2. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Targeting
International
markets can be
a great way to
diversify and
scale your
business online
3. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Google has become much better at understanding
language with BERT and now with MUM
4. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
In fact, international sites decreased their rankings/traffic
from non-relevant markets during recent Google Updates
5. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
But ranking
across
competitive
industries in
international
markets can
be tough
6. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
There are important well-known optimization
challenges through the internationalization process
Targeting
non-profitable
markets
Ranking with
the wrong
pages in
international
markets
Not optimizing
content using
local audience
search behavior
TARGETING GEOLOCATION LOCALIZATION
7. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
You risk spending a high share of your time fixing issues
rather than building impactful stuff that achieves goals
8. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
With limited resources and timelines across many
markets to execute SEO activities and get results
9. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/ecommerce?hl=en
It’s why you can’t
just follow
“international SEO
best practices”
which are great to
avoid missing
things, but not to
drive a strategy
10. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
FOCUS ON
IMPACTFUL
INTERNATIONAL
OPTIMIZATION
ACTIONS
PROVIDE
SOLUTIONS TO
FACILITATE
IMPLEMENTATION
HELP TO
ESTABLISH
SYSTEMS TO AVOID
EXECUTION
MISTAKES
Let’s see how you can tackle this with your international
SEO audits, following 3 steps
1. 2. 3.
11. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
#INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Focus Your Audit on
Impactful International
Optimization Areas
1
12. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Your International SEO audit should assess on those core
areas influencing targeting, geolocation & localization
Launching in too many
non-profitable markets
Using the wrong
international targeting for
your business
Using the wrong Web
structure for your
International Markets
International Web
Versions crawlability and
intrusivity issues
Incorrectly Implemented
Hreflang annotations
Lack of content and web
experience optimization
towards the international
audience search
preferences
TARGETING GEOLOCATION LOCALIZATION
13. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Start by auditing the Website International Targeting
Launching in too many
non-profitable markets
Using the wrong
international targeting for
your business
Using the wrong Web
structure for your
International Markets
International Web
Versions crawlability and
intrusivity issues
Incorrectly Implemented
Hreflang annotations
Lack of content and web
experience optimization
towards the international
audience search
preferences
TARGETING GEOLOCATION LOCALIZATION
14. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
You don’t need to target all markets at the same time
just because your industry leaders are doing it so
15. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Or enabling all language versions for every country you
target since most won’t bring meaningful search traffic
16. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
This is how you end up with the common issue
of not having resources for localization or optimization
“I don’t have enough resources to localize
and optimize for all the markets”
Someone who enabled too many international Web versions
17. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Assess the potential markets traffic starting point, search
potential as well as relevance from a business perspective
COUNTRY AND
LANGUAGE
CURRENT
ORGANIC
SEARCH TRAFFIC
SEARCH
COMPETITION
LEVEL
SEARCH VOLUME
OPPORTUNITY
SEARCH
TREND IN
MARKET
SEARCH
ENGINE
USED
CAPACITY TO
PERFORM
BUSINESS
OTHER
TRAFFIC
DRIVES
Canada in
English
300 per month High
2,000,000 searches
per month
Positive Google High Affiliate
USA in English 500 per month Medium
3,000,000 searches
per month
Negative Google Medium
Social
Affiliate
USA in Spanish 200 per month Medium
2,500,000 searches
per month
Positive Google Low
Social
Affiliate
… … … … … … … …
18. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Check if there’s a minimum search traffic potential
for profitability to prioritize your efforts on them
https://www.aleydasolis.com/english/international-seo-tools/roi-calculator/
19. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/managing-multi-regional-sites
Google supports language and country targeting,
but not “continent”, which should be avoided
20. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
So if a .eu version is used you will have a harder time
geolocating it and end up running into duplication issues
vs
21. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
What countries should have an EU version in English
if there’s already a UK one in English? Hard to leverage!
22. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Yes No
Yes No
IS LOCATION A FACTOR THAT INFLUENCES YOUR WEB OPERATIONS?
