International SEO for companies selling worldwide
Expand into new countries with a program that gets the hard decisions right the first time: market selection, site architecture, hreflang, and content that wins in each language and region.
International SEO is an architecture decision first
The single most consequential choice in international SEO is your URL structure: country-code domains (.co.uk, .de), subdomains (uk.yoursite.com), or subfolders (yoursite.com/uk/). Each has real trade-offs in authority, cost, and speed-to-market — and retrofitting the wrong choice later means migrating an entire site. We make this decision with you before a single page is built, based on your markets, resources, and timeline.
We also pressure-test market selection itself. Search demand that looks attractive from a US spreadsheet often behaves differently in-market — different competitors, different buying culture, different platform habits. We validate before building.
How we build international programs
Each target market gets its own keyword research in the local language — never translated keyword lists, because people in Munich do not search for literal translations of what people in Ohio search for. Content is written or reviewed by native speakers. Hreflang webs are implemented across every language and region pair so Google serves the right version everywhere.
For AI search, we monitor citations market by market, because ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews answer differently per region — and being the cited source in emerging markets is often easier to win than a top-3 classic ranking.
Realistic expectations, honestly set
International SEO compounds slower than domestic: new markets start with zero local authority, and translation or localization takes real time. We phase programs — one or two priority markets first, prove the model, then expand. Clients who try to launch five markets simultaneously usually end up with five half-built programs. Sequenced properly, each market launch gets faster because the playbooks and authority carry forward.
Local SEO — our Bay Area backyard
National reach starts local: our headquarters in San Jose keeps us sharp on the local search fundamentals — Google Business Profiles, reviews, hyper-local content — that anchor our national programs. We serve businesses across every major Bay Area market, and those local pages show exactly how we build market-specific content without doorway-page shortcuts.
National SEO — World FAQ
Subfolders, subdomains, or ccTLDs — which should we use?›
It depends, and we will give you a firm recommendation for your situation. General guidance: subfolders (yoursite.com/de/) concentrate domain authority and are fastest to launch; ccTLDs (.de) send the strongest local signal to users and Google but split authority across domains; subdomains are a middle path that we rarely recommend. Your markets, team structure, and timeline determine the right answer.
Can we just translate our US site?›
No — and this is where most international programs quietly fail. Translation reproduces your sentences; localization wins your market. Keyword research must be native, examples and case studies must be locally credible, units/pricing/currencies must be local, and idioms must read naturally. Machine-translated sites rank poorly and convert worse.
How many languages can you support?›
Our core operation covers English (US, CA, and international), with a vetted native-speaker network for major European and Asian languages. We scope language launches honestly — better one excellent market than four mediocre ones.
How long does an international program take to show results?›
Expect 6–12 months before meaningful traction in a new market, depending on competition and how much authority your domain already carries. Markets closest to your home market (culturally and linguistically) move fastest. We sequence launches so early markets fund and accelerate later ones.