential to think carefully before entering a new market with your website or business. It takes much time, thought, and consideration to do SEO properly.

Researching the potential of a new market, choosing the right domain and URL structure, geotargeting and tailoring content to local users, and building authority and traffic locally should all be part of your global SEO strategy.

As a result, an effective plan must be developed that considers your company's resources and the market potential for effective and successful expansion.

At Digital Resource, we can assist you with everything from choosing the proper structure and geotargeting to writing compelling content tailored to your local and global audience.

Contact us today for a free consultation.