According to a new report, global eCommerce revenues exceed one trillion US dollars – and the trend is upward. Today, any second company operates internationally, and the majority of them also engage in international digital marketing. Ecommerce shop owners have a lot of potentials when it comes to selling their goods overseas. However, multinational digital marketing is a significant obstacle. If you wish to match your corporate strategies on a global scale, you must understand certain unique characteristics and change your strategy accordingly. Shivagya Infosoft explains in this article how international digital marketing can be effective.
1. International digital marketing challenges
Anyone interested in working in cross-border eCommerce faces several unique obstacles. Before internationalization, an appropriate alternative for each of them must be sought. You will also want to look at eCommerce SEO tips to help you increase your eCommerce shop visits and conversions.
Language:
Employees who speak the target country’s language – preferably fluent speakers – are needed for international digital marketing. You may also partner with translators and/or international organizations. This is the best way to collaborate effectively. Since many countries’ English language levels are low, phone contact is difficult.
Cultural distinctions:
Each nation has its own language, as well as its own collection of priorities. Your texts and argumentation on your websites must be tailored to the target country’s language and history, as well as the user interface and architecture.
Legal and economic circumstances:
Different legal and economic system requirements apply in the regions, which you must remember when internationalizing to avoid the possibility of costly legal conflicts (e.g., warnings due to incorrect information on the website, etc.).
Competitors:
The challenge for international digital marketing is that the business environment for individual industries varies tremendously. It is possible that it is much more difficult to achieve top positions in another country than in one’s own. There are also significant variations in the costs per click for online promotions (CPC) in the respective countries, as well as the rates for “sponsored posts” for link building. The latter is a type of advertisement that allows you to place high-quality content on related topics on an online publication.
Tools:
Since certain digital marketing tools do not reach all countries, you must look for alternatives. A tool landscape must be generated to assess visibility values for websites.
Expertise:
Any countries’ experience of digital marketing remains out of date. When looking for SEO project collaborators, you can come across several companies that still sell online catalogs and bookmarks as connecting sources.
Due to these various obstacles, merely translating the website and promotional content, making minor interface changes, and selecting a consistent delivery platform is normally insufficient. To establish a high degree of approval within the target audience, it is critical to adapt texts, style, keywords, and distribution platforms to the industry.
2. What are the most relevant search engines?
Before designing an international digital marketing campaign, it is essential to decide which search engines are important in the target countries. This is the best way to determine whether a website can be optimized solely for Google or other search engines. Since SEO rating parameters can vary drastically from one another. Google has a market share of nearly 70% worldwide, giving it a market-leading position in almost every region.
3. Communication – an integral part of global digital marketing performance
Communication with cooperative partners and translators must be smooth and effective to be successful in international digital marketing. E-mails to agency partners, link-building messages, and ads in Search Engine Ads (SEA) must be prepared and translated using the most relevant keywords in the respective region. It should be remembered that one does not depend entirely on the partners, but rather centrally reviews all resources such as texts and links to ensure consistency.
When interacting with partnership partners, country-specific characteristics must be taken into consideration. The English address normally fits well in Northern Europe, but it leaves much to be desired in certain Eastern European countries. It has been shown that having the letters translated by native speakers and only using them to reach local collaborators is a safer way.
After the initial communication in the respective national language is completed and the first hurdle is met, further communication will normally be continued in English. This ensures independence from freelancers and translators and helps the organization to eventually discuss the terms of the collaboration on its own.
4. Keyword research and connection building: Best practices in international SEO and SEA
Keyword research:
When internationalizing web projects, a different keyword strategy must be developed for each market, both in SEO and SEA, which serves as the foundation for all subsequent optimization steps and precisely maps the search behavior in the respective target country and language. The approach means that the website is found with all of the target country’s and language’s relevant keywords. Person search activity for products and services can vary by region. The Keyword Planner can be used to study keywords that are relevant to the target country. Aside from the target area, the quest may also be restricted to a single language. In comparison, using the top AdWords keywords in the study has proved useful.
