Why is international SEO important for my business?

In today's global marketplace, having an online presence is critical for businesses of all sizes. However, more than simply having a website is required to succeed in the digital world. Engaging in international SEO is essential to stand out and reach a wider audience truly.

International SEO involves optimizing your website for search engines in different countries and languages, and this means creating content and using keywords that are relevant to your target audience, and optimizing your website's structure to make it accessible and visible to search engines around the world.

There are several reasons why this is important for businesses looking to expand their reach:

• Increased visibility: Increase it to potential customers in other countries; this can help you tap into new markets and grow your customer base.
• Improved user experience: By creating content and using keywords relevant to your target audience, you can improve the user experience for visitors from different countries. Helping increase engagement and reduce bounce rates can positively impact your website's search engine rankings.
• Higher conversion rates: By targeting international audiences with relevant content and optimized website structure, you can increase the likelihood of conversion, which means more sales and revenue for your business.
• Competitive advantage: You can gain a competitive advantage over other businesses not targeting international audiences. It can help you stand out in crowded marketplaces and establish your brand as a global player.

Long-term growth: You can establish a solid online presence in multiple markets. They can help you achieve sustainable long-term development and reduce reliance on any single market.

How do I determine which countries and languages to target with my international SEO efforts?

International SEO is a complex process that requires careful planning and execution. One of the business's most significant challenges is determining which countries and languages to target. This decision involves several factors, such as market potential, competitor analysis, language barriers, cultural differences, and keyword research.

When assessing market potential, businesses need to consider the size of the market and its growth potential. They should look at the GDP, population, and consumer spending in each country to determine which markets offer the most significant opportunity for growth. Competitor analysis can also provide insights into which markets are underserved or less competitive, which can help businesses identify growth opportunities.

Language barriers can be a significant obstacle in international SEO efforts. Businesses need to consider them in each country and the potential impact on their website's search engine rankings. If a company is targeting a country with a vastly different language, it may need to translate its website and optimize it for that language.

Cultural differences are another crucial consideration. Businesses must thoroughly research each country's cultural norms and expectations before launching their international SEO efforts. Avoiding cultural faux pas that could negatively impact their brand, I recommend you listen to the Inlinks podcast episode about SEO In Spanish Vs. SEO In English, where they talk about cultural differences and their effect on content and SEO.

Keyword research is essential to create targeted content that resonates with local audiences and improves search engine rankings. Businesses must conduct keyword research to determine which keywords and phrases are most relevant to their target audience in each country.
Local search engines and social media platforms are critical to consider in international SEO efforts. Businesses must optimize their website for local search engines and create a social media strategy targeting local audiences. For example, suppose a startup is targeting audiences in Spanish-speaking countries. In that case, it could focus on search engines like Google and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which are popular in these regions.

How can I create and manage content that appeals to international audiences?

When creating and managing content for international audiences, it's essential to recognize that different countries and cultures have varying preferences and expectations. Consider implementing the following strategies to create content that appeals to global audiences.

Conduct cultural research before creating content, understand the cultural norms and expectations in each country you are targeting, and avoid cultural faux pas. Ensure that your content resonates with local audiences.

Localize your content. Adapt your content to fit your target audience's linguistic and cultural norms. Include translating your content, adapting it to local language and cultural nuances, and using local references familiar to your target audience.

Use visual content, such as images and videos, to communicate your message more effectively and appeal to international audiences. When using visuals, consider cultural differences in design and aesthetics.

Use relevant keywords to make your content more discoverable in international search engines. Conduct keyword research to identify the most relevant keywords for each country you target.

Engage with local influencers. Partnering with local influencers can help you reach new audiences and build credibility in new markets. Identify influential people in your target market and collaborate with them to create content that appeals to their followers.

Social media platforms are an excellent way to reach international audiences and build customer relationships in different countries. Use popular social media platforms in your target market and create content that resonates with local audiences.

Lastly, monitor performance to ensure your content resonates with your target audience. Use analytics tools to track engagement, conversions, and other metrics to determine the most effective content in each market. You can create and manage content that appeals to international audiences using these strategies.

What are the best practices for optimizing my website for international SEO?

Optimizing your website for international SEO is essential to improving your search engine rankings and reaching out to new audiences worldwide. Your SEOs can implant several best practices to achieve this goal.

