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International SEO

International SEO is when a company’s strategy shifts its focus from only one specific country to other or additional countries.

SEO from an international perspective

To win internationally, you need to focus locally. Although it may seem paradoxical, this is the SEO strategy you should adopt to succeed globally. 90% of users search in their own language on Google and other search engines, making Google a local search engine. Therefore, you should focus on the interplay between local markets and the search engine's focus on helping users locally. This means the content you have on your site should be tailored to the country or countries you operate in. In other words, you need to create local value to sell globally.

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Global SEO strategies with local relevance

To meet the needs of different markets, you must combine a global SEO strategy with local adaptation. It is not just about words. It is also about understanding the culture and values of each market. When you understand each market's cultural and linguistic differences, you can create content that is both relevant and authentic for local audiences. This includes everything from locally optimized landing pages to keyword strategies that reflect unique search trends in specific markets.

Benefits of international SEO

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    Create a larger customer base

    Capture customers who don't know your business by optimizing content for local search habits and cultures, expanding your market.

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    Generate more traffic and revenue

    Generate more traffic, leads, and sales from search engines by developing a targeted SEO strategy for each country.

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    Increase brand awareness

    Create content and optimize for local markets to increase awareness of your product or service.

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    Competitive advantage

    Gain an edge by tailoring SEO strategies to the specific needs of each market.

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    Get a unified solution

    Partner with us for a comprehensive solution with local insights and global expertise.

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    Maintain control

    Maintain control over costs and development by centralizing the SEO strategy while decentralizing execution to local experts.

Consultancy focused on international SEO

If you want to expand your digital presence to a new market, careful planning and a robust international SEO strategy are required. At Novicell, we have developed an approach to international SEO that ensures successful expansion. Our native approach to international SEO focuses on local experts who deliver tailored solutions for each market. We understand the cultural and linguistic differences that affect your business' success across borders. By combining in-depth market knowledge with proven strategies, we help you achieve measurable results and growth in new markets.

Our native approach

We have a native approach to international SEO, also called a mother tongue approach. For us, international SEO is much more than just translating content; it is about understanding local market dynamics and cultures. Our approach is to use native speakers with local knowledge for international strategies. Our international team includes local specialists who use their in-depth knowledge of their respective markets to create tailored SEO strategies.

Novicell’s maturity model for international SEO

  • Niveau 11

    One market & one language

    At this level, the company does SEO in its home market in its own language. When the SEO focus is on one country and one language, it is relatively simple to optimize content and strategy. There is no need for translations or adaptations to different markets, making it easy to work with SEO.

  • Niveau 22

    Multiple markets, one language

    The company expands to multiple countries but sticks to one language, typically English. This requires an understanding of different market dynamics and competition conditions but avoids language barriers, making it more complex than national SEO. International SEO begins at this level.

  • Niveau 33

    Multiple markets, multiple languages | Translation

    The company expands to multiple markets and languages but directly translates content. This adds a layer of complexity regarding language barriers and cultural differences but lacks local nuance and precision.

  • Niveau 44

    Multiple markets, multiple languages | Native approach

    Novicell helps the company with international SEO via a native approach that takes local search demand and cultural differences into account. Here, content is not only linguistically but also culturally adapted to each market. This requires deep local knowledge and native speakers, significantly increasing complexity compared to simple translation.

  • Niveau 55

    Multiple markets, multiple languages | Native approach & local search engines

    Novicell helps the company with international SEO via a native approach while also considering local search engines. In addition to local linguistic and cultural adaptation, optimization is also carried out for other local search engines such as Yahoo, Yandex, and Naver, further increasing complexity with different algorithms and ranking factors.

  • Niveau 66

    Multiple markets, multiple languages | Native approach, local search engines & SEO behind firewalls

    Novicell helps the company with international SEO via a native approach, considering local search engines and making it possible to perform SEO in China, where the internet is regulated. This level has the highest complexity, where the SEO strategy must also take strict internet regulations in countries like China into account. This requires specialized knowledge and strategies to navigate internet firewalls and local censorship rules.