COUNTRY TARGETING LANGUAGE TARGETING
IS THERE ENOUGH TRAFFIC & CONVERSIONS TO
TARGET EACH COUNTRY?
An online
shop will
likely be
country
targeted
It’s then critical to correctly identify your relevant
international targeting, to make the rest consistent
A Tech blog
will likely
language
target
23. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Search demand behavior should be identified and
compared per market to assess similarities/differences
24. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Depending on industry/biz model & language variation,
you might prefer to language rather than country target
vs
25. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
brand.eu/es-es/
brand.eu/fr-fr/
brand.eu/de-de/
brand.eu vs
If you really need to use .eu domains, use them as if they
were gTLDs, with country folders/subdomains with them
26. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Like Patagonia
does here,
targeting France
with a French
version within
a .eu subdomain
27. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Continue assessing the site geolocation towards the
targeted markets and consistent configuration
Launching in too many
non-profitable markets
Using the wrong
international targeting for
your business
Using the wrong Web
structure for your
International Markets
International Web
Versions crawlability and
intrusivity issues
Incorrectly Implemented
Hreflang annotations
Lack of content and web
experience optimization
towards the international
audience search
preferences
TARGETING GEOLOCATION LOCALIZATION
28. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Many International
sites are held back
by their Web
structure, since all
have pro’s and con’s
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/managing-multi-regional-sites
29. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
JD Sports target countries via ccTLDs and Asos via
subdirectories within gTLDs, both approaches are valid
vs
30. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Check your
international
search results to
see which Web
structure is used
by the ranked
sites and their
popularity
ccTLD
gTLD
ccTLD
gTLD
gTLD
ccTLD
ccTLD
31. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
You can use
VPNs or browser
extensions
to simulate
international
search results
https://seominion.com/
32. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Are your top
competitors in
new target
markets using
ccTLDs?
Yes
Yes
USE A NEW
CCTLD FOR THE
NEW COUNTRY
MARKET
No
No
USE GEOLOCALIZED
SUBDIRECTORIES IN
YOUR CURRENT GTLD. IF
YOU CAN’T, USE
SUBDOMAINS IN
CURRENT GTLD.
You’re using a ccTLD
You’re using a gTLD Are you using
a gTLD or
ccTLD for your
existing
market?
Yes
Yes
No
No
USE GEOLOCALIZED
SUBDIRECTORIES IN A
NEW GTLD. IF YOU
CAN’T, USE
SUBDOMAINS IN NEW
GTLD.
Is the popularity/
authority of your
competition very
high/well
established?
Are your top
competitors in
new target
markets using
ccTLDs?
Is the popularity/
authority of your
competition very
high/well
established?
USE A NEW
CCTLD FOR THE
NEW COUNTRY
MARKET
Select your own international Web structure accordingly,
taking into consideration the number of markets
33. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
While ensuring that there’s consistency with the Web
structure referring the user to the relevant URL
34. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
And avoiding migrating your established market
when targeting new ones, to avoid losing what you have
.com/uk/
.co.uk
.com/us/
.com/au/
.co.uk
.com
.com/au/
.com/us/
or
Don’t Do
35. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Whatever the
international Web
structure you
choose, avoid
automatic redirects
based on the IP
location
36. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Automatic
redirects can
harm crawlability
of some of your
international Web
versions
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/managing-multi-regional-sites
37. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Do a list crawl of your different international Web versions’
home pages with the googlebot user agent to validate it
https://httpstatus.io/
38. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Suggest the
relevant Web
version instead,
and use the
selected value to
redirect the user
based on the
saved preference
39. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Improve your
international pages
crawlability and
popularity by cross-
linking between
them with crawlable
links, allowing users
to switch too
40. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Although Hreflang
continues to
provide a way to
specify language/
country per page
and alternates,
Google has
deprecated the
report from the
Search Console
41. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Most issues with hreflang implementation come by tagging
pages that don’t have alternates or are not indexable
42. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
It’s then more important than ever to only use it for those
pages with indexable alternate versions that really need it
43. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Prioritize hreflang
implementation to
those indexable
pages with
international
targeting issues
that exist across
markets
44. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Identify those pages with actual international
misalignments with alternates using GSC or Semrush
Semrush
45. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Google.com for “womens socks” Google.co.uk for “womens socks”
