For all companies that want to sell or present their products or services outside their own country, e.g. Germany, international SEO is of high importance. Our diva-e experts for international SEO support the creation of a concept that ensures findability in search engines in other countries. We begin by analyzing the current state of the website, which forms the basis for all further SEO measures. This is followed by a comprehensive concept, joint implementation and country-specific SEO monitoring.
The initial effort required to create country-specific content is usually underestimated. A pure 1:1 translation of the original content is obvious, but is usually not enough for successful SEO outside your own market.
It is much more important to know the search terms used in the respective country and to use them in localized texts. For each market, keyword research should be carried out for the relevant country in the relevant language. The following example for German-speaking Switzerland shows what a significant difference this can make. The content on used cars in Switzerland should be focused on the term "Occasionen".
In international search engine optimization, we also talk to you as a customer about the domain concept in particular. What is meant by this is the decision on how the local content is to be anchored in the website.
A basic distinction is made here between three possibilities:
This refers to the mostly known local domain extensions, such as .de, .fr, .at, etc.. These country-specific domain extensions have the advantage that they appear trustworthy to the user due to the direct local reference and are evaluated individually by Google due to the separate domain (in contrast to a directory strategy). At the same time, the maintenance effort is usually higher here.
When using directories, the country-specific content is located in a separate directory within the existing domain, e.g. .com/de, .com/fr, etc.. The advantage of this is that the strength of the main domain can be used positively for the respective localizations. The maintenance effort here is usually lower than when using ccTLDs. When using directories, it is also advisable to specify a geographical target.
The use of subdomains represents a third possibility of the domain concept. With this strategy, the country-specific content is located on subdomains, e.g., de.com, fr.com, etc. The strength of the main domain usually has less of an impact on local content here than when using directories. However, here too, the maintenance effort is usually lower than when using country-specific domain extensions. Which domain concept is suitable for your website is highly individual and depends on various factors, which our experts at diva-e will be happy to discuss with you.
At diva-e, implementing a strategy is never the end of the story. To achieve long-term SEO success, country-specific monitoring and reporting of the previously defined SEO key figures is always part of the process. Especially in international SEO, there are challenges in monitoring, e.g. due to the use of other search engines (Yandex, Baidu) in other countries. Here, too, diva-e stands for comprehensive service and optimal SEO monitoring.
Talk to us about your individual challenges and plans for the internationalization of your website. We discuss with you all possibilities, ideas and also the implementation, for your international SEO success. We will be happy to advise you initially on strategies, measures and implementation. The consultation is of course free of charge. Ralph Binkert and Markus Walter are looking forward to your call or e-mail.