国际SEO：如何为其他国家优化您的网站

搜索引擎优化（SEO）对于帮助您的品牌达到搜索结果的首页至关重要，并且理想地爬升为主要关键字的前5个位置。

But what happens when you want to expand outside of local markets? With Google now seeing more than3.5 billionsearches per day, there's a massive opportunity for brands to capture new customers. The caveat is that existing SEO practices may not translate — and in some cases, may actually hurt your brand in other countries.

To avoid this potential pitfall, a robust international SEO strategy is critical. Here’s what you need to know about what it is, how it works, how it’ll benefit you, and what steps you can take to create an effective plan.

Ready? Shkojme! Idemo! Vámonos! Let’s go!

Effective strategies leverage a combination of geographic and language data to develop SEO plans that drive reliable ROI. A strong international SEO strategy will help your company reach new markets and multiply revenue.

What does international SEO do for company websites?

An international SEO strategy for websites focuses on creating content that’s applicable to local markets, as well as developing a网站结构that makes it easy for search engines to find and serve the right webpages to the right users at the right time.

Consider a company that sells window shades in the United States and is making a move into Canada. First, you’ll want to ensure Canadian customers are sent to the right pages on your website — pages that contain information about Canadian locations, Canadian shipping times, and fees and costs in CAD.

您将需要一个网站结构，其中包括美国和加拿大页面，并利用足够的元数据，用户搜索请求将其引导到当前位置的正确页面。

Does my business need an international SEO strategy?

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If you have no plans to expand beyond local markets — such as your current city or state — international SEO probably isn’t worth the time and resources required. In fact, international SEO can backfire if your business is entirely local. Customers who land on international pages won’t be happy when they discover you serve a very small geographic area.

On the other hand, if you’re looking to expand beyond country borders, it’s worth spending on international SEO. Given the sheer number of companies competing on the global stage and the increased challenge in ranking highly for relevant keywords, a comprehensive strategy is critical.

Still not sure whether you should go for a local SEO strategy or international SEO strategy?

There are four primary differentiators between本地SEOand international SEO:

• Cost: Owing to their scale and scope, international SEO efforts come with significant costs.

• Content:确保国际业务,你需要create significantly more content than you would for a local SEO strategy.

• Capture: International SEO expands the target market you’re trying to capture, which necessitates in-depth research to ensure your brand aligns with customer expectations.
• Competition: Competition for keywords and customers is much greater for international SEO efforts. Instead of simply competing with other businesses in the same local sphere of influence, you could be up against multinational corporations.

有关国际SEO的问题

Not sure how to get your international SEO efforts off the ground? Start with these questions.

1. Where are you headed?
2. Should you target language or country?
3. 哪些本地化因素最重要？
4. How can you build local links?
5. Does social media matter?
6. 当前关键字足够好吗？
7. Do you have the right tools and talent?

1.你在哪里？

根据您针对的世界的不同，您的国际SEO方法将改变。例如，如果您要去中国，最受欢迎的搜索引擎是百度，而Yandex是俄罗斯的首选。这些引擎中的每一个都有自己的SEO方法，这意味着您值得您研究以了解排名最重要的内容。

2. Should you target language or country?

This is a common international SEO question: Are you better-served targeting a specific language or a country? The answer depends on your goals. If you’re looking to appeal to a broad audience regardless of where they live, language optimization may be the answer. If you’re looking to grow brand awareness in a specific part of the world, opt for country-based SEO.

3. What localization factors matter most?

Localization is the process of optimizing your website and content to reflect the local language and culture. Two of the most important factors here are accuracy and common use: First, it’s critical to make sure that translations of any keywords or slogans are accurate — direct translations can open your brand and services to misinterpretations, such as the always-classic “Come alive with Pepsi” slogan translated as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead” in Chinese markets.

Common use is the other concern. The words and phrases used to describe your business and what it does may not be the same in other languages, even if the literal translation of words gives that impression. Find out what words locals use to describe your products and services and use those instead.

4. How can you build local links?

建立回到您网站的本地链接也有助于国际SEO。在这里，最好为本地博客撰写文章，在提供建议或有用信息的网站上获得赞助，与当地的社交媒体影响者联系，并赞助本地活动。

5. Does social media matter?

尽管Google明确表示，社交媒体并没有将其纳入国际SEO排名，但您可以通过强大的社交媒体在场来提高品牌知名度和本地影响者的联系。

6. Are current keywords good enough?

While your current keywords may help you rank in the top 5 locally, the sheer number of companies competing for these keywords in global markets means you need to take a look at who’s using these keywords, where they rank, and whether other similar keywords might drive better results.

7. Do you have the right tools and talent?

Finally, consider if this is something you can take on yourself or if you’re better off hiring an experienced international SEO company.

影响国际SEO的因素

多种因素影响国际SEO，包括：

Customer Reviews

Customer reviews on your website or on local review sites can positively or negatively impact your SEO efforts. Better reviews mean better connection with your primary keyword, in turn boosting your visibility.

Mobile Responsiveness

您网站在移动设备上的响应能力对整体搜索排名也很重要。结果，值得一试content delivery network (CDN)无论用户在世界范围内，都能提供顶级网站体验。

Google我的业务帐户

Your Google My Business Account can help boost your SEO efforts — so long as you ensure to update where your company is operating. This acts as a starting point for Google to seek out geographic and language metadata on your site.

