Expanding internationally? Your website needs to speak to each market in their language, follow their search behaviour and rank in their local search engines. We handle hreflang, geo-targeting, content localisation and international link acquisition so you can grow globally with confidence.
International SEO is the practice of optimising your website so that search engines can identify which countries and languages you are targeting — and serve the correct version of your content to users in each market. Done properly, it is what separates brands that accidentally attract a few international visitors from those that systematically dominate organic search across multiple countries.
The discipline spans technical implementation (hreflang tags, site structure decisions, geo-targeting in Search Console), strategic content localisation (going far beyond translation to adapt tone, terminology, pricing references and cultural nuances) and market-specific link building to build local authority in each target country.
Whether you are a UK business targeting Europe, North America or the Middle East — or an international brand consolidating your global search presence — we bring the technical rigour and market knowledge to make international expansion work in organic search.
72% of internet users are more likely to buy from a website in their own language. Localised content that reflects local search behaviour dramatically outperforms direct translations — and signals to Google that you are genuinely serving that market.
Google holds over 90% of search market share in most countries, but Bing is significant in the US, Baidu dominates China and Yandex is essential in Russia. We know which engines matter in each market and optimise accordingly.
The choice between a ccTLD (.de, .fr), subdirectory (/de/, /fr/) or subdomain (de.example.com) has major long-term SEO implications. We assess your situation holistically and recommend the structure that best serves your growth strategy and technical capability.
A UK backlink profile does not translate to ranking authority in Germany or the US. We build market-specific links from local publications, industry directories and digital PR in each target country — the trust signals local search engines actually respond to.
Unlike paid international advertising — where each new market requires fresh budget — international SEO builds compounding organic visibility. Once established, your rankings continue generating traffic in each market without ongoing per-click spend.
Without proper hreflang implementation, your English pages may compete against one another across regions, or the wrong language version may rank in the wrong country. We eliminate this cannibalisation and ensure each market is served its correct content.
We audit your current international presence — existing hreflang implementation (and its errors), site structure, geo-targeting signals in Search Console, which markets are already sending traffic and how you currently rank in each target country. This baseline defines the gap between where you are and where you need to be.
Search behaviour varies significantly between markets — search volume, keyword phrasing, commercial intent and competitor landscape all differ by country. We conduct independent keyword research for each target market in the local language, identifying the terms that actually drive buyer traffic in each region.
We recommend and implement the optimal international site structure for your situation — ccTLD, subdirectory or subdomain — based on your brand goals, domain authority, technical resource and target markets. We document the implementation plan and work directly with your development team to execute it correctly.
Correct hreflang implementation is complex and frequently done incorrectly — errors include missing return tags, incorrect language-country codes and self-referencing issues. We implement or audit every hreflang tag across your site, configure geo-targeting in Search Console and ensure your XML sitemaps correctly reflect your international structure.
We work with native-speaking copywriters and translators for each market to produce content that reads naturally for local audiences — adapting idioms, cultural references, currency, date formats and market-specific terminology. Genuine localisation, not machine translation with light editing.
Authority in one market does not automatically transfer to another. We build local backlinks in each target country through outreach to local publications, industry directories, influencers and digital PR — the market-specific signals that tell local search engines your site has genuine local authority.
We have active experience running international SEO campaigns across five major global regions — with native-language copywriters, local link-building contacts and market-specific technical expertise in each.
Every market has its own search landscape, dominant search engine and content norms. We do not apply a UK template internationally — we build genuinely local strategies for each target country, grounded in native-language keyword research and local competitive analysis.
Your domestic base — strengthening existing UK rankings alongside international expansion.
The world's largest English-language search market. Google and Bing, US-specific keyword research.
DE, FR, ES, IT, NL and beyond. Native-language content and local link building per market.
Australia, Singapore, UAE, Saudi Arabia — English and Arabic market entry strategies.
Pricing is scoped by the number of target markets and languages. Each additional market requires independent keyword research, localised content and local link building.
For UK businesses entering 2–3 international markets with English or one additional language.
For businesses scaling across 4–6 markets in multiple languages with serious growth targets.
For enterprise brands with global ambitions — 7+ markets, multilingual content at scale and dedicated international SEO leadership.
All prices ex-VAT. Minimum 3-month commitment. Contact us for a bespoke multi-market quote.
hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells Google which language and country variant of a page to serve to users in different regions. Without it, Google may serve your English UK page to German users, or show the wrong regional variant in search results — both of which kill your international rankings and user experience. Correct implementation requires every page to include a self-referencing hreflang tag, tags for every other language/region variant and x-default for users who do not match any specified locale. It is frequently implemented incorrectly, and we audit and fix it as a priority.
Each approach has pros and cons. Country code top-level domains (de.example, example.fr) send the strongest geo-targeting signal to Google but require building domain authority separately for each. Subdirectories (example.com/de/) share your root domain's authority and are technically simpler to manage — Google's recommended approach for most businesses. Subdomains (de.example.com) are treated as semi-separate sites by Google and generally offer the worst of both worlds. We assess your specific situation — domain age, technical resource, target markets and authority — and recommend the right structure for you.
No — translation is a starting point, not a strategy. Genuine localisation means adapting search terms (Germans search differently to Austrians even in the same language), adjusting cultural references, using local pricing and currency conventions, and reflecting the specific commercial intent signals of each market. Machine-translated content is easily identified by Google and rarely ranks well. We work with native-speaking copywriters and SEO specialists in each target market to ensure content genuinely resonates — and ranks.
International SEO typically takes longer than domestic SEO to show results because you are starting from zero authority in new markets. For established domains entering new markets with strong existing domain authority, ranking improvements can start appearing at 3–6 months. For newer domains or highly competitive markets, 6–12 months is more realistic. Technical improvements (hreflang, correct indexation of international pages) show up faster — usually within 4–8 weeks. We set market-specific expectations from the outset.
Yes. For clients targeting China we address Baidu's specific requirements — ICP licensing, hosting in mainland China, Baidu Webmaster Tools setup, Baidu-specific meta tags and content adaptation for Chinese market expectations. For Russia, we handle Yandex Webmaster tools, Yandex-specific structured data and the platform's different approach to geo-targeting. We are transparent about the additional complexity and cost involved in these markets.
Absolutely. This is one of the most common scenarios we encounter. The issues are usually a combination of incorrect hreflang, machine-translated content that Google does not trust, no local link building and incorrect geo-targeting signals. We audit the full international setup, identify all issues and produce a prioritised remediation plan. In most cases, fixing the technical foundation alone produces meaningful ranking improvements within a few months.
Yes. If you are using subdirectories (example.com/de/) you can verify them as separate properties in Search Console to set country-specific geo-targeting. If you are using ccTLDs, each domain is automatically treated as country-specific by Google but you should still verify each one separately to access the full suite of performance data per market. We set up and manage all Search Console properties as part of your international SEO campaign.
The technical foundation every international expansion needs — from crawlability to Core Web Vitals across all market variants.
SEOLearn more →Localised content strategy and creation for each target market — native-language articles, guides and landing pages that rank and convert.
ContentLearn more →Holistic international digital strategy — combining SEO, paid media and content into a cohesive plan for global market entry.
StrategyLearn more →