In today’, the success of any website on the Internet is not limited to just one country. If you want your website to reach as many people as possible, then you should use international SEO properly. International SEO optimizes your website in such a way that people from different countries and languages can see and use it properly.
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What is International SEO?
International SEO means that your website is optimized keeping in mind users from different countries. It is not just about ranking in search engines, but making sure that people find your website in the right page and the right information in whatever country or language they are looking for it.
Doing international SEO improves your website’s traffic, clicks, purchases, and business profits. For example, if your website is for users from both India and America, then it is important to make sure that people from India see the page in Hindi and Americans in English.
Why is International SEO needed?
Suppose your website is for different countries, like India, France, and Japan. Now if a user from Japan sees the Indian page of your website which is only in Hindi, he will not understand and will leave your website. This can cause loss to your business.
Also, reaching the wrong page can increase the bounce rate of your website, which means that people come to your website and go back without any information. Therefore, it becomes important to ensure that every user reaches the right page, where he gets information according to his language and his need.
How does international SEO work?
Now the question arises that how to implement international SEO correctly. For this, there are many methods and techniques, by adopting which you can optimize your website according to different countries. Here we will discuss some important ways:
Add country and language codes in metadata
When you are targeting your website for different countries, you should add country and language code in your website’s metadata. Metadata is information that tells search engines (like Google) which country and language your website is for.
For example, if your website is for India and you want it to appear in search results for Indian users only, you can add the code “IN” in the metadata. The advantage of this will be that when an Indian user searches for your website on Google, he will see your website as a page from India.
How to add metadata?
Suppose your website URL is: example.com. If you are targeting both India and the US, you can do it like this:
For Indian users: example.com | IN
For US users: example.com | US
This will give search engines a hint about which country this website is made for.
2. Location-Based IP
Another technical approach in international SEO is the use of location-based IP. This technique identifies the country from which a user is visiting a website by looking at their IP address. If the user ends up on the wrong country page, the website can display a pop-up asking if they want to go to the right page.
Example:
Suppose your website is for both Indian and American users. If a user visits your website from India but ends up on the US page, the website can display a pop-up asking:
“Looks like you’re from India. Would you like to go to the Indian page?”
This will help the user get to the right page and provide a better experience.
Advantages: It helps get users to the right page.
Disadvantages: There are some challenges in using it, such as IP addresses are counted as personal information (PII) in some countries. This can lead to data protection issues, especially in Europe where there are strict regulations under GDPR.
Use Hreflang tags
The Hreflang tag is an HTML tag that you can use to tell Google which page on your website is for which language and country. It is one of the most important parts of international SEO.
Example:
Suppose you have a page on your website that is in Hindi for India and the same page is in English for the US. You can use the Hreflang tag like this:
For a Hindi page:
For an English page:
This will let Google know which page is for which country and language and redirect users to the correct page.
Benefits of hreflang tags:
It helps your users reach the right page.
It strengthens your website’s SEO, as Google displays the right page to the right user.
Content Localization
Another important aspect of international SEO is content localization. This means that you adapt your content to the country and language you are building your website for.
Example: If you are dedicating a book to Indian architects, you should mention Indian culture, festivals and innovations in your book.
If you are creating a website for the principles of the Japanese language, you should write books in Japanese and read them according to Japanese culture.
Use Google Search Console To boost the success of international SEO, you can use Google Search Console. It is a free tool that gives advice and company information about your website.
What to do?
Add your website to Google Search Console.
From there you can see from which countries people are visiting your website.
You can also see which pages are working properly and which are not.
Use BigQuery
Use BigQuery and Looker Studio If you want to go deeper, you can use tools like BigQuery and Looker Studio. With the help of these tools, you can check which country is on your website and whether it is going to the right page or not.
Benefits of International SEO Global Expansion: Your website is not limited to only one country but it is limited to different countries.
More Blogs: Reaching the right user on the right page increases your website.
Best Sales: If your user shows the right page, he can easily buy services.
Business Business: With the right International SEO, your business can grow rapidly and you can earn more profits.
Conclusion
International SEO is the best way to differentiate your website to people from different countries and coasts. For this, you have to use techniques like metadata, hreflang tags, and PDF localization. Implementing it correctly will reduce the global visibility of your website and make your business the most successful.
