11 Considerations For International SEO

Hi Everyone,
When you think about International SEO, it is easy to imagine Global 2000 companies with offices and employees around the globe. It can be equally important to the small business that sells globally from one location.

How do you convince the search engines to include you in their international rankings on a country by country level?

Google has numerous country code top level domains (ccTLD). Each provides search results targeted for a specific country in its native language

Each search engine has its own set of ranking factors and best practices. For example, on Yandex, the top search engine in Russia, you want to be listed in the Yandex Directory. You will also want to ensure Yandex has the correct region settings for your website.

With the above considerations in mind, I wanted to share some general ranking factors for international SEO to complement the advice shared in the Multinational Search column.

Unfortunately, the best route to optimization may remain unclear or subject to budget. Not everyone can afford or manage hosting in multiple countries. Usually it comes down to gathering as much information as possible then making the best decisions for your budget, company, and visitors :

1. Target Countries Or Languages

2. ccTLD, Subfolder Or Subdomain?

3. Language Meta Tag

4. Hosting & IP Address

5. Written Language

6. Local Content

7. Design & Usability

8. Currency & Forms

9. XML Sitemaps

10. Local Search Registration

11. Local Activity: Links, Mentions, Votes & Reviews