When designing a global keyword strategy, keep in mind that the market for a given offer varies by country. In internationalization, the diverse tactics of rivals must be understood. When allocating money, countries must determine whether there is good competition for a commodity.
Content:
Can you have any material that you’d like to feature on a global scale? Texts for your website, for example, or AdWords ad texts? The document can then be converted into the target language by native speakers who are fluent in that language. This avoids cultural faux pas, since all content, whether text, pictures, figures, icons, or gestures, must match and appeal. Furthermore, the same object has different names in different countries.
Link building:
Since off-page optimization accounts for roughly half of search engine optimization, country-specific requirements must be addressed when creating links to improve the website’s findability in the target country and to direct visitors in a targeted manner. Permanent partnership members in individual countries can be used as part of the link-building mechanism. The benefit: Off-page marketing is conveniently scalable; you can do a lot in a brief period of time without first training your own staff. It is important to ensure that, in addition to the terminology used, the top-level domain of the linked and the linked website are in agreement, as this has a positive impact on the ranking.
Technology:
To guarantee that the correct content on your website is located in the right country, all technical criteria must be fulfilled, and search engines may allocate content to country-specific categories. First and foremost, it is essential to determine which Internet addresses (URLs) can be used to access the website in the future. There are some ways to label the respective country variants in the URL for foreign web projects: It is possible to use a country-specific top-level domain, as well as many subdomains or subdirectories. The following table summarizes the benefits and drawbacks of the various implementation solutions.
| Implementation | The strengths and limitations | |
| Country-specific top-level domain (TLD) | Strengths: + Clear structure + Better chances of ranking / higher trust + Better adapting to cultural circumstances due to your own platform + Only one country domain impacted if punished |
Limitations: – Significant operational effort is required– SEO procedures are involved for all domains |
| Subdomains | Strengths: + they are easier to handle than TLDs + potential fines do not reach the main page |
Limitations: – Measures for the main domain have little effect on the subdomain; specific SEO measures for the subdomain are needed. |
| Subdirectories | Strengths: + Benefits from SEO initiatives for the main page + SEO measures for country subdirectories benefit the main page. + Just one domain to manage, technology core |
Limitations: – Less intuitive than TLD – Specific layout determined by the main page – Penalizing a directory may have ramifications for the whole domain |
How do you guarantee that a consumer from a particular country is led to the right country version? This is particularly true when accessing generic top-level domains like.com or.NET. Via an IP-based mechanism, the user may be immediately routed to the corresponding country list. If the user was wrongly selected by the automated method, the user should be able to navigate other country models, for example, from a menu. However, there is no filtering choice if a user joins a particular country domain, such as www.example.fr. However, if a comparison of the inquiring party’s IP address and the chosen country version shows a difference, the user should be given the option of selecting between the requested country and the “real” position in a pop-up menu.
By using the rel = “alternate” hreflang = “x” relation parameter, you guarantee that Google knows the website’s geographical orientation and provides the relevant language version to the user. The use of the hreflang tag is also critical for avoiding redundant text. Google gets a greater understanding of the project’s international website design as a result of this. When similar content is used on various pages, it is referred to as redundant content. However, “mixing” is not recommended for usability purposes, as shipping costs vary by country.
Google has lately emphasized its desire to make the Internet as fast as flipping a page. Also marginally longer loading times have an impact on bounce and conversion rates, so the time it takes to completely load a page should be considered. The loading time of each language edition must be taken into account first and foremost in international digital marketing, particularly when it comes to your own top-level domains.
If necessary, each country edition should be hosted in the respective country to demonstrate the importance of local ranking to search engines. This, though, is not feasible for a subdomain.
Reporting:
Each online presence in a multinational digital marketing initiative must be tracked separately. Person profiles must be generated in the Webmaster Console and Google Analytics for each language version for this purpose (whether at the top-level domain, subdomain, or subdirectory level). The benefit is that different countries can be analyzed independently, and technological difficulties in a country (for example, an aggregation of 404 errors) can be found more easily. Furthermore, backlinks, exposure, and rankings in related search engines must be tracked regularly.