One reasonable practice is to use hreflang tags, which are HTML attributes that help search engines identify your website pages' language and country versions. These tags ensure that search engines display the correct version of your content to users in different countries.

Another best practice is to choose a relevant domain name that reflects your target market. It could be a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) or a generic top-level domain (gTLD) that helps boost your website's visibility and search engine rankings.

Localizing your content is also crucial. Adapt your content to your target audience's cultural and linguistic norms. Translation, adaptation to local language and cultural nuances, and using local references familiar to your target audience can help achieve this.

Optimizing your meta tags is another effective strategy for improving your search engine rankings. Ensure that your meta tags, such as title tags and meta descriptions, are optimized for each country you target. Use relevant keywords and language that resonate with local audiences.
Structured data markup is another practice that can help search engines understand your website's content and display it more effectively in search results. Ensure you use structured data markup appropriate for each country you target.

What are the most effective ways to build backlinks for international SEO?

When it comes to international SEO, building high-quality backlinks is essential for boosting your search engine rankings. However, the process of building backlinks has its own unique set of challenges. To overcome these challenges, here are some effective strategies.

Firstly, consider partnering with local influencers in your target countries. Influencers with a large following in your target country and relevant to your industry can help generate buzz for your website and build backlinks.

Creating high-quality and shareable content is another effective way to build backlinks for any SEO strategy. Creating helpful, informative, and engaging content can attract links from other websites and boost your search engine rankings.

Leveraging social media is also a powerful tool for building backlinks and promoting your content to a global audience. Share your content on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and encourage others to share it as well.

Participating in online forums and communities relevant to your industry or niche is also a great way to build backlinks and connect with potential customers in your target countries. Be sure to include a link to your website in your forum or community signature, but avoid spamming or self-promotion. Examples of these are Taringa in Argentina and Forocoches in Spain.

Guest posting on relevant websites in your target countries is also a great way to build backlinks and establish authority in your industry or niche. Look for websites that are relevant to your target audience and have a robust online presence, and pitch them a guest post idea. A great article from Ahrefs provides insight into International and Spanish SEO.

Also, attending industry events and conferences in your target countries can help connect you with potential partners and build backlinks. By networking with other attendees, sharing your knowledge and expertise, and following up with new connections after the event, you can establish credibility and build valuable backlinks for your strategy.

How can I ensure my website is accessible and visible to search engines in different countries?

You can take several essential steps to ensure your website is accessible and visible to search engines in different countries.

First, choose the proper domain structure that signals your target country or language; it helps search engines understand which countries and languages your website is targeting. Additionally, implementing hreflang tags is crucial. These tags inform search engines which version of your content to show to users in different countries based on their language and location.

Geotargeting is another critical practice to tailor your website content and marketing efforts to specific locations. Geotargeting can help you reach your target audience more effectively and improve your website's visibility in different countries.

Consider localizing your content to appeal to your target audience in different countries, adapting your content to your target market's local language, culture, and customs. Building high-quality backlinks from local websites in your target countries can also help improve your website's visibility in local search results.

It's essential to monitor your website's performance in different countries continually. Use tools like Google Analytics to track your website's traffic and search engine rankings in other countries and make adjustments based on your results.

What search engines and social media platforms must I consider for Spanish SEO?

When it comes to international SEO, it's crucial to consider local search engines and social media platforms to reach a broader audience. If you want to expand your online presence in Spanish-speaking countries, you must focus on the local search engines and social media platforms dominating those markets.

One of the most popular search engines in Spanish-speaking countries is Google. According to Statcounter, Bing is another popular search engine gaining ground in Spanish-speaking countries, particularly in Mexico. Yahoo is also present, but, with 92% Google is the absolute winner.
Besides search engines, social media platforms are critical in reaching a broader audience. Facebook is the most popular social media platform in Spanish-speaking countries, followed closely by Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Discord. In Latin America, region-specific social media platforms are also popular, such as Taringa! in Argentina. See more about the most used social media by country in this (2019) Hootsuite report.

Additionally, Spanish-speaking audiences in the United States widely use some social media platforms, such as Pinterest, Snapchat, Yelp, Twitch, and TikTok. These platforms provide an excellent opportunity to reach Hispanic audiences in the United States.

