SEO and SEM positioning strategies to internationalize your business

When we talk about internationalization today, we think above all of those businesses with multilingual platforms that offer products or services beyond national borders.

In order to position yourself successfully, you need to implement international SEO and SEM strategies that have a real impact on the business.

The benefits of implementing an SEO and SEM strategy will allow us to create more consideration more quickly and achieve more conversions in a shorter time. Let's see how!

Glocal methodology for an ad hoc digital strategy

75% of users who convert online do so if the website is in their native language. And that already tells us a lot.

Here at Novicell, our goal is neither to generate traffic, nor to generate quality traffic, but to generate business.

It's not about translating, but about understanding culture. What makes it possible to nail an international SEO and SEM strategy is to apply a methodology Glocal. This consists of working with native specialists to implement a localized strategy taking into account the linguistic and cultural differences between the various target markets (with specific keywords and content).

Create awareness with international SEO positioning strategies

Good SEO combines technical and content aspects: two large areas of work, which must be complementary and supported by each other.

Technical SEO for a multilingual website

To mitigate risks and ensure a good configuration of International SEO, there are two elements that need to be taken into account more for a multilingual website are:

International web structure Domain, subdomain or subfolder?

The truth is that there is no right answer. It all depends on:

• Long-term objectives: How many markets do you want to expand into? , Does your offer of products or services vary based on the target market?
• Available resources: budget, time and dedicated staff

Based on the answers, we can arrive at a decision about web structure that reflects the long-term objectives of your business.

Hreflang: idiomatic labeling

The hreflang attribute is a meta element of the HTML code that specifies the language and geographical restrictions of a URL. In other words, it's that piece of code that ensures that Google teaches us to the right audience.

This, for an international business, is an essential element for organic positioning in other markets.

On-page SEO for an international website

Different countries mean different cultures, and different cultures mean different ways of thinking. Of course, different types of users.

We need to adapt our message to the way of thinking (and searching) of our target, using different keywords and, consequently, creating different content.

The impact of our glocal approach can be seen when we carry out a Keyword research: you can see how the potential we can achieve with a native SEO approach is much greater than a simple translation.

The results are measured based on the performance of the pages we have been optimizing: we will notice an increase in clicks and a rise in ranking positions.

The tools we use to measure data related to international SEO are:

• SEMrush, Ahrefs, Answerthepublic and Google Trends for the keyword research phase
• Google Search Console, Google Analytics and SEMrush for the performance monitoring part

Having an optimized international website is the starting point for a business to grow, expand and activate promotional campaigns.

SEM: optimize investment in PPC according to the market

When we talk about SEM, we must always keep in mind a strategic roadmap divided into phases: this is the key element that will help us maximize our digital efforts.

Here at Novicell we have 5 steps to a international PPC service successful:

1. Research phase for your website traffic

The first thing to do is to identify those countries that have a higher conversion potential. This can be done through Google Analytics, focusing on the conversion rate and revenue.

Once this is done, we can further detail our buyer persona by analyzing data related to the user's age, gender or interests.

Thanks to this exercise, we will have already identified a potential target country and segmented the audience to which we want to direct our campaigns.

2. Market trend analysis phase

The objective is to check if the identified target is profitable, taking into account both the demographic and economic profile of that country, as well as the digital and logistical profile.

Tools such as Google's Market Finder help us to have an idea about the profitability and the level of conversions we can achieve in a new market.

3. SEM Competency Study

In this phase, we focus on comparing digital competitors, studying data related to the cost per click and difficulty of the keywords they are using: all this is essential to avoid excessive competition and identify niches in which we can position ourselves.

One of the most useful tools for this phase of the process is SEMrush.

4. Budget definition

The right budget for your international PPC campaigns can be defined based on several elements, which are:

• Keywords: calculating an indicative estimate based on the cost per click
• Traffic: establishing a budget based on the estimated traffic coming from a country.
• Business budget: when we already have a pre-defined amount of resources.

Optimizing international PPC campaigns

As in the case of SEO, there is a need for research keywords in the target language and, depending on these, create specific advertisements for each market.

The conversion rate and RoAs see a dramatic increase thanks to the benefit of a native approach:

The international SEO and SEM combo

A good international positioning strategy combines several resources to maximize efforts and achieve objectives by attacking with several disciplines.

And why choose an international strategy that includes SEO and SEM? Very simple: because where one does not arrive, the other arrives.

SEO influences the visibility of campaigns, as the SEM conversion rate influences web traffic.

Where SEO sees medium/long-term results and requires continuous effort, SEM has an immediate impact and offers total control of campaigns and budget.

In addition, a SEM-only strategy is limited by a limited duration due to average/high cost and competitive activity. With a strategy that includes SEO, we can mitigate these weaknesses with long-term activities with medium/low costs and through the possibility of positioning ourselves by niche.

The synergy that is created between the two disciplines is what allows us to achieve awareness and conversion objectives more quickly and at a higher level:

For an international company, or one that is going international, it is essential to invest resources in SEO and SEM digital positioning strategies to identify new opportunities and maximize ROI.

If you have a business or physical store and you don't know what local SEO is, you're most likely missing out on a golden opportunity to get more customers.

How can we help you?

If you need more information, do not hesitate to contact us.