<link rel="alternate" href="https://shop.lululemon.com/c/women-socks/_/N-8rc" hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://www.lululemon.co.uk/en-gb/c/womens/socks" hreflang="en-gb" />
For those hreflang that you actually need, only map the
alternate pages with the issues, rather than all versions
46. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Validate Hreflang with SEO crawlers before/after release
and monitor in real time with SEO monitoring tools
Screaming Frog ContentKing
47. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
● ccTLDs
● Country in metadata
● Country, Address and Phone
numbers in pages copy
● Local language & currency
● Backlinks from local sites
● Connected Business Profile
● Hreflang specifying
alternates from stronger
same language country
version
Well aligned ccTLD Not Well aligned ccTLD
Remember it’s not only about hreflang too! Ensure that all
geolocation signals are consistently implemented
48. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
● ccTLDs
● Country in metadata
● Country, Address and Phone
numbers in pages copy
● Local language & currency
● Backlinks from local sites
● Connected Business Profile
● Hreflang specifying
alternates from stronger
same language country
version
Well aligned gTLDs
They will allow you to effectively improve your results
in the desired markets, even when using gTLDs
49. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Finish by analyzing and recommending the site overall web
experience localization needs based on search behavior
Launching in too many
non-profitable markets
Using the wrong
international targeting for
your business
Using the wrong Web
structure for your
International Markets
International Web
Versions crawlability and
intrusivity issues
Incorrectly Implemented
Hreflang annotations
Lack of content and web
experience optimization
towards the international
audience search
preferences
TARGETING GEOLOCATION LOCALIZATION
50. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Going native can
make or break
global sales and
your international
site rankings https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/international-ecommerce-issues
51. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
The localization of your content is key to connect with
your international audience preferences/behavior
52. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Overlooking it will give a bad search and user experience,
negatively impacting rankings and CTR in SERPs
53. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
The goal is to
localize the
different user
facing areas
and
indexable
content of
each version
54. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
While taking into consideration each market search
behavior for their relevant pages content optimization
55. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
But how to ensure all this is done in a cost effective
way at scale with many markets at a time?
56. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
It’s about having an iterative/incremental approach,
from translation to localization up to transcreation
57. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Identify and map the most popular queries to target
for each page type in each of the targeted markets
58. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Establish multi-country patterns with targeted queries to
generate the main content elements for each page type
59. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Start translating the most important pages, and leverage
automated translation tools to support translators
https://www.deepl.com/quality.html
60. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Use multilingual content optimization tools, like Frase or
Surfer, to produce optimized localized content faster too
Frase, Surfer
61. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Use this Google Sheet Template to facilitate the Process
https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/search-engine-optimization/international-seo-keyword-content-optimization-worksheet-free-template/
62. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Is it a lot to assess and recommend on? Let’s see next how
to prioritize and craft recommendations to facilitate action
Launching in too many
non-profitable markets
Using the wrong
international targeting for
your business
Using the wrong Web
structure for your
International Markets
International Web
Versions crawlability and
intrusivity issues
Incorrectly Implemented
Hreflang annotations
Lack of content and web
experience optimization
towards the international
audience search
preferences
TARGETING GEOLOCATION LOCALIZATION
63. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
#INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Provide solutions to
facilitate
implementation
2
64. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
HIGH PRIORITY
HIGH IMPACT WITH LOW DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM PRIORITY
HIGH IMPACT WITH MEDIUM DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM IMPACT WITH LOW DIFFICULTY
LOW PRIORITY
MEDIUM IMPACT WITH MEDIUM DIFFICULTY
HIGH IMPACT WITH HIGH DIFFICULTY
DON’T PRIORITIZE
MEDIUM IMPACT WITH HIGH DIFFICULTY
LOW IMPACT
IMPACT
1
3
2
+ DIFFICULTY
+
-
2
3
Prioritize the recommendations to start with those
with higher potential impact and lower difficulty
65. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
IMPACT
EFFORT
1.