It's worth noting that social media usage varies across different age groups and demographics. For example, younger audiences are likelier to use Instagram and Snapchat, while older audiences are likelier to use Facebook or LinkedIn. Understanding your target audience's social media preferences is essential to create a social media strategy that effectively engages them.

How do I measure the success of my international SEO efforts and make data-driven decisions for ongoing optimization?

Measuring the success of your international SEO efforts is crucial to determining your strategies' effectiveness and making data-driven decisions for ongoing optimization. 

Here are some key metrics to consider when measuring the success of your international SEO efforts:

1. Organic traffic: This metric shows your website's traffic from search engines in your target countries. You can use tools like Google Analytics to track your organic traffic and identify any changes after implementing your international SEO strategies.
2. Keyword rankings: Keep track of your keyword rankings in your target countries. Higher rankings indicate that your website is more visible to your target audience and is more likely to drive organic traffic to your website.
3. Backlinks: They are an essential factor in SEO, and tracking your backlinks from your target countries can help you understand the effectiveness of your link-building strategies.
4. Conversion rates: Ultimately, the success of your international SEO efforts should be measured by how well they drive conversions. Keep track of your conversion rates in your target countries and analyze any changes after implementing your international SEO strategies.
5. Local engagement: Consider local engagement metrics such as social media followers, shares, and comments. High levels of engagement indicate that your content resonates with your target audience and can help you refine your content strategy.

To make data-driven decisions for ongoing optimization, use these metrics to identify what's working and needs improvement. Analyze your data regularly and look for patterns and trends to refine your international SEO strategies.

Additionally, consider conducting regular competitor analysis to gain insights into your competitors' international SEO strategies. Identify what they are doing differently, and determine if you can incorporate any of their successful strategies into your own.

What are some common pitfalls to avoid when doing international SEO, such as keyword translation errors or cultural faux pas?

International SEO can help increase website traffic and drive sales when businesses expand their operations to new international markets. However, companies make common mistakes that can hinder their success. Understanding these mistakes can help enterprises to avoid them and optimize their global SEO strategy.

One of the most significant mistakes businesses make in international SEO is relying on direct translations of keywords. Avoid them because they can lead to keyword translation errors, as nuances in language and culture must be considered. Professional translators or localization experts can help businesses avoid such mistakes.

Another pitfall is cultural faux pas, which can offend or alienate the target audience. Researching cultural norms and values is essential to avoid such mistakes. Businesses must build trust and credibility by ensuring the website resonates with the target audience.

Neglecting local content can make the website appear generic and untrustworthy to the target audience. Providing local content is critical to connecting with the audience and establishing expertise in the target market. Businesses should tailor content to local audiences to ensure relevance and credibility.

Lastly, poor website performance can negatively affect user experience and search engine rankings. Website loading times, broken links, and technical issues can impact performance. Businesses need to ensure that their website provides an excellent user experience for their target audience to increase visibility and drive traffic to their website.

Last words

Expanding your business to other countries can be profitable, but it requires careful consideration and planning. International SEO is vital to any global expansion strategy, as it can help businesses increase their website traffic and drive sales. However, avoiding common mistakes such as keyword translation errors, cultural faux pas, and poor website performance is crucial. 

By understanding the technical, linguistic, cultural, and content-related aspects of international SEO, businesses can optimize their strategy, connect with their target audience, and establish their brand as an authority in new markets. By considering these considerations, companies can expand their global reach and succeed internationally. Remember that the Spanish-speaking market is around 500 million -potential- clients... And we can help you reach it.

Google is the most popular search engine in the world and offers a variety of features to help your Spanish-speaking users find what they are looking for. Understanding and utilizing these features can greatly benefit your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. In this article, we will discuss Google's Related Search, Google Trends, and Google's People Also Ask, and how they can be used to improve SEO.

Google's Related Search

Google's Related Search is a feature that displays a list of related search queries when a user starts typing in their search query. This feature is designed to help users find what they are looking for by providing them with related search suggestions.

Understanding the related searches for a particular keyword can help you to determine what users are looking for when they search for that keyword.

To use Google's Related Search to improve SEO, you can:

Research keywords: Use Google's Related Search to research related keywords that are relevant to your business or website.

