The importance of auditing when planning an international SEO strategy

International Search Engine Optimization

International Search Engine Optimization is a process that involves making adjustments to your website’s content in order to rank better on international search engines. This process has two main components: localization and competitive research. Localizing your website means adapting it to other countries by translating your website into a different language.

It is that it diversifies your traffic sources and lowers your dependence on any one country. An international audit allows you to identify the dominant languages in the target countries, understand what Google prefers to rank for each region and learn about the legal requirements for businesses with cross-border operations.

However, there are many different challenges that one might encounter when planning a successful international strategy. These include the language barrier, cultural differences, and various legal and tax matters. For these reasons, it is important to ensure that you account for these difficulties as early in the process as possible.

An audit: A solid foundation of the website

An audit is a comprehensive review, examination, or inspection of an organization’s records and systems to assess their state and quality. The purpose is to provide an objective view of the potential risk. This will help you develop a plan for what needs to be done in order to improve the website’s SEO ranking.

Audience

This includes demographic details like age, profession, values, and culture. When you know who is in the room, you can tailor your talk to their needs and their language. Does this audience primarily speak one language, or are they bilingual? What country do they reside in? How do they spend their time, and what interests them? You need to know all this in order to adjust changes to the website according to their needs.

Current ranking position

The first step is to identify your place in search rankings internationally. The Google Analytics tool will help you with this – you can use it to narrow down the results by country and language. To do this, go to your user panel in the “Audience” tab and apply the “Geo” filter. You will then know where your content is visible and whether it has been translated into other languages.

Check the market situation

During the strategy’s development, you must analyze the country’s market situation and assess its potential. Check GDP per capita, see what share of sales your e-commerce sites have, and what interests overseas customers the most. Additionally, you should consider national and local competition – remember that you have to fit into the country’s fabric, which is not easy.

Time zones like hurdles

Also, take into account the differences in time zones. This is important in the context of access to communication channels, the time of publication of messages, or ad targeting. Use the Google Calendar tools that allow you to set many different time zones. Additionally, you can save seasonal events there, which also affects the website’s conversion and click-through rates.

Domain and hosting

It’s always a good idea to audit your domain and hosting before you start any international strategy. You want to make sure that you are using the best possible configuration for all the countries you are targeting with your site.

URL structure

A URL structure audit is a great way to assess all parts of your website and identify any weaknesses, so you can make the appropriate changes before they become a problem. Some of the things that should be considered when auditing include: how many URLs are there on your site, are any URLs duplicated across pages, or do you have duplicate titles.

Hreflang

Most webmasters are familiar with the hreflang attribute. It is used to specify language and geographic targeting for websites and pages in order to offer visitors the most relevant content in their own language, according to their location. Hreflang tags can also be used to specify which version of a page should be served when a user clicks on a link from another site that points to your site.

Keywords

Finding out which keywords they are searching for will allow you to optimize your site for those specific phrases and provide what that user is looking for. Check if the phrases you have chosen pass the exam and connect with the users’ search intentions. This is especially difficult when targeting a diverse audience.

Content

In the realm of search engine optimization, it is critical to understand that different countries have their own unique cultures and customs. This means certain website features will be more important in one country than in another.

Geo-targeting is a way to ensure that your website ranks well in the geographic region where you are located. For example, if you have offices located in London and New York but want to rank for keywords like London office space and New York office space, your site will need to be optimized for those cities.

Backlinks

An audit may be a great way to build backlinks. Backlinks are the number one strategy for increasing your search engine rankings. The more links you have, the higher your site will rank. Conducting audits on these types of websites can help you find opportunities for building links back to your website.

In conclusion

Auditing is a crucial step in the planning process for international SEO. It helps you better understand your market and competition and allows you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Once you’ve completed the audit, it’s time to create a plan to help drive your business’s success.