In a digital marketplace that’s borderless, reaching diverse audiences is now critical for businesses to expand globally. However, successfully entering new global markets can be challenging, even for well-established brands. 

With Squarespace Enterprise, brands can take advantage of built-in SEO tools and personalized SEO consultations to jumpstart their entry into new markets. While these capabilities can help you build a commanding online presence, you’ll also want to take a more nuanced approach to international SEO. 

International SEO and why it’s important to your success

International SEO involves taking the SEO techniques, strategies, and best practices you’re implementing for your business and adapting them to your foreign audiences. This includes translating your website content and optimizing that content for international search engines. 

Ways to boost your international SEO performance

Before moving forward, you’ll want to determine:

• The international markets you need to reach

• The language(s) you need to translate your website into

• The preferences and characteristics of your target audience

Once you’re set on these targets, you’re ready to work on your international SEO. Let’s take a look at four tips to heighten your online visibility in other countries.

1. Translate and localize your online content

To become competitive in a new market, you’ll have to make your website accessible to locals. The first step is translating your website and its content into your audience’s preferred language using the Squarespace multilingual extension Weglot, which automatically detects, translates, and displays your website content. 

Remember that you don’t need to translate all of your web pages. You may have some landing pages or blog articles that are exclusive to your original audience. You can exclude these specific pages from your initial round of website translation.

However, it’s best practice to translate as much of your website content as possible as not to confuse search engines. If you’ve translated only a select few of your web pages, search engines may not understand which countries your multilingual website is targeting and will penalize your rankings. 

The next step after translating your content is conducting international keyword research. The direct translation of a keyword may not be the most accurate search term in your new market, so it’s worth putting in some extra research to determine the correct local search terms and then replace them throughout your content. 

2. Adjust your URL structure

Now that you’ve optimized your content to appeal to your new audience, you have to make sure it lives under the right URL structure. URL structures tell search engines what country you’re targeting, helping them rank you appropriately in search results.

Here are the URL structures you can choose to host your multilingual website:

Country code top-level domain (ccTLD)

Example: yourwebsite.jp, which uses a Japanese ccTLD

Using a ccTLD helps you concentrate your marketing efforts on a specific audience. However, it also restricts your ability to rank in other countries, as search engines won’t think your content is relevant to those audiences.

Subdomains and subdirectories

Example: jp.yourwebsite.com is a website using a Japanese subdomain, and yourwebsite.com/jp is a website using a Japanese subdirectory

A subdomain enables you to host your content on a section of your website while having its own domain name. A subdirectory is a folder of your main website, allowing you to organize your content within your site structure. It also benefits from the authority you’ve built on your current domain.

Generally speaking, subdomains and subdirectories are the most favored by search engines. With Weglot, you can select subdirectories and subdomains according to your goals and preferences.

Generic top-level domain (gTLD) 

Example: yourwebsite.berlin

Using a gTLD structure means offering your target audience a shorter URL that’s easier to remember. While it gives you room to get creative with your URL, your website may seem suspicious or unreliable to users.

You have the option to add language parameters as well. 

Example: yourwebsite.com/?lang=en-de, a website using language parameters targeting all users in Germany that speak English

An entirely different domain name

Example: yourwebsitejp.com

An entirely different domain name will host your multilingual website in a different root domain. This won’t inherit your current domain’s authority and will require you to start your SEO from scratch.

3. Add hreflang tags

Hreflang tags can be tricky if you aren’t familiar with technical SEO. They’re attributes you need to add to your website’s source code that tell search engines the intended region and language of a specific page. As a result, search engines will deliver that page to users with the same language and regional settings.

Adding hreflang tags to your website by yourself can be challenging, as you’ll have to insert it in the “head” section of either your HTML page, HTTP headers, or your sitemap. Choose only one place for adding your hreflang tags to avoid confusing search engines. 

Weglot automatically adds hreflang tags to all language versions of your website, making this step of the process hassle-free.

4. Translate metadata 

Lastly, translating your metadata—including your meta titles and meta descriptions—will ensure that search engines and website visitors recognize what your content is about. 

Metadata serves as vital information for your web pages when they’re being crawled and indexed. If they remain untranslated, search engines won’t understand what languages your content serves, which will negatively affect your rankings. 

It’s easy to stay on top of translating the visible elements on your website. But don’t forget about the non-visible elements as well—they’re just as important.

International SEO is a powerful way to cement your business in new markets worldwide. It proves to your new customers that you’re invested in connecting with them and understanding their needs. By following these tips, you’ll be one step closer to creating a solid impression on audiences worldwide. 

Expand globally.