Optimize content: Optimize your content to target the related keywords found through Google's Related Search. This can involve using the keywords in a natural and meaningful way, and creating content that is relevant and helpful to users. This is important!

Monitor performance: Regularly monitor your website's performance for the related keywords and adjust your optimization strategy as necessary.

Google Trends

Google Trends is a tool that allows you to see how popular a particular keyword or search query is over time. It provides a visual representation of the popularity of a keyword, as well as related keywords and topics. Understanding the popularity of a keyword can help you to determine the potential traffic and conversion potential for that keyword.

Remember that in the Spanish language, not all words mean the same in each country.

To use Google Trends to improve SEO, you can:

1. Research keywords: Use it to research keywords that are relevant to your business or website.
2. Monitor trends: Monitor for the keywords you are targeting to see if there is a spike in popularity.
3. Optimize content: Optimize for the keywords that are currently trending. This can involve using the keywords in a natural and meaningful way, and creating content that is relevant and helpful to users. Yes, again, this is important!
4. Monitor performance: Regularly monitor your website's performance for the trending keywords and adjust your optimization strategy as necessary.

Google's People Also Ask

Google's People Also Ask is a feature that displays a list of related questions when a user starts typing in their search query. This feature is designed to help users find what they are looking for by providing them with related questions and answers.

Understanding the related questions for a particular keyword can help you to determine what users are looking for when they search for that keyword.

To use Google's People Also Ask to improve SEO, you can:

1. Research keywords: Use Google's People Also Ask to research related questions for a particular keyword.
2. Optimize content: Optimize it to answer the related questions found through Google's People Also Ask. This can involve using the keywords in a natural and meaningful way, and creating content that answers the questions clearly and concisely.
3. Monitor performance: Regularly monitor your website's performance for the related questions and adjust your optimization strategy as necessary.

Google's Related Search, Google Trends, and Google's People Also Ask are valuable tools that can help you to improve your cross-country SEO efforts. By researching related keywords, monitoring trends, and answering related questions, you can increase the relevance and helpfulness of your website to users, which can result in higher rankings in search results.

By utilizing these tools and following the aforementioned steps you'll be closer to fulfilling your SEO objectives.Discover more about how to improve your SEO tactics for Spanish-speaking audiences by reading our blog or following our social media.

When making keyword research we need to take into consideration different sources for the analysis. One of them is your business' keywords for your products and services. It's a good start.

Using Business keywords

Let's be honest, nobody knows the business more than its owner or creator. And while this may be true from many points of view, the good business owner will always listen to his audience. However, traditionally, businesses and the advertising carried out by and for them, indicated the words to be employed by the users, this can be helpful in our search for keywords, using those that our advertising or similar products have exploited to determine how our product is known or found.

Advertising has forged the words used by the market, it is worth seeing past year's Pepsi Christmas campaign that took into consideration its audience's tik-toks and named the mixture of milk with Pepsi "Pilk". This could become a new word forged by advertising but listening to the audience, in this way the brand is in charge of channeling what people say, but they are the ones who retake control by naming it, this shapes the conversations from now on of the subject because people who have not seen the tik-toks, but have seen the advertising, immediately attribute the word that defines the trendy product to the Pepsi brand.

Business keywords in different countries mean different things

In Latin American countries, for example, a variety of words are used for "Jacket", in Panama they will say "Abrigo", in Argentina "Campera" and Venezuela "Chaqueta". The local producer must know what are the words that define their product, therefore those are the ones that should be in the first place in our list of potential keywords, that will be used in the content of the blog, in social networks, guest post content, sponsored content, etc.

Just like in the English language, one word for an Australian business can be very different from another in the UK, or Canada. In the same way, there are differences between Spain, Colombia, and Chile, the ways of speaking are increasingly different, and every day new words are generated to indicate the same thing for which a word already existed. That is why businesses should always be alert to them.

For companies that are not Spanish-speaking, an advisor will always be important to determine the words that a market uses, because one can have a different meaning in each country, and different also can mean offensive.

Businesses' words can be very accurate for our research, however, they should not be the only source for it, we must look for those used by our audience, those used by the competition, those recommended by search engines, trends, etc. We can achieve all this through public and private SEO tools, we will talk about them in future postings.

