Reaching international customers is no longer just for global corporations with big budgets. With eCommerce and AI-driven platforms expanding rapidly, small and medium-sized businesses can now compete for buyers worldwide.
Over 85% of consumers shop online, and global digital sales are forecast to reach $7.5 trillion in 2025.
The digital landscape is shifting. Optimizing only for Google and Bing is no longer enough. Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are quickly changing how people search for information and make purchasing decisions. Many users now turn to AI-powered assistants for product recommendations, answers, and content discovery, often before visiting a traditional search engine.
Successful international SEO means making your website visible and relevant in every country, language, device, and search environment—both in classic search engines and through AI-powered tools.
For real results, businesses must adapt to local search behaviors, currency preferences, payment systems, privacy regulations, and the way LLMs interpret web content.
Websites built with only English and Google in mind risk missing out on a fast-growing share of international traffic.
If all of this sounds overwhelming, you’re not alone.
To help, we’ve put together a practical international SEO checklist that covers language targeting, technical SEO, content localization, and strategies to increase your visibility in both search engines and LLM-powered platforms.
Ready to connect with more global customers and prepare for the future of online discovery? Let’s get started.
The Ultimate International SEO Checklist: 5 Steps to Global Success
Although the “international” in international SEO makes it seem complex, it’s just an extension of local SEO.
A productive global SEO campaign also relies on the core elements of SEO, like keyword research, content optimization, technical SEO, and link building.
Let’s assume you’ve done your due diligence and researched the regions with potential for the best ROI.
You’ve also performed an international competitor analysis to determine who you’re up against and whether it is even worth investing in SEO for that country. Great! So, now what?
Here are the five essential things to include in your international SEO strategy checklist.
International Keyword Research and Country-Specific SERPS Analysis
If you’ve implemented an SEO strategy in your website or blog’s original language, chances are you’ve also done keyword research.
Keyword research lets you identify the most relevant and valuable keywords for your content.
This process helps you understand what your target audience is searching for to create content that addresses their needs. Businesses generally opt for managed SEO services, as outsourcing is cost-effective and reliable.
The same applies to international SEO. You will perform keyword research for each country/language you target.
Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz let you filter keyword suggestions and volume by searchers’ languages/locations.
International keyword research will also help you understand the words locals use to search for your products or services.
For instance, if you want to rank for a keyword like what is a machine learning model, it’s critical to know what searchers in that location call it. This is because machine learning falls under artificial intelligence.
However, artificial intelligence and machine learning have often been used interchangeably recently.
Consider Local Search Engines
When most people think about SEO and search engines, they think about Google. And that’s unsurprising because tech giants own the lion’s share of the search engine market.
But, when running an international SEO campaign, you need to consider other search engines in each location.
For instance, Baidu is the dominant search engine in China, while Yandex is popular in Russia.
Each search engine has its algorithm and ranking factors, determining which websites appear on the first page of search results.
For example, Baidu prioritizes websites with an ICP (internet content provider) license and servers in China.
Therefore, it’s crucial to understand these factors and optimize your website accordingly.
Localize Your Content
Optimizing your website for international SEO and the benefits sound great in theory. But it also requires a lot of commitment.
The translation is a considerable part of that. But you should do better: translate and optimize it to have a local feel.
You can easily use an automatic translator to translate text into another language.
But these translation tools aren’t flawless. During translation, there are language quirks that a machine won’t pick up.
A poorly executed translation will not improve rankings. Local translators who know the context are the best choice. You will protect your brand’s reputation with local consumers from their first interaction.
An Indian translator, for instance, will know the “contact center” in the keyword what is CCaaS (contact center as a service) is also known as BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) in India.
They will be able to use both in the proper context.
Translation of metadata, including title tags, meta descriptions, and image ALT text, is crucial to search engine optimization.
This ensures that your website is more accessible and relevant for users of other languages, ultimately improving your website’s search engine results (SERPs).
Implement Hreflang Attribute and Optimized URL Structure
Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and country version of a page to serve to users based on their location and language settings.
This attribute is essential for international SEO because it helps search engines understand which version of your website to show in different countries or languages.
Optimizing your URL structure is also crucial for international SEO. Using country-specific top-level domains (TLDs) like .co.uk for the UK, .de for Germany, and .fr for France is ideal.
However, if you can’t use country-specific TLDs, you can use subdomains or subdirectories with geotargeting set up in Google Search Console.
An optimized URL structure makes it easier for search engines to understand which version of your website to show in different countries or languages. This improves your website’s visibility in search results.
Build Links Locally
International SEO is all about sending local signals in your target language or locale — and building links locally is one way to do it.
Local links from reputable sources can improve your website’s visibility in search results and increase your credibility with local audiences.
For example, if you’re targeting the Kansas City market, utilizing professional SEO services can help you connect with local businesses, organizations, and influencers in the area, fostering collaborations on content or events that can yield valuable backlinks and raise awareness for your brand.
You can also leverage social media platforms to connect with targeted audiences and promote your content. Another way to send local signals is by creating Google Business Profiles and listing your business in directories. A local phone system can also help.
By engaging with them and building relationships, you can earn natural backlinks and improve your website’s authority in search results.
To build local links, you can also leverage tools for Link Building Outreach to connect with local businesses, organizations, and influencers in your target countries or languages.
Execute Your International SEO Plan
A lot of analysis and planning goes into SEO, but in the end, it’s all about execution. The international SEO checklist we’ve provided above should help you create a solid plan and get started.
And, of course, you need to measure your results to determine which areas need improvement and which aspects are working.
In turn, you can create a personalized experience for your target audience.