To Execute
Now
Don’t Do
2.
To Assess
2.
To Assess
Execute first those with high impact/low effort
within your own context
“Optimize
metadata of the
core site pages
with the relevant
language and
terms used by
audience”
66. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
IMPACT
EFFORT
1.
To Execute
Don’t Do
2.
To Assess
2.
To Assess
Don’t execute those with high effort/low impact,
that won’t help to achieve goals
“Make URLs to
be shown in the
same language
than the page
version”
67. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
The affected areas
The SEO effect
The business importance
Current optimization
Required resources
Known restrictions
Scope
IMPACT DIFFICULTY
The impact and difficulty will be relative, connected
to the site goals and complexity of implementation
68. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
IMPACT
EFFORT
1.
To Execute
Don’t Do
2.
To Assess
& Prioritize
2.
To Assess
& Prioritize
Assess and prioritize based on your own project status,
goals and restrictions/requirements
Recommendation Impact [0-10] Effort [0-10] To Prioritize Higher
Medium impacting with
high effort
6 4 12
Low impacting with high
effort
4 4 8
Low impacting with very
high effort
4 2 6
Very low impacting with
very high effort
2 2 4
69. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Use this SEO Recommendations Prioritization
Template in Google Sheets to easily do it
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15dD2VFzE203ZIKD-vTqlg3Wg-YQY9a-HS5J7AT-S4jA/view
70. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
What happens when you have activities that
seem to have similar effort and impact?
71. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Use second-order thinking to select the one with
more positive implications for goals achievement
https://fs.blog/2016/04/second-order-thinking/
72. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Prioritize the task
with the biggest
overall impact on
the business
beyond SEO
https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/search-engine-optimization/seo-product-triangle/
73. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Doing this will
allow you to get
easier support
from stakeholders
and other areas
too
74. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Make your SEO actions easy to understand and implement
with an actionable & concise formatting
75. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Start by establishing
the 5Ws (and the H)
for each of your SEO
recommendations
https://www.ipma.world/5ws-1h-a-technique-to-improve-project-management-efficiencies/
76. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Use them to develop actions to solve the meaningful issues
found in the audit, focusing on giving solutions
WHAT IS IT ABOUT
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
HOW IT SHOULD BE IDEALLY
WHO SHOULD IMPLEMENT
WHERE HAS IT BEEN FOUND
1. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE X
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE SITE RANKINGS?
WHERE HAS BEEN FOUND AND IS GENERATED?
Screen
shot
SCENARIO 1
HOW CAN IT BE FIXED?
Screen
shot
SCENARIO 1
Screen
shot
SEO
Effect
Affected
Areas
Business
Importance
Optimization
Status
Execution
Difficulty
Required
resources
Priority
High Paginations Medium Low Low Technical High
WHEN SHOULD IT BE DONE
77. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
RECOMMENDATIONS
AFFECTED
AREAS
SEO
EFFECT
BUSINESS
IMPORTANCE
CURRENT
OPTIMIZATION
CONTENT
SUPPORT
TECH
SUPPORT
LINKBUILDING
SUPPORT
IMPLEMENTATION
DIFFICULTY
VALIDATED
PRIORITY
PAGE
PERSON IN
CHARGE
IMPLEMENTA
TION DATE
LAUNCHING
DATE
NOINDEX AND BLOCK
CRAWLING OF INTERNAL
SEARCH RESULT PAGES
THAT GENERATE CONTENT
DUPLICATION
INTERNAL
SEARCH RESULT
PAGES
HIGH LOW LOW NO YES NO LOW 1 1 MARIA 01/08/2021 15/08/2021
INDEX THE PAGES OF
COLORED FILTERS WITH
SEARCH VOLUME HIGHER
THAN 100
COLORED
FILTERED PAGES
OF SUB-
CATEGORIES
HIGH HIGH LOW YES YES NO MEDIUM 2 5 MARIA 15/08/2021 30/08/2021
301 REDIRECT OLD PAGES
WITH 404 HTTP STATUS
PAGES ATTRACTING
EXTERNAL LINKS
OLD BLOG
POSTS FROM
PREVIOUS BLOG
VERSION
MEDIUM MEDIUM LOW NO YES NO MEDIUM 4 10 JAVIER 30/08/2021 15/09/2021
DIFFERENTIATE SUB-
CATEGORIES pages TITLES
INCLUDING THE SUB-
CATEGORY NAME IN THEM
SUB-CATEGORY
PAGES
MEDIUM MEDIUM MEDIUM YES YES NO MEDIUM 3 15 JAVIER 15/09/2021 30/09/2021
WHAT WHY
WHERE WHO WHEN
HOW
The 5Ws and H will also facilitate recos planning
and coordination with other team members too
78. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Add an introductory summary to each of the
recommendations, highlighting the 5Ws & the H
WHAT IS IT ABOUT
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
HOW IT SHOULD BE IDEALLY
WHO SHOULD IMPLEMENT
WHERE HAS IT BEEN FOUND
WHEN SHOULD IT BE DONE
1. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE X
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE SITE RANKINGS?
