How to perform an international SEO audit

For companies that want to expand abroad, dominate the auditing International SEO It is essential. It's not enough to have a solid SEO strategy to stand out in the digital world, but you have to adapt to the particularities of each market you want to reach.

Each country has its own preferences and needs, and getting your business aligned with these peculiarities will give you a competitive advantage. For this reason, learning how to conduct an international SEO audit becomes an essential skill.

In this guide, we teach you the essential knowledge to navigate the world of global search engine optimization and to thrive in this exciting territory.

If you don't have SEO experience, we advise you to get in touch with a specialist, since several terms and actions may be difficult to understand or implement. This way, you'll ensure that your website works optimally in every country and search engine.

How to perform an international SEO audit

Structure your international SEO audit and understand how to adapt your content strategies and the technical optimization of your website to the search habits of each country. Below, we explain the main steps.

Define your objectives and markets

The first thing to do is define what they are your objectives when doing an international SEO audit.

• What do you want to achieve with your website?
• What countries or languages do you want to reach?
• What type of audience do you want to attract?

These questions will give direction to your strategy and help you set your priorities. In addition, it is crucial to thoroughly research the market you are targeting, analyzing aspects such as demand, competition, trends and business opportunities.

Choose the structure of your website

Once you've outlined your objectives and markets, it's essential choose the most suitable structure for your website. There are several options for organizing your site based on the countries or languages you want to address, each with its own advantages and disadvantages:

Subdomains

Create subdomains for each country or language, such as es.example.com for Spain or fr.example.com for France. This option provides flexibility and autonomy, but it can be more expensive and demanding in terms of maintenance.

Subdirectories

Create subdirectories for each country or language, for example: example.com/en for Spain, example.com/fr for France, etc. This option allows you to take advantage of the authority and traffic of your main domain, but it can also cause problems of duplication or cannibalization of content if it is not done correctly.

Top Level Domains (ccTLDs)

Register specific domains for each country, for example: example.es for Spain, example.fr for France, etc. This option allows you to give greater relevance and trust to local markets, but it can increase the costs and fragmentation of your online presence.

The choice of the structure of your website will depend on several factors, such as the size of your project, the available budget, the degree of customization you want to offer or the preferences of the search engines. The important thing is that you are consistent and consistent with your international SEO strategy.

Check the hreflang labels

The hreflang tags are an essential element when doing an international SEO audit. Hreflang tags are an HTML attribute used to indicate to search engines which version of a page corresponds to each country and language. This prevents an incorrect or irrelevant version from being shown to the user depending on their location or preference.

Hreflang tags can be implemented in several ways: in the HTML code of each page, in the sitemap.xml file, or through HTTP headers. The important thing is that they are consistent with the structure of your website and that they follow the correct format according to the ISO 639-1 standard for languages and the ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 standard for countries.

To check hreflang tags You can use tools like Screaming Frog or Semrush, which allow you to see if you have them implemented, if they are well written and if there are any errors or inconsistencies. You can also use Google Search Console to see if Google recognizes them and uses them correctly.

Perform a technical analysis

The next step is to perform a technical analysis of your website to ensure that it meets the requirements and good practices of search engines. To this end, you can use tools like Google Search Console or Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, which allow you to monitor the performance and health of your website from the point of view of SEO. Some things you should check out are:

Indexing

Make sure that all the pages you want to index are accessible to search engines and avoid unnecessary or duplicate pages that could affect your position.

Tracking

Check that search engines can crawl your website without problems and fix errors or blockages that may prevent it. To do this, check the robots.txt file, the sitemap.xml and the meta robots tags on your website.

Velocidad

Make sure that your site is charge quickly and provide a positive user experience. Review the size and optimization of images, CSS and JavaScript files, and the use of caching and compression.

Mobile

Confirm that your website is responsive and that adapts to different devices. Evaluate design, navigation, content and usability on mobile devices.

Security

Ensure that your site is secure and protect user data. Verify the use of HTTPS, a valid SSL certificate, and the absence of malware or vulnerabilities.

Perform a content analysis

Content plays an essential role in the international SEO strategy, since attracts and retains users, in addition to determining the relevance and authority of your website. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a content analysis to ensure that it meets the expectations and needs of your target audience.

Tools such as SEMrush or Screaming Frog can help you carry out this evaluation. Some things you should review are:

Keywords

Make sure you have done a exhaustive keyword research For each country the language, selecting those that are most relevant and profitable for your business. Evaluate volume, difficulty, intent, and competence for each keyword.

Optimization

Check that the content of each page is optimized for the chosen keywords and that appropriate HTML tags be used. Review titles, meta descriptions, headers, text, images, and internal links on each page.

quality

Confirm that the content is original, useful, interesting and up-to-date, without spelling or grammatical errors. Evaluate added value, extension, structure, tone and style on each page.

Localization

Check that the The content of each page is adapted to the target country or language, while respecting cultural, legal and geographical differences. Consider language, currency, measurement units, local references and regulations for each market.

Perform a link analysis

Links play a fundamental role in auditing international SEO, since convey the popularity and trust of your site to search engines. Perform a link analysis to ensure you have a solid strategy for Linkbuilding for each country or language you are targeting.

Tools such as Ahrefs or Moz can help you with this process.

Some things you should review are:

Internal links

Make sure you have an effective internal link structure between the pages of your site, making it easier for users and search engines to navigate and search engines. Consider hierarchy, coherence, relevance, and anchor text in each internal link.

External links

Confirm that you have a good quantity and quality of external links from other websites to your website, and that increase the authority and visibility of your website. To do this, review the number, origin, theme and anchor text of each external link.

Broken links

Make sure don't have broken links inside or outside your site, as they can harm your position and reputation. Review the HTTP status, destination and correction of each link.

Track and measure

The last step involves track and measure the results of your international SEO audit to evaluate if you have achieved your objectives and improved your organic position. Use tools such as Google Analytics or Google Data Studio to monitor and visualize data relevant to your business. Some aspects to measure are:

Organic Traffic

It measures quantity and quality of organic traffic that comes to your site from search engines.

Organic Positioning

Evaluate the ranking and visibility of your site in the search results for the selected keywords.

Organic conversions

Measure the number y the value of the actions taken by users that come to your website from organic traffic, such as purchases, registrations, downloads, etc.

Organic ROI

Calculate the return on investment obtained from your international SEO strategy, comparing associated benefits and costs.

For effective monitoring and measurement, define key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with your business objectives and establish reference values (benchmark) to compare your current situation with the desired one. In addition, carry out regular analysis of the data to draw conclusions and recommendations that improve your international SEO strategy.

Conclusion, start with your international SEO audit

We have explained to you how to carry out an international SEO audit for your website, following seven fundamental steps:

1. Define your objectives and markets

2. Choose the structure of your website

3. Check the hreflang labels

4. Perform a technical analysis

5. Perform a content analysis

6. Perform a link analysis

7. Track and measure

Thanks to these steps, you can identify challenges and opportunities that affect the organic positioning of your website in different markets and implement actions to improve your international SEO strategy.

Remember that an international SEO audit is not a one-time event; it must be carried out periodically to keep your site up to date and competitive. If you need help, Do not hesitate to contact us, our SEO specialists they will be happy to help you.