Content and geotargeting

We believe in delivering tailored content that appeals to each target audience. We work closely with our clients to understand their business goals and target markets, and we create specific content for each country and language. This means that we do not just optimize existing content, we also adapt it to the local market by developing new content tailored to the local audience. Our geotargeting tactics ensure that the correct content is displayed to the right users in the right countries.

Keyword analysis with native speakers

At Novicell, we use native speakers to perform keyword analyses to ensure accuracy and relevance. We never machine translate keyword analyses, as this can lead to misleading results. We understand that high-volume keywords vary across markets, so we adapt our approach to each specific market. For example, "løse tæpper" in Denmark has 1,700 monthly searches, while a generic translation to "loose carpets" in the UK only has 10 monthly searches. A native transcreation to "rugs," however, reflects actual search demand with 72,000 monthly searches.

Technical SEO and hreflang

Technical SEO is the foundation of a successful international SEO strategy, and hreflang tags are critical for proper geotargeting. We conduct a comprehensive technical analysis of each client's website, identifying areas that require improvement. Hreflang tags are correctly implemented, ensuring that each version of the website is displayed correctly in relevant countries.

Reporting and analysis

When working with international strategies across many markets, it is important to have a solid overview of how your strategy works globally and locally. Effective reporting and analysis are key to understanding and optimizing international SEO strategies. We provide tailored dashboards that collect KPIs and performance data across markets, giving clients a clear overview of their global performance. In other words, it helps you understand how your strategy works globally and locally.

Competencies that ensure your international SEO success

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    Experts

    SEO specialists with over 15 years of experience.

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    International knowledge

    Consultants with international experience who perform SEO across many markets.

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    Broad industry knowledge

    Performs SEO in many industries and can relate to your specific business.

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    Own offices in different countries

    We have our own offices in different countries in Europe with local specialists who know the language and culture.

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    Large portfolio

    We help more than 50+ companies grow their business through SEO.

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    In-house developers

    We have our own developers who can fix the SEO technical challenges on your platform.

Novicell has developed and implemented an effective international SEO strategy that has helped us increase our website traffic and optimise our ROI. Novicell has also implemented paid campaigns on multiple channels and provided us with the right analysis and advice to drive the most possible conversions.

I am very satisfied with the quality of their online marketing services and their cooperative approach. I am grateful for their expertise and commitment.

Close-up of a woman's face
Sayaka Soma, Digital Marketing Manager
Excedo
Read the case here

Selected companies we have helped with digital marketing

Novicell’s international SEO process

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    Introduction

    We create a deep understanding of your business and business model, strategy, resources, budgets, goals, and much more useful information when we need to develop a strategy and a roadmap for collaboration with you.

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    General situation

    We analyze where your current traffic comes from and how many keywords you rank for in these countries. How is the competition in the given countries? What is the demand in these countries for your products/services?

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    Technical evaluation

    We examine your site from an SEO technical perspective. We ensure that all necessary tracking programs such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Business Profile, and Google Tag Manager are set up. These programs are essential to understanding user behavior in later analyses.

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    Market research

    We examine the markets you want to expand to. First, we examine cultural differences in the market to understand if there should be significant changes in your current design. Then we examine your customers' search behavior. That is, which search engines are most popular in the given country, and which keywords does your target audience search for the most.

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    Optimization & implementation

    When the right keywords are found, our international SEO experts assess whether your existing content covers the keywords customers search for. If not, we develop new, locally optimized content that matches the culture and language of the target audience. We also improve technical SEO by correctly setting up hreflang tags and structuring the website to meet the requirements in each market.

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    Reporting & data analysis

    We always offer dashboards to ensure it is easy for you to understand the achieved results and show you a trend over the most important KPIs.

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