5. Channels and their unique characteristics of internationalization
International SEA projects include:
Digital advertisers face obstacles in designing and funding multinational SEA initiatives. The following considerations should be made:
- Each website must have a corresponding language version (no routing to the English language version!)
- Personnel for the creation and implementation of multinational campaigns
- Advertising program collection (Google is dominant here almost everywhere)
- Individual targeting approach
- Recognizing global business opportunities
It is important not to automatically convert the original language campaign into the target language when designing and refining campaigns. Since search activity varies by region, several synonyms and terms cannot be converted “one to one” into the target language. Working with native speakers who also have SEA awareness is needed to achieve a satisfactory level of quality here.
Each employee conducts keyword analysis in their native language, adapts the address in the ad texts to the specifics of their target market, and constantly optimizes the campaigns based on search query reports.
Price search engines:
Since the majority of price search engines in Europe are well placed, foreign expansion is always worthwhile. A strong campaign relies on high-quality results. The more accurate the transmitted data, the easier it is to locate in price comparison engines. In the case of a foreign initiative, the feed’s language and currency must be pre-adjusted to the target region. Furthermore, the feeds must be tailored for the appropriate price search engine.
Social media marketing:
Social media marketing: When working with end consumers in certain countries, social media marketing will become the most effective marketing strategy for attracting attention to yourself in a focused way. However, it is important to keep a few special features in mind here as well. If you wish to introduce international digital marketing, you must first determine the best social media advertising channel. Even though Facebook is the most popular platform in nearly every region, the most popular platforms can vary significantly based on the target audience in each country. You can also learn about the various show choices. Anyone who engages with international social media spheres should be mindful of cultural nuances. It is important to note: So that business contact will take place equally through several languages, below is a list of some countries and the dominant social networks in each:
Social Media Stats Europe
- Facebook – 79.31%
- Pinterest – 9.49%
- Twitter – 6.48%
- Instagram – 1.48%
Australia
- Facebook – 61.8%
- Pinterest – 16.08%
- Twitter – 15.55%
- Instagram – 1.62%
USA
- Facebook – 51.72%
- Pinterest – 21.66%
- Twitter – 21.96%
- Instagram – 1.41%
Switzerland
- Facebook – 63.09%
- Pinterest – 19.7%
- Twitter – 11.52%
- Instagram – 1.4%
An international SEO project’s flowchart
The method for a multinational SEO project is shown below. A website with several nation domains can create high-quality backlinks.
Creating a keyword strategy:
To begin, a separate keyword collection containing the most appropriate keywords for each country must be developed. This is critical for determining progress later on. The keywords can be decided using SEO methods such as the Google Keyword Planner, as well as a market comparison with the relevant local competitors. It is necessary to note that keywords cannot always be translated one to one. Different translations of the same word may exist in different countries, but they do not all have the same meaning. If available, the top AdWords keywords from the respective country have proven useful for SEO optimization.
Tip: Defining essential keywords simplifies work in international digital marketing since initial analyses can be performed without knowledge of the native language. In this country, who is ranking for the keyword? Is there a connection here? This is enough to evaluate the related SEO values, such as ranking position, etc. This ensures that there are no extra translation charges. Translation costs are then incurred only when texts are produced.
Proceed further:
The protocol in-country is the same as it is for a national program. An editorial plan and a link building plan must be developed; link building is done in collaboration with translators, and quality management is done by permanent employees.
Tip: Google Translator and free translation tools help to understand and understand the content of the respective page when building links.
The SEO initiatives’ targets were as follows:
– Growth in revenue
– Significant increase in market share
Challenges
Apart from language variations between non-English and English-speaking nations, the demands and degree of education in SEO vary greatly across the globe.
Results
There were only a few variations between the Non-English-speaking region and other ventures, so rapid successes were accomplished. Despite some unexpected additional obstacles, most countries were able to achieve significant results.
The downside of certain countries’ lack of or incomparable digital marketing systems is also their definitive advantage. The visibility and keyword rankings could be significantly improved with very little organizational effort. In certain nations, awareness has grown by more than 100 percent in just six months.
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