WHERE HAS BEEN FOUND AND IS GENERATED?
Screen
shot
SCENARIO 1
HOW CAN IT BE FIXED?
Screen
shot
SCENARIO 1
Screen
shot
SEO
Effect
Affected
Areas
Business
Importance
Optimization
Status
Execution
Difficulty
Required
resources
Priority
High Paginations Medium Low Low Technical High
79. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
INCREASE 150% SALES OF WINTER BOOTS FOR WOMEN AND MEN
INCREASE 400% TRAFFIC TO MID-BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL CONTENT OF WINTER BOOTS FOR
BOTH WOMEN AND MEN
….
TOP-TO-DOWN SEO GOALS
GROW 250% ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC TO WINTER BOOTS LISTINGS,
COMPARISONS, REVIEWS, GUIDES AND PRODUCTS PAGES
TAKE INTO TOP 3 POSITIONS OF CURRENT TOP 10 FOR MID-
BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL QUERIES TARGETED BY WINTER
BOOTS LISTINGS AND COMPARISONS PAGES
TAKE INTO TOP 10 PILLAR AND
GUIDES PAGES OF WINTER
BOOTS FOR WOMEN AND MEN
1. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE X
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE SITE RANKINGS?
WHERE HAS BEEN FOUND AND IS GENERATED?
Screensh
ot
SCENARIO 1
HOW CAN IT BE FIXED?
Screensh
ot
SCENARIO 1
Screensh
ot
SEO
Effect
Affected
Areas
Business
Importance
Optimization
Status
Execution
Difficulty
Required
resources
Priority
High Paginations Medium Low Low Technical High
1. WILL HELP TO
ACHIEVE THIS
2. TO OBTAIN THIS
Clearly explain and show why is each recommendation
important for the site & how it influences results
80. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
INCREASE 150% SALES OF WINTER BOOTS FOR WOMEN AND MEN
INCREASE 400% TRAFFIC TO MID-BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL CONTENT OF WINTER BOOTS FOR
BOTH WOMEN AND MEN
….
TOP-TO-DOWN SEO GOALS
GROW 250% ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC TO WINTER BOOTS LISTINGS,
COMPARISONS, REVIEWS, GUIDES AND PRODUCTS PAGES
TAKE INTO TOP 3 POSITIONS OF CURRENT TOP 10 FOR MID-
BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL QUERIES TARGETED BY WINTER
BOOTS LISTINGS AND COMPARISONS PAGES
TAKE INTO TOP 10 PILLAR AND
GUIDES PAGES OF WINTER
BOOTS FOR WOMEN AND MEN
1. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE X
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE SITE RANKINGS?
WHERE HAS BEEN FOUND AND IS GENERATED?
Screensh
ot
SCENARIO 1
HOW CAN IT BE FIXED?