Sources from which to take the keywords of our business

You may think that the words that you use in your business are appropriate for an online content strategy, but if you think that it depends more on the audience, then you can make the mistake of thinking that the words that our businesses use to describe our products are useless. We can show you that it is not. When we do keyword research, one of the sources we recommend using is your own words. As we said before, no one knows or should know your business more than you. Word sources ideas can be acquired from:

• Distributors of the product or service.
• Suppliers.
• Marketing team.
• Company directors.
• External consultants.

We take those keywords and add them to our preferred tool, in our case we explain in How to make your keyword research: Metrics how to use Ahrefs to determine what other keywords are in the market.

Precisely, part of the words that we should add there are those that we use regularly in our business. The tools take those words and make recommendations for what else to use. However, there are other keywords we need to add to the mix, those used by competitors and users.

We will talk about them in the following article.

The best Content Marketing strategy for startups is to, before paying for advertising or sponsored posts, effectively execute the free stages of marketing. That is:

1. The construction of a social mass on the internet and the generation of organic traffic to the website.
2. Next, you need to get media coverage alongside reviews of your brand on major platforms.

Also, the success of the points in the previous paragraph largely depends on handling issues related to the use of keywords. Among those concepts are local SEO and content marketing (if the target audience speaks this language). These steps work for every language by the way.

Steps to be followed by startups or emerging companies

As said previously: before buying sponsored posts you should complete different tasks related to increasing your audience, and the best way to do it is the free one.

Using paid content on social media to create interest

The interest in a brand depends on its ability to engage in social networks and the Internet in general. In turn, the attention generated by a publication is usually proportional to the aesthetic level and the quality (utility) of the audiovisual messages. In this sense, an HD video with valuable information for the user is a highly recommended type of content.

Invest in paid search

The purpose of this strategy is to satisfy the demand from both parts (top and bottom) of the search engine funnel. Therefore, the objective is to have the first result for questions with purchase intention and purely informative questions. For example:

• “Psychological attention service”, (question with purchase intention);
• “Why is it important to have a trustworthy psychologist”, (informative intent).

How effective is the use of paid search?

In this regard, the Google Ads statistics reflect the following data:

• For every dollar invested there is an average return on investment of two dollars;
• The CTR (average click-through rate) increases to 7.94% when the ad is in the first position of the search engine;
• PPC (Pay Per Click) stats show 79% profitability for marketers;
• PPC makes it possible to increase the diffusion of a brand by up to 80%;
• 65% of the clicks registered in Google Ads correspond to pages that follow SEO parameters in Spanish (when the site is Spanish-speaking);
• The first three sponsored ads take 41% of total Google search clicks;
• 32% of brands use PPC publications to promote their products instead of promoting the company.

Ensure presence in specific forums

This step allows you to start conversations around the startup's brand in spaces where many potential clients seek information. In addition, this strategy allows you to identify potential sales opportunities while improving the company's public relations.

Complementary steps to make before the placement of sponsored posts

• Become a key sponsor of major commercial events (both physical and online);
• Form a team of business partners to promote joint marketing planning;
• Organize events.

The use of sponsored posts can be beneficial to enlarge the audience of the startup's product or service, however, it is necessary to take into account the rules that Google imposes in this regard, the sponsored content must follow them, and there is the risk that, if not be done accordingly, penalties are received. For more information, contact us.

Discover how to make your linkbuilding strategy, the single most challenging search engine optimization action that you need to carry out successfully. It is also one of the oldest off-page content marketing techniques used. Which means that it has been under the eye of Google for a long time.

This longevity, unfortunately, has led to linkbuilding on the Internet being involved in actions that violate search engine quality standards. That is, the Google algorithm does not rate it as something positive, quite the opposite. The magnitude of its disapproval of Linkbuilding is such that it has reached the point of penalizing its use.

Linkbuilding: the black sheep of SEO

Contrary to what many people think, Linkbuilding is one of the few SEO techniques that is taken into account by web hosts. Its popularity has transcended over time thanks to the fact that it has proven to be effective in the short term.

For the Google algorithm, Linkbuilding is not exactly a bad thing. But, you have to know how to run it so that it doesn't break the rules of the famous search engine. Over the years, this search engine has become very sensitive to actions that deteriorate the quality of the content, since its main objective is to provide the best user experience.