Link Building

The more links heading back to your site from international sources, the better. As mentioned above, it’s a good idea to write for local blogs or connect with influencers to point links back to your website.

如何制定国际SEO战略

Ready to develop your international SEO strategy? Start here.

1. Decide where and who you’ll target.

First, pick your target market and target audience. For example, you might decide to target the larger market of Brazil, then hone in on a subset of that market that has the means and motive to buy your product. The more focused your decisions around “where” and “who,” the better your results.

2.确定您是否会聘请国际SEO代理商。

Do you want to do the heavy lifting of international SEO yourself or outsource this effort? There are advantages to both — you know your brand better than anyone else, but SEO experts are skilled at understanding local customs and preferences and creating a strategy to match.

3. Conduct international keyword research.

在家中适合您的关键字可能无法在国外工作。这可能仅仅取决于关键字量，或者可能与目标市场中的客户如何指向您的业务有关。例如，美国的审判律师在英国被称为大律师 - 如果您是一家寻求扩大业务的法律公司，那么这是关键的关键字差异。

4. Choose the right international domain structure.

您网站的域结构使访问者和搜索引擎更容易（或更难）找到您的内容。不同的选项包括：

ccTLD

Country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) are two-letter domains assigned to specific countries. For example, .us is for the United States, .ca is for Canada, and .uk is for the United Kingdom. To improve international SEO, you may choose to create a unique ccTLD site for each country where your products or services are available.

示例：mybusiness.ca，mybusiness.uk

gTLD

A generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD), meanwhile, refers to domain extensions with three or more characters; these TLDs are maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Common examples include .com, .gov and .org.

Using a gTLD means that search engines won’t restrict results based on region, but it may reduce total traffic since many users prefer sites that include their country code TLD.

Example: mybusiness.com

CCTLD或GTLD带有子域

You can also choose to create subdomains for your site which combine aspects of both ccTLDs and gTLDs.

Example: ca.mybusiness.com

This offers the benefit of a country code and the advantages of a gTLD.

ccTLD or gTLD with subdirectories

Subdirectories, meanwhile, change the location of the country code:

示例：mybusiness.com/ca/

5. Optimize content for the region and language

最后,确保所有内容优化for both your target region and its local language. This includes double-checking all TLDs, translations, and content assets to ensure they’re aligned with local expectations.

Oh, and don’t forget thehreflang tag。This HTML attribute specifies the geographic area and language of a webpage. It’s used to differentiate similar webpages aimed at different audiences so that search engines don’t count them as duplicate content, and it looks like this:

国际SEO工具

正确的工具还可以通过在网站上提供可行的数据，点击和时间来帮助您最大程度地提高国际SEO的影响。一些最受欢迎的工具包括：

集线器

HubSpot的SEO软件使bob电竞官方下载您可以创建国际内容策略，为您提供实时提示以改进页面上的SEO，并允许您以一种易于搜索引擎和用户了解的方式来组织网站。

Google搜索控制台

Google搜索控制台lets you see what queries are driving traffic to your site, determine your position on Google Search, and analyze global site impressions.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO toolset that lets you optimize your site, analyze your competitors’ rankings, and find the best keywords for your brand.

Moz

Moz offers site audits to determine potential issues, tracks keyword rankings across more than 170 search engines, analyzes backlink profiles to evaluate performance, and offers keyword research tools to find out how you stack up against the competition.

Semrush

Semrush lets you identify high-value local and national keywords, analyze the backlink profile of any domain, and track your site’s SERP positions daily.

谷歌分析

Google Analytics（分析）是一套相互联系的工具套件，可帮助您分析全球网站内容的影响。

International SEO Best Practices

No matter what approach you take to international SEO — language-focused or country-based, outsourced or in-house — the same best practices apply. Let’s take a look at them below.

1.在该地区的母语和正确的情况下回答问题。

If there’s one thing to get right for international SEO, it’s making sure you’re speaking the same language as your customers. This means doing your research to ensure you’re always answering questions in their native language and in the appropriate context.

2. Translate existing content carefully.

而翻译工具提供一个文字conversion of words and phrases, they’re often not used this way by locals, meaning customers will quickly recognize that something isn’t quite right. Instead of translation, what you’re really looking for is “transcreation” — you want to recreate the same content but using the culture and language of your target market as a guide.

3.考虑策略中的整个用户体验。

国际SEO不仅仅是关键字和内容。这也是要确保整个用户体验 - 从填写表格到查看本地货币的查看价格或访问包括母语者在内的多媒体资产 - 在您的网站上都无缝地对齐。

4. Avoid automatically redirecting users based on their IP address.

While it’s critical to serve content that matches local user expectations, don’t make the decision for them. Instead of automatically redirecting where they land based on their IP address, give them the option to choose their preferred region.

SEO: Improving Your International Impact

The right SEO strategy sets your brand apart from the crowd. And while this is important in home markets, it’s even more critical if you decide to go international, because it will ensure your website is optimized to support high-value content and keywords across regions and countries. By considering local customs, language, and context, you can boost consumer engagement, improve search engine results, and maximize your international impact.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.