In my most recent post, I discussed some important steps that must be taken in order to implement an effective plan for international search engine optimization.
This time, let’s take a look at the particular business advantages of developing that plan, as well as the alignment of that strategy with the overall strategy of the company.
A well established strategy serves as the basis for all actions carried out inside a firm; the manner in which it is developed will serve to direct decision-making while your teams work toward accomplishing your international SEO objectives.
Consider the following scenario: your company’s goal is to increase its total market share by increasing its presence in overseas markets.
If this is the case, your business plan needs to determine the new target markets, the optimal product lineup, and the sales targets for each market.
In the absence of this fundamental framework, there will be widespread anarchy, enormous waste of resources, and bad decision-making.
You and your team will be eligible for a number of perks and advantages after it has been made accessible and integrated into your SEO plan.
It Is a Component of the More Comprehensive Strategic Plan
Your organization’s overarching strategy plan will serve as the basis for your international search engine optimization.
It outlines the direction in which a company must allocate resources, process, and develop objectives that are feasible and in keeping with the overarching purpose of the business.
Because of this congruence, numerous SEO-specific factors, which are all too frequently treated as an afterthought in other firms, should be elevated.
For instance, one international corporation recently revealed to investors that they would be making a substantial push into Russia by increasing their use of digital advertising.
Despite having spent a significant amount of money on translated content and paid advertising, the internal SEO team was unaware of the issue until several months later.
If this growth plan had been aligned with their SEO strategy, the total value of that content localization effort might have been boosted. This would have ensured that the material could be found and taken advantage of the terms that people searching in Russian would use.
Working in conjunction with the other product teams, the SEO team may determine the ideal product lineup by working backward from the sales objectives to do so. This will guarantee that the product is a good match for the market.
If customers in Spain are unaware that they want blue widgets, how do you intend to connect with them utilising search engine optimization (SEO) even if you create the most incredible blue widgets in the world?
This searcher interest feedback loop is essential for identifying items and assisting in the framing of content and message that is required to increase awareness and sales of the products for individuals who are directly or indirectly seeking for them in the target market.
Teams Start to Take Initiative In Place Of Being Reactive
You will be able to make judgments and determine the precise strategies that will assist the leadership teams reach their objectives after you are armed with information on the target market, the product set, and the sales targets.
When using SEO as a channel as part of the mix, this aspect takes on an even greater amount of significance.
You may begin making a number of important choices that are covered in my International SEO Guide with less risk and a better grasp of the primary emphasis areas and objectives.
The web infrastructure is often one of the choices that gets the least attention.
This lack of preparation may derail your success and produce an exponential amount of work with additional expansions, as I mentioned in my post titled “4 Reasons Why International SEO Fails.”
The decision of whether to utilise ccTLDs or files is a simple one. Steps that include the general site structure, page naming standards, and, most crucially, the manner in which the existing CMS deals with translation and material that is not translated are the more difficult ones.
You will need to analyse the subtleties of the market and incorporate those findings into the design of your website.
The localization of currencies, sizes, technological compatibility, and, of course, prices will be included among these considerations.
All of these factors will have an effect, either directly or indirectly, on the technology that is used as well as the content that is required for the regional markets.
Some of these are not often thought of as concerns when it comes to SEO. However, the SEO team has to be included in these talks with the product schema and the knowledge graphs, particularly at this time.
Through early and frequent collaboration, many aspects of the process, which must often be “fixed” at a later stage, may be properly merged right from the start.
Dedicating resources to an international strategy improves the effectiveness of operational procedures
It is much simpler to construct a road map for aligning the organization’s functional operations and the appropriate budget allocation when the International SEO strategy is aligned with the overall strategic plan. This makes it possible to more effectively achieve the goals that have been established.
The more precise selections made and improvements to the workflow that are made will lead to an increase in operational efficiency.
Traditional SEO serves as the foundation for foreign SEO, as I explained in my guide titled “International SEO Guide.”
The majority of SEO initiatives are successful when the foundations of SEO are effectively incorporated into new market websites, public relations, and content production. Because of this, the team is able to concentrate on activities that will increase traffic and move the needle.
There will be fewer errors that need to be rectified in the future the more closely linked the teams are and the more thoroughly their specific needs and requirements are merged.
When other markets are added to the mix and a tried-and-true method can be followed, this will yield exponential rewards for the business.
Better Alignment of Key Performance Indicators and Goals
The unfortunate reality is that there are often insufficient “resources” available to carry out essential SEO duties. This is typically the result of a lack of alignment with IT or other executive priorities.
As was said previously in this piece, when search engine optimization (SEO) is better integrated into the workflow for expanding a business, many duties relating to SEO may be accomplished organically as a part of the workflow for the business as a whole.
SEO teams that have reached a more mature stage will learn to match their efforts with the strategic objectives and establish a “contributory share” of the total sales goals.
The SEO team must to have recognised ideas and keyword phrases that adequately describe the subject matter of the material that is intended for the market throughout the market alignment workstream.
You may use this data to show the “lost opportunity” that occurs when your website does not rank well for, and thus does not capture traffic from, the most relevant phrases that are used in the local market.
This methodology conjures up an atmosphere of “Help Me Help You,” which puts pressure on people responsible for the overall objectives to recognise and value the contribution that SEO makes to the site in the form of well-qualified visitors and sales.
Key Takeaway
Too often, SEO professionals are excessively focused on methods, such as employing checklists and tools, and they don’t do nearly enough to utilise already established strategic objectives and goals in order to justify and carry out their SEO work.
The advantages that were discussed before provide an explanation for the amount of effort and work that is required to establish a powerful international SEO strategy.
Simplified process alignments allow for scaling and reduce the need to make adjustments in the future.