That is why its PageRank is ordered according to the authority and relevance of the websites, to satisfy the needs of Internet users and provide answers to their questions. Therefore, the inappropriate use of Linkbuilding strategies can arouse the wrath of Google.

Such is the case with link building which leads to spam. These are ghost sites with advertising content with unknown origins. These annoyingly interfere with a user's browsing.

Different ways to do Linkbuilding

As usual in SEO strategies, Linkbuilding is not exclusively about a single web positioning technique. It is rather a branch from which different ways of building links through third parties are broken down. Here are the three most common forms of link building seen on the web:

Black Hat Link building

This is a strategy that tries to trick the search engine algorithm to buy time to generate millions of visits in a very short time. It is characterized by the exchange of links between the same network of blogs, massive spam in comments, the buying, and selling of links, and the use of gadgets to build links, among others. It should be noted that these types of practices are always discovered and severely penalized.

White Hat Linkbuilding Strategy

This is the counterpart of the aforementioned strategy. With it, it seeks to gain positioning by following the ethical standards of search engines, yes, Google gives us a hint with these rules. It is characterized by generating organic traffic and building links that come from organized and reputable sites. Although it is the safest way to carry out Linkbuilding, it usually takes time to give results and that is when the previous technique begins to seem attractive.

Link Baiting

Linkbaiting is a link building strategy in which you do not depend precisely on a third party, but rather on yourself. To execute it, all you have to do is create valuable and quality content, good enough for the algorithm to position it among the first organic results. This way, other people will mention you without asking for it. With this, more traffic is sent to your website. The master formula —and the most recommended for Linkbuilding— is to do it indirectly.

Do Linkbuilding and not die trying

As you can see, Linkbuilding can take you to the top of Google, but it can also sink you among its millions of results —that no one gets to see—. So, it is something like a double-edged sword, it is possible to win and lose with it, and it is all a matter of knowing how to use it. Here is a basic guide to link building and not dying trying:

More natural and less forced links

When you execute a Linkbuilding strategy with a third party, try to get that other person to publish content that is related to yours. It's no use having a link to a Site that talks about auto parts when yours is about fashion. It has nothing to do with each other. In addition, it is easy for the algorithm to deduce that it has been an agreement -probably paid- between webmasters.

Anchor text and keywords

The algorithm does not respond well to links linked to texts that include your keywords. When a third party builds a link to your website naturally, it is unrealistic for them to choose keywords as anchors or include them in the rest of the content. It may be enough to use the URL or the name of the web page.

Original and viral content

There is nothing more effective for a Linkbuilding strategy than original content, fresh from the oven. Plagiarism not only brings legal consequences but is also abhorred by Google. Now, if there is something that can further catapult new and quality content, it is viralization. When something on the web goes viral, like news, it means that it is shared by many people, which generates natural links from third parties.

Comment and gain organic traffic

Going to an authoritative web page, with a theme associated with yours, and leaving an organic comment is not considered spam. It is a simple, free and safe way to generate a link to your website. However, it should be done sporadically and spontaneously so it doesn't seem premeditated.

Social networks and other platforms

Linkbuilding is practiced off-page. That is, anywhere outside of our website, that includes social media. It is possible to create direct links from Instagram and Facebook profiles to our virtual space on the internet. Thus generating organic traffic, visits, leads, clicks, and more.

Buy quality and not quantity

Yes, paid links are an option to consider. If we wait to be taken into account only for natural work, it can take years. To stay afloat on the internet, a site has to grow, not overnight, but constantly. Now, no one wants to get blacklisted by Google for paying for a link. That is why this exercise has its tricks.

It is important to carry out a manual search of the Web by which we wish to be mentioned. Said web page must have an excellent reputation and, of course, a good position in PageRank. Lastly, avoid paying for massive link packs. If the algorithm detects a repetitive pattern it is possible to be caught: more quality and less quantity. See more in the next video from minute 11:

What is the best Linkbuilding Strategy?

There is no Linkbuilding manual to follow, there is no such thing. Just as there are no bad strategies, there are only strategies. Of course, some give good results and others not so much, depending on how they are applied. Being successful with this SEO strategy requires cunning and experience to use all available resources without triggering serious consequences. If you want to know more or know what strategies to use in your business, contact us.