The document discusses dos and don'ts for international SEO. It recommends giving international versions their own web structure with URLs in the relevant language. It advises against automatically redirecting users based on IP or language, and suggests localizing versions for country targeting rather than just translating. The document also recommends identifying the best international targeting approach and researching each international audience's unique behaviors and preferences.

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INTERNATIONAL SEO
7
DOS & DONTS
in 10 minutes

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I’m Aleyda Solis
SEO AT SEER INTERACTIVE
INTERNATIONAL, MOBILE & TECHNICAL SEARCH MARKETER
aleydas@seerinteractive.com / @aleyda / www.aleydasolis.com

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DO
GIVE YOUR INTERNATIONAL VERSIONS THEIR OWN WEB STRUCTURE
(CCTLDS OR SUBDIRECTORIES) WITH URLS IN RELEVANT LANGUAGE

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YOUR LANGUAGE OR COUNTRY VERSIONS SHOULD NOT BE SHOWN
THROUGH COOKIES OR SCRIPTS IN THE SAME URLS
Same URL, different Languages

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DON’T
AUTOMATICALLY REDIRECT USERS TO OTHER LANGUAGES OR
COUNTRY VERSIONS BASED ON THEIR IP OR BROWSER LANGUAGE

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SUGGEST THE RELEVANT VERSION INSTEAD OF REDIRECT
Great Amazon
Not bad TripAdvisor

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DO
LOCALIZE YOUR INTERNATIONAL VERSIONS IF YOU’RE COUNTRY
TARGETING, NOT ONLY TRANSLATE

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REMEMBER THAT THE SAME LANGUAGE CAN BE USED
DIFFERENTLY ACROSS DIVERSE COUNTRIES
Mobile vs. Cell Phone

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REMEMBER THAT THE SAME LANGUAGE CAN BE USED
DIFFERENTLY ACROSS DIVERSE COUNTRIES
Use Google Keywords Tool, Google Trends, SEMRush, SearchMetrics, UberSuggest ... and hire local support!
Mobile vs. Cell Phone

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DON’T
MIX HREFLANG WITH CANONICAL TAGS REFERRING TO OTHER
LANGUAGE OR COUNTRY VERSIONS AS THE ORIGINAL SOURCES

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IF YOU’RE USING HREFLANG YOU WANT TO INDEX
ALL OF YOUR LANGUAGE & COUNTRY VERSIONS
This type of “mix” usage is OK

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IF YOU’RE USING HREFLANG YOU WANT TO INDEX
ALL OF YOUR LANGUAGE & COUNTRY VERSIONS
Take a look at the specification: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?
This type of “mix” usage is OK

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DO
IDENTIFY THE BEST INTERNATIONAL TARGETING:
COUNTRY OR LANGUAGE?

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YOUR INTERNATIONAL TARGETING WILL DEPEND ON YOUR
BUSINESS AND AUDIENCE REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS

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YOUR INTERNATIONAL TARGETING WILL DEPEND ON YOUR
BUSINESS AND AUDIENCE REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS
You can Language target when location is not a factor for your business or it is, but your
audience is very distributed and you can’t target each one of them specifically at the start.
Take a look at http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/international-seo-strategy-guide

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DON’T
ASSUME YOUR INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE WILL BEHAVE THE SAME,
SEASONALITY, TRENDS AND PREFERENCES MIGHT BE DIFFERENT

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RESEARCH EACH INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE TO IDENTIFY ITS
BEHAVIOUR AND PROFILE

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RESEARCH EACH INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE TO IDENTIFY ITS
BEHAVIOUR AND PROFILE
Take a look at GDN Profiles, Alexa, Digital Life, IAB & Omniture’s research per country

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FOOTBALL: THE WORLD VS. USA
77

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DO
USE HREFLANG CONSISTENTLY IN YOUR INTERNATIONAL VERSIONS
TARGETING YOUR RELEVANT LANGUAGE AND COUNTRY

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YOU CAN FEATURE HREFLANG NOT ONLY ON YOUR SITE CODE BUT
ALSO IN XML SITEMAPS

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YOU CAN FEATURE HREFLANG NOT ONLY ON YOUR SITE CODE BUT
ALSO IN XML SITEMAPS
Check the MediaFlow tool http://www.themediaflow.com/resources/tools/href-lang-tool/

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LET’S GO INTERNATIONAL

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THANKS
QUESTIONS?
aleydas@seerinteractive.com / @aleyda / www.aleydasolis.com