Market and audience research
Assess relevant demand, competition, search behaviour and the business conditions behind expansion. The starting point is a customer need, not a list of countries.
International SEO.
A market is more than a language.
Reach people across borders with a website that understands their context. I connect market research, localised content and technical SEO to the way customers discover, evaluate and buy.
Discuss your international growthThe thinking behind the work
Think beyond translation.
Build around the audience.
The same product can answer different needs in different markets. The strategy should start with those differences.
Entering another market changes more than the words on a page. People may use different search engines, ask different questions and need different evidence before they trust a business. A familiar English term may lead to a search journey that continues in Chinese.
My international SEO consulting starts with your offer and the people it can realistically serve. I research demand, competitors and buying intent, then turn that understanding into market priorities, page plans and implementation requirements with your team.
I have worked on projects connecting manufacturers with overseas buyers, international retailers with local customers, and destination businesses with travellers researching from home. Those journeys need different content and measures of success. The work can support a new market launch or improve a multilingual website that is already established.
A useful starting point when
01You want to choose where to expand before investing in new language versions.
02Your multilingual website attracts visitors but does not explain the offer convincingly in each market.
03You need to connect overseas discovery with a purchase, enquiry or visit in another country.
Local understanding
The same offer. A different decision.
An overseas buyer may need delivery details before product benefits. A local customer may look for familiar terminology or support. Market research should change the information a page provides, not just its language.
The practical distinction
Keep the business facts consistent. Adapt the explanation to the audience.
From market opportunity to a useful local experience.
Explore four connected decisions. The sequence helps distinguish a market worth entering from a website that is ready to serve it.
The purpose
Choose an opportunity the business can serve.
Search demand is considered alongside competition, commercial relevance and practical delivery. A large audience is less useful if the product, sales team or service model cannot meet its expectations.
What the work produces
- Market and competitor review
- Audience and commercial priorities
- Delivery and language constraints
The decision it supports
Where is there a credible reason to invest?
The purpose
Translate the context, not just the words.
Research how people describe the problem, compare options and decide. Local reviewers and subject experts help turn that understanding into content with appropriate terminology and evidence.
What the work produces
- Market-specific keyword and intent groups
- Localised page and content briefs
- Trust, offer and enquiry requirements
The decision it supports
What does this audience need to understand before acting?
The purpose
Give every version a clear place.
I work with developers to connect language and regional pages, review indexability and preserve useful content during changes. A language version needs a coherent journey through the website.
What the work produces
- Language and regional page mapping
- URL, hreflang and canonical review
- Navigation and conversion journey checks
The decision it supports
Can people and search engines reach the appropriate version?
The purpose
Read the results in their local context.
Performance is reviewed by relevant market, language and page group, alongside client feedback about enquiries or sales. The aim is to understand where discovery is becoming useful demand.
What the work produces
- Market and language performance review
- Enquiry quality and customer feedback
- Content and implementation priorities
The decision it supports
Which market needs deeper investment or a different approach?
What the work can include.
The scope follows your starting point, priorities and the people available to implement it.
Multilingual keyword strategy
Map intent across languages and mixed-language searches. Different wording may belong to one journey, while similar phrases can signal different expectations.
Content localisation
Adapt commercial pages, supporting content and evidence to local terminology, customer questions and buying decisions, with appropriate language review.
Technical structure & hreflang
Plan country and language URLs, then work with developers on hreflang annotations, reciprocal language references, canonical consistency and XML sitemaps. Review crawling, indexability, internal links and redirects so the intended regional versions can be discovered and understood.
Local backlinks & market credibility
Research relevant local publications, industry associations, partners and directories where the business has a useful reason to be mentioned. Local backlink outreach should reflect editorial relevance and real relationships. I prioritise credible market connections over bulk links or a promised link count.
Customer experience and measurement
Connect search intent with what happens after the enquiry. Language support, delivery, returns and after-sales information can be part of the content and journey review.
A wider view of discovery
AI discovery also has a local context.
I include GEO and AI search considerations within international SEO. Platform availability, language, sources and corporate access conditions can vary across audiences, so I do not assume that one English-language prompt represents every market.
Where relevant, sampled AI answers help us examine which sources are cited and whether the business’s expertise is clearly explained. Those observations are separate from measured search demand. Technical accessibility, credible information and useful local content remain practical priorities, without a promise of universal AI visibility.
The work in practice.
Different businesses, different starting points. Explore the approach and the context behind each result.
+64.7%
Organic clicks from outside Japan
Original market: Japan
Target: Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Australia, China, Philippines & Taiwan
Property development
Japanese property. A stronger international search presence.
Read case study
10×
Reported organic traffic growth in Hong Kong
Original market: Belgium
Target: Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau & Taiwan
Home appliances eCommerce
European products. Lasting Asian demand.
Read case study
Page 1
Google and Baidu for selected location + buying-intent searches
Original market: Russia
Target: China, Hong Kong & Taiwan
Amber jewellery & souvenir retail
Searching from abroad. Shopping in Saint Petersburg.
Read case study
0 → 39
Peak monthly conversions
Original market: China
Target: United States & international
Beauty products manufacturing
A new website. An international enquiry channel.
Read case studyLocal context changes the work.
Explore the search behaviour, languages and commercial considerations in each market.
Before we begin.
A few practical questions about the work.
What is international SEO?
International SEO helps a business become discoverable and useful to audiences in different countries or regions. It can include market research, multilingual keyword strategy, localised content, technical implementation and measurement. The right scope depends on the markets and customers you want to reach.
How is international SEO different from multilingual SEO?
Multilingual SEO focuses on serving people in different languages. International SEO also considers countries, local demand and commercial expectations. Several markets may share a language, while one market may need multiple languages or mixed-language content.
Do we need a separate website for every country?
Not necessarily. Separate domains, subdomains or subdirectories involve different maintenance and implementation considerations. We review the existing website, content differences, resources and business needs before recommending a structure. Creating more sites is not an automatic advantage.
Can we reuse content across markets?
Useful shared information can remain consistent. The offer, terminology, examples, buying questions and service details may need local adaptation. I identify what should be shared and what needs a distinct page, rather than duplicating every page for every location.
Do you handle every language yourself?
I lead research, strategy and coordination, and agree writing and review responsibilities with the client. For languages or specialist topics that require local expertise, we work with appropriate reviewers or the client’s team. For example, on a Japanese property developer’s website, the local team managed Japanese content while I handled technical SEO.
Can you support both local and international search intent?
Yes. A traveller can research a destination from home and later search nearby for a place to buy. An overseas buyer can discover a manufacturer abroad while needing local-language explanations and clear delivery information. The content and journey should reflect where the customer starts and where the business serves them.
A clear next step
Let’s work out
what comes next.
Share your website, the challenge and what you would like to improve. We can start with the work that matters most.
Discuss your international growth