Screensh
ot
SCENARIO 1
Screensh
ot
SEO
Effect
Affected
Areas
Business
Importance
Optimization
Status
Execution
Difficulty
Required
resources
Priority
High Paginations Medium Low Low Technical High
1. WILL HELP TO
ACHIEVE THIS?
2. TO OBTAIN THIS?
X
Can’t tie an SEO recommendation to your SEO/biz goals?
It’s a non-problem and shouldn’t be prioritized then
81. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Why is important?
How does it affect the site rankings?
Where it has been found and how is generated?
Screensh
ot
Scenario 1
How can it be fixed?
Screensh
ot
Scenario 1
Screensh
ot
Efecto SEO
Areas
Afectadas
Importancia
Negocio
Estado
Optimizació
n
Dificultad
Ejecución
Recursos
Ejecución
Prioridad
ALTO
PAGINACION
ES
MEDIO BAJO NA TECNICO 1
1. Recommendation to improve X
Screensh
ot
Why is important?
How does it affect the site rankings?
Where it has been found and how is generated?
Screensho
t
Scenario 1
How can it be fixed?
Screensho
t
Scenario 1
Screensho
t
Efecto SEO
Areas
Afectadas
Importancia
Negocio
Estado
Optimización
Dificultad
Ejecución
Recursos
Ejecución
Prioridad
ALTO PAGINACIONES MEDIO BAJO NA TECNICO 2
2. Recommendation to fix Y
Screensho
t
Why is important?
How does it affect the site rankings?
Where it has been found and how is generated?
Screensh
ot
Scenario 1
How can it be fixed?
Screensh
ot
Scenario 1
Screensh
ot
Efecto SEO
Areas
Afectadas
Importancia
Negocio
Estado
Optimización
Dificultad
Ejecución
Recursos
Ejecución
Prioridad
ALTO
PAGINACIONE
S
MEDIO BAJO NA TECNICO 3
3. Recommendation to improve Z
Screensh
ot
START WITH
HIGHEST
PRIORITY
The document organization should be prioritized,
starting with the highest priority recommendations
82. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Use this Action Driven and Prioritized SEO
RecommendationsTemplate in Google Slidesforit
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NbI_KDhyHhUKQnSj1CcQfM4KabLNYbn8bfGw955iiBc/view
83. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Create an executive summary highlighting the top
recommendations targeted at decision-makers
Executive Summary
SEO Recommendations Gathered SEO Issues Data
….
Decision Makers
84. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
They should easily refer to the SEO recommendations &
gathered data for operational stakeholders
Executive Summary
SEO Recommendations Gathered SEO Issues Data
….
Operational Stakeholders
85. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Use a collaborative document format & organization that
facilitate stakeholders & decision-makers to review
Executive Summary
SEO Recommendations Gathered SEO Issues Data
….
Google Slides Google Docs Google Sheets
86. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Leverage user
stories to establish
minimum
requirements
to accept the tasks
as “done”
https://www.atlassian.com/agile/project-management/user-stories
87. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Is it difficult to
assess the impact
of some actions
to re-prioritize
further or get
buy-in for?
88. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Run tests to
assess their
impact in your
context or see if
there are better
alternate ways to
achieve results
Select a few categories to
implement fast and assess
impact vs similar unchanged
ones:
* Positive result? Replicate to
rest.
* Negative outcome? Move
to other implementations!
89. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Leverage SEO testing tools to execute different
types of SEO tests, from group to split tests
SEOtesting.com, Ryte, Zippy, Splitsignal
90. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
You can also create
your own SEO A/B
Split Tests for Free
by using Google Tag
Manager as Chris
shows here
https://www.slideshare.net/chr156r33n/how-to-construct-your-own-seo-a-b-split-tests-for-free
91. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
This will allow
you to change
what is not
impactful fast and
identify
opportunities to
leverage
92. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
#INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Help to establish
systems to avoid
execution mistakes
3
93. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
The Pyramid of SEO Success
FIXING
IMPROVING
BUILDING
Creating content to target new
relevant queries through user
search journey
Optimizing existing content for
already targeted relevant
queries
Minimizing tech debt to avoid
crawlability, indexability and
page experience issues
SEO auditing should be a recurrent activity to prevent
continuous issues so you can focus on strategy execution
94. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
SEO RECOS ONGOING SEO IMPLEMENTATION
SEO QUALITY ASSURANCE FRAMEWORK
EDUCATION
To prevent SEO
mistakes
VALIDATION
To avoid launching
SEO Errors
MONITORING
To catch SEO
incidents fast
That’s why SEO recommendations should set ongoing
SEO quality assurance measures during the process
95. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
COMPANY CONTENT OPTIMIZATION & TECH SEO GUIDELINES/
WIKI
ONLINE SEO TRAINING AND Q&AS FOR TECH/CONTENT/
[STAKEHOLDERS] TEAMS
RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS FEATURING SEO CONCEPTS
& IMPORTANCE TOWARDS GOALS
INCLUDE A “WHY DOES THIS MATTER”
SECTION IN AUDIT & REPORTS
CREATE PERSONALIZED GUIDELINES
WITHIN WIKI/PM PLATFORM
DO LIVE (AND RECORD) WEBINARS &
Q&AS WITH INVOLVED TEAMS
Establish your SEO Quality Framework with a base of
SEO education when delivering recommendations
96. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Develop Online SEOTraining forTech,Content
teams using SEO recommendations insights
97. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Personalize the
training based on
the team/audience
profile
Feature real
scenarios &
examples from
your SEO audit &
research
Don’t blame or
have a negative
focus,
acknowledge
efforts so far
It’s critical to show the value of SEO in other teams’ goals,
to establish understanding & minimize issues
99. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Develop a
Company SEO
Wiki w/ Content &
Tech SEO Best
Practices that you
can easily refer
100. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
WEB PLATFORM CONFIGURATION/SETTINGS CHANGES
INTEGRATED VALIDATION
CONTENT OPTIMIZATION & TECH SEO CONFIGURATION
CHECKLIST FOR COMMON WORKFLOWS
RECURRING / ONGOING SEO TECH/CONTENT VALIDATION PRE
& POST WEB RELEASES
SET RECURRING CRAWLS
WITH SEO CRAWLERS
WEB PLATFORMS SEO
CONFIGURATION CHECKS
CREATE EASY TO FOLLOW/USE
CHECKLISTS FOR USUAL ACTIVITIES
Strengthen your SEO Quality Framework with a
seamless SEO execution validation workflow
101. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Set & agree on teams
usage of content & tech
configuration checklist
for common workflows
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LGc9RxurRTv2K0Zsckh1cirEQ9E9rP7-04k1wnVIkhg/edit?usp=sharing
102. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Automate
feasible SEO
validations within
theWeb platform
w/ plugins & Dev
support
INDEXABLE CATEGORY PAGES WITH <3 INVENTORY & NO SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
HAS > N
TRAFFIC
OBFUSCATE LINKS,
ELIMINATE FROM XML
SITEMAPS AND
CANONICALIZE PARENT
CATEGORY
TARGETS
QUERY > Y
SEARCH
VOLUME
HAS FEATURED
>3 PRODUCTS
IN LAST X
MONTHS
NO
YES
NO YES
NO
KEEP INDEXED AND ADD
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
103. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
PRE-RELEASE SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
SEO IMPLEMENTATION
YES
NO
YES
ON-GOING SEO
VALIDATION
SEO RELEASE
NO
FIX
