International SEO Strategy: How to Optimise Your Website

Consider this: Your website is #1 on Google… but only within your home nation. What about prospective customers from the US, UK, UAE, Singapore, or even Brazil?

If your business offers or desires to capture a worldwide audience, international SEO is not a nicety — it's a must.

We've witnessed firsthand at GBIM how intelligent international SEO unlocks new markets and fuels rapid traffic growth. If you're a SaaS company going global or an online store shipping globally, you need a strategy that addresses every market.

Let's go into how to write a killer international SEO strategy, informed by our experience as a seasoned seo specialist and one of India's top marketing service providers.

1. Talk the Language — Literally and Strategically

One of the most significant errors businesses make? Thinking in English will suffice.

Yes, it's widely used. But humans still search, shop, and make purchasing decisions in their home language. If you're marketing to Spain, France, or Japan, translating content is not a nicety — it's a requirement.

But here's the twist — don't use Google Translate.

Utilise native-language SEO experts or localisation platforms to:

• Contextually translate content

• Adapt cultural references

• Make keywords work well in the local search environment

Pro Tip by GBIM: Employ hreflang tags to inform Google which version of your site to display in a specific region. It keeps you from duplicate content problems and provides the correct version of your content to the correct audience. 

2. Country vs. Language Targeting: Select the Appropriate Structure

Do you write separate websites for different countries? Or subfolders? This is one of the most significant international SEO discussions in 2025.

Here are the top options:

Country Code Domains → example.fr, example.in

• Ideal for high geo-specific trust

• Costly to maintain

Subdomains → fr.example.com, uk.example.com

• Less complex to manage

• Poorer SEO signals

Subdirectories → example.com/fr/, example.com/uk/

• Powerful SEO authority from a single domain

• Easier to scale

At GBIM, we typically suggest subdirectories if you're new to this. They're SEO-friendly and cost-effective — but the last decision is up to your business model.

3. Keyword Research By Region — One Size Does Not Fit All

Here's something most marketing service providers fail to take note of: keywords act differently across boundaries.

For example, you're optimising for "mobile phones" in India. In the UK, users may look for "smartphones," in Japan, they may look for brand + model searches.

To do this correctly, we:

• Utilise tools such as Semrush, Ahrefs, and Google Trends by location.

• Take advice from local experts to learn about buying behaviour.

• Study competitors already ranking in that region.

GBIM's SEO experts craft region-specific keyword strategies rather than translating keywords, which pays off quickly.

4. Optimise Website Speed Across the World (Yes, CDNs Do Count!)

Here's the scenario: Your website loads lightning-fast in India… but takes 7 seconds to load in Germany. That's a bounce in the making.

Page speed is an explicit ranking signal and impacts user experience more critically. To better serve users globally:

• Implement a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare or AWS CloudFront.

• Compress and cache assets for quicker delivery.

• Optimise server response time per location.

GBIM audits and optimises global websites not only for SEO, but for real-time user behaviour internationally.

5. Take Advantage of Local Search Engines (Google Isn't Always King)

Google has the lion's share worldwide, but not on every continent.

China: Baidu reigns

Russia: Yandex continues to dominate

South Korea: Naver rules

If your target audience uses something besides Google, your SEO strategy must differ, from meta tags to word length and backlinking.

Our GBIM team collaborates with international partners and research tools to optimise for non-Google engines, enabling brands to go global honestly.

6. Establish Local Backlinks — Worldwide

Local authority links matter more for global SEO than backlinks as a whole. 

Example:

• French companies should receive links from .fr sites.

• A Dubai website will gain from .ae backlinks.

• UK-targeted service providers require .co.uk backlinks.

We assist clients in obtaining region-relevant backlinks using digital PR, local directories, and influencer collaborations.

Trust generates traffic, and local relevance instils trust.

7. Be Culturally Aware with Content

Think that content is all about translation? Think twice.

• A shade used to denote celebration in India may denote mourning in another country.

• Comedy does not always translate.

• A case study of US consumers could be off-putting to German readers.

That's why our SEO experts at GBIM concentrate on content localisation; we translate content culturally, rather than linguistically. It's one of the quickest-growing trends in global marketing this year. 

8. Measure What Matters: Global Analytics

If you’re optimising for multiple regions, your reporting has to go deeper than overall traffic.

Track by:

• Country and language

• Device and browser (different markets have different trends)

• Conversion rates per region

• Bounce rates per language page

We use Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, and localised heatmaps to give clients actionable insights for each market.

Final Thoughts: Your Global SEO Partner Matters

Going global is not merely translation or visibility — it's about knowing each region, modifying your approach, and keeping current with algorithm changes impacting international rankings.

At GBIM, we don't merely provide SEO — we provide strategic SEO consultation on an international level, assisting you in reaching audiences globally with clarity, framework, and quantifiable growth.

Ready to grow your global reach?

Contact our SEO experts and make GBIM your go-to marketing service provider for global SEO success. Call us now!