Simon Lesser presented 10 tips for optimizing websites for international SEO. The tips included choosing how to segment sites by country or language, properly structuring URLs, fully localizing content like images and payments, localizing the user experience, avoiding machine translation, using hreflang tags effectively, not relying solely on Google Search Console targeting, building local links, collaborating across teams, and making international SEO a regular part of the optimization process.

1. WINNING TACTICS
#C3NY @simonlesser
INTERNATIONAL SEO: OPTIMIZING YOUR
SITE FOR A GLOBAL MARKETPLACE
Simon Lesser
Co-Founder and CEO, Dragon Metrics

2. 2
Simon Lesser
Co-founder and CEO
Dragon Metrics
@simonlesser

3. All-in-One SEO
Software Platform

4. 4
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Challenges of
International SEO
Intro to
Non-Google Search
Engines
10 Quick Tips for
International SEO

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IT'S A BIG
WORLD OUT
THERE
US is only 7% of the world's
total internet users

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30% of the
world's total
internet users
are in a country
where Google is
not the #1
search engine
Region Internet Users % of total
China 692,152,618 22%
India 340,873,137 11%
United States 239,882,242 7%
Brazil 122,796,320 4%
Japan 118,131,030 4%
Russia 105,311,724 3%
Nigeria 86,436,611 3%
Mexico 72,945,992 2%
Germany 70,675,097 2%
United Kingdom 59,538,545 2%
Indonesia 56,612,527 2%
France 54,536,418 2%
Vietnam 49,265,575 2%
South Korea 45,213,802 1%
Turkey 42,275,017 1%
Philippines 40,984,654 1%
Italy 39,209,342 1%

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Challenges of
International SEO

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Same Challenges as Single-Country SEO,
Plus More
High ranking
The right content
Single-Country SEO
High ranking
The right content
The right localized site
International SEO

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Localization Challenges
Content Images Payment Methods
Currency Products Laws & Regulations

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Duplicate Content Challenges
example.com/watches example.co.uk/watches example.au/watches

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Competitive Challenges

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Top Sites in China

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Organizational Challenges

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Major Non-Google Search Engines Around the World

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Search
Engine
Market
Share in
China

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Google China
https://www.google.cn

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Google China

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Baidu
https://www.baidu.com

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Baidu is Chinese-only
https://www.baidu.com/s?ie=utf-8&f=8&rsv_bp=0&rsv_idx=1&t…

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Baidu SERP

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Zhidao (Q&A) Baike (Wiki) Wenku
(Document sharing)
Tieba (Forums) News Maps
Images Video

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Baidu keeps the
best positions for
themselves
Baidu Properties / PPC
Organic

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SERP with 10
Organic Results
Baidu Properties / PPC
Organic

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Can you spot the difference?
AD
Organic

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Some SERPs Display Only Ads Above the Fold
https://www.baidu.com/s?ie=utf-8&f=8&rsv_bp=0&rsv_idx=1&t…

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Image-heavy
SERPS

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SERP Features

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SERP Features

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SERP Features

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Mobile Transcoding for Non-Mobile-Friendly Sites
Original page
Transcoded page
Original page Transcoded page

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Hosting in China

32. 32Foreign Hosted Libraries Cause Issues

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Backlinks Not Trusted?

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Meta Keywords
Still Used by Baidu

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Harsh on Duplicate
Content

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Doesn't Really
Crawl Javascript

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Check out our guide at
www.dragonmetrics.com/baidu-seo-guide

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360 Search
https://www.so.com

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Sogou
https://www.sogou.com

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https://m.sm.cn
Shenma

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Yandex
https://www.yandex.com

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Key Yandex algorithm differences
User behavior
important
ranking factor
Claims backlinks
are no longer
important
Slow indexation
Domain age very
important
Onpage SEO
higher priority

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Seznam
https://www.seznam.cz

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Search
Engine
Market
Share
Korea

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Daum
https://www.daum.net

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Naver
https://www.naver.com

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The Massive
Naver SERP
Organic

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Tiny Organic Results Area

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Organic Vertical Search

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10 Quick Tips for
International SEO

51. 511. Choose How to Segment Your Site

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Country ≠ Language

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Do Not Use Flags for Languages
English
Spanish
French
German
Portuguese
Chinese
Japanese
English
Español
Français
Deutsch
Português
中文
日本語

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Site Segmentation Options
Country Language Country + Language

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2. URL Structure – 3 Rights, 3 Wrongs

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URL Structure
ccTLD
example.co.uk
Subfolder
example.com/uk/
Subdomain
uk.example.com

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Each Configuration Has Tradeoffs
ccTLD Subfolder Subdomain
Clear geotargetting 1
Consolidated Domain Authority 1
Easy setup 1 1
Can target in Google Search Console 1 1 1
Independent server location 1 1
Easy separation of sites 1 1

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Do Not Use These 3 Configurations

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URL Parameters
example.com/green-widgets?lang=en
G R E E N W I D G E T S
example.com/green-widgets?lang=fr
W I D G E T S V E R T S

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Same URL, Different Content
example.com/green-widgets
G R E E N W I D G E T S
example.com/green-widgets
W I D G E T S V E R T S

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Auto-Redirect Based on IP Address
example.com
G R E E N W I D G E T S
example.fr
W I D G E T S V E R T S

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3. Localization is More Than Translation

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Localize Everything
Content Images Payment Methods
Currency Products Laws & Regulations

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4. Localize User Experience
UX Persona 1 UX Persona 2 UX Persona 3
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

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Top Sites in China

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http://www.qq.com

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http://www.sohu.com

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http://www.sina.com.cn

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http://www.zol.com.cn

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5. Never Use Machine Translation

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6. Use Hreflang
Effectively

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Hreflang is Difficult to Get Right

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HTML Head Elements
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<link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com/en-us/
green-widgets" hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com/es-es/
green-widgets" hreflang="es-es" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com/pt-br/green-
widgets" hreflang="pt-br" />

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HTTP Headers
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Link: <http://example.com/en-us/green-widgets>;
rel="alternate"; hreflang="en-us",
<http://example.com/es-es/green-widgets>;
rel="alternate"; hreflang="es-es",
<http://example.com/pt-br/green-widgets>;
rel="alternate"; hreflang="pt-br"

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XML Sitemap
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<url>
<loc>http://example.com/en-us/green-widgets</loc>
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="http://example.com/en-us/green-widgets" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-es" href="http://example.com/es-es/green-widgets" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="pt-br" href="http://example.com/pt-br/green-widgets" />
</url>

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Only Supported by Google and Yandex

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Source: Distilled
Should I Use
hreflang?

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7. GSC
Targeting is
Not Enough
On its Own

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8. Build Links
Locally

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9. Communicate and Collaborate

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10. Make
International
SEO an Integral
Part of Your SEO
Process

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10 Tips for International SEO
Choose How to Segment Your Site
URL Structure – 3 Rights, 3 Wrongs
Localization is More Than Translation
Localize User Experience
Never Use Machine Translation
1
2
3
4
5

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10 Tips for International SEO
Use Hreflang Effectively
Google Search Console Targeting is Not Enough
Build Links Locally
Communicate and Collaborate
Make International SEO an Integral Part of Your SEO Process
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85. 85@simonlesser#C3NY