POST-RELEASE SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
YES
NO
FIX
ON-GOING SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
YES
NO
FIX IN LESS
24H
REVERSE
IMPLEMENTATION
Set a release validation workflow with devs
taking into account what-if’s scenarios
104. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Your SEO validation is
only going to be as
strong as your alignment
with the team in charge,
it’s critical to have it
105. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Errors will still happen from time to time! Set a
monitoring system to catch,fix fast & learn to avoid
106. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
WEB CONTENT & TECHNICAL CONFIGURATION CHANGES
ALERTS
WEBSITE SEARCH CRAWLING ISSUES ALERTS
WEB RANKINGS DECREASE/INCREASE ALERTS
ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC & CONVERSIONS DECREASE/
INCREASE ALERTS
QUERIES SEARCH POPULARITY DECREASE/INCREASE
ALERTS
MENTIONS & BACKLINKS ALERTS
SPAM OR MANUAL ACTIONS ALERTS
It’s about catching critical SEO configurations and
KPIs changes fast to take action before it’s too late
WEB ANALYTICS TOOLS
SEO CONFIGURATION ALERTS TOOLS
(LITTLE WARDEN, CONTENTKING)
WEB SERVER LOG MONITORING TOOL
AND SEARCH CONSOLE
RANK TRACKERS
SEARCH TRENDS TOOLS
MENTIONS/BACKLINKS TOOLS
GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE
107. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Monitor it all: From Crawlability and Indexability,Hreflang,
Rankings,Traffic,to Backlinks & ManualActions
MENTIONS & BACKLINKS
SPAM & MANUAL ACTIONS
ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC & CONVERSIONS
SEARCH TRENDS CHANGES
WEB RANKINGS & SERPS CTR
CONTENT OPTIMIZATION
CRAWLABILITY & INDEXABILITY CONFIGURATIONS
108. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Use real-time SEO crawlers like ContentKing or LittleWarden
to identify SEO changes in real time
Little Warden and ContentKing
109. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Configure your Real-time monitoring to catch when
meaningful configurations change in important pages
110. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Set the alerts so they go to the relevant email,slack
or project management tool to not be missed
111. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
WEB PLATFORM CONFIGURATION/SETTINGS CHANGES INTEGRATED VALIDATION
ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC & CONVERSIONS DECREASE/INCREASE ALERTS
WEB RANKINGS DECREASE/INCREASE ALERTS
QUERIES SEARCH POPULARITY DECREASE/INCREASE ALERTS
WEB CONTENT & TECHNICAL CONFIGURATION CHANGES ALERTS
CONTENT OPTIMIZATION & TECH SEO CONFIGURATION CHECKLIST FOR COMMON WORKFLOWS
COMPANY CONTENT OPTIMIZATION & TECH SEO GUIDELINES/WIKI
ONLINE SEO TRAINING AND Q&AS FOR TECH/CONTENT/[STAKEHOLDERS] TEAMS
RECURRING / ONGOING SEO TECH/CONTENT VALIDATION PRE & POST WEB RELEASES
EDUCATION
VALIDATION
MONITORING
MENTIONS & BACKLINKS ALERTS
WEBSITE SEARCH CRAWLING ISSUES ALERTS
SPAM OR MANUAL ACTIONS ALERTS
SEO QUALITYASSURANCE FRAMEWORK
RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS FEATURING SEO CONCEPTS & IMPORTANCE TOWARDS GOALS
This is how you
say goodbye to
continuous SEO
F*ck Ups that hold
your execution
back
112. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
Learn more about
setting a Quality
Assurance
Framework in this
presentation
https://www.slideshare.net/aleydasolis/goodbye-seo-fck-ups-learn-to-set-an-seo-quality-assurance-frameworkpdf
114. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
FOCUS ON
IMPACTFUL
INTERNATIONAL
OPTIMIZATION
ACTIONS
PROVIDE
SOLUTIONS TO
FACILITATE
IMPLEMENTATION
HELP TO
ESTABLISH
SYSTEMS TO AVOID
EXECUTION
MISTAKES
It’s about tackling the most damaging Intl SEO challenges
w/ impactful, solutions-focused recommendations
1. 2. 3.
116. #INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI
* I’m Aleyda Solis SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti
* SEO Speaker at +100 Events in +20 countries
* Author “SEO. Las Claves Esenciales.”
* Crawling Mondays Video & Podcast Series Host
* #SEOFOMO Newsletter Wrangler
* Maker LearningSEO.io
* European Search Personality of the Year in 2018
* remoters.net Co-Founder
Thanks! Questions?
#INTERNATIONALSEO BY @ALEYDA FROM #ORAINTI