New Market, New Strategy: 5 Key International SEO Strategy Elements to Re-examine for Each New Market
Each country is different, with its own culture or cultures and challenges (challenges for both users and marketers). Ideally, we would tailor our strategy to a regional level for each country. For some types of products, it can even make sense to develop strategies targeting individual consumers or businesses.
However, the most significant impact on success typically comes from having a specific SEO strategy for each country.
SEO strategy, as much as your overall business strategy, is about finding a strategic advantage over your competition. Something that will add more value to a significant number, not necessarily all, of customers than your competitors can offer.
While we may get everything right in one market, the one we know best, entering a new market requires a new strategy.
Competitors vary in strengths and weaknesses, and users search differently and put value on different things, both when searching with an informational or transactional intent.
Therefore, here are the five key areas of your international SEO strategy that you need to re-examine and potentially adapt for each new market you enter.
Product / Service Competition
Who are you competing with? And how are they competing?
Every market has unique players—often local businesses that deeply understand the culture very well and have a strong offering. These competitors often excel at matching user intent and highlighting the right USPs (unique selling points).
To compete, one needs to take the time to understand these competitors and what makes them successful.
Take Amazon’s experience in India as an example. When Amazon entered the market in 2013, it faced strong local competitors like Flipkart and Snapdeal. To stand out, Amazon was prepared to invest big though in tailored offerings, such as Prime Video with Indian titles in multiple languages, recognizing the fact that this country doesn’t have a single, uniform culture by any means.
Similarly, even if you’ve outmaneuvered familiar competitors in your home market, don’t assume the same strategies will work elsewhere.
Competitors may adapt their value propositions and SEO approaches for different markets, offering valuable lessons — and potential pitfalls — you can learn from.
For example, Toyota was the first Japanese car manufacturer to launch in the US. Initially known for compact, fuel-efficient cars in Japan, Toyota learned from an initial failure in the US and adapted to the US market by focusing on powerful yet still (relatively) fuel-efficient vehicles. Honda, entering later, learned from Toyota’s approach and found its niche that worked for the US market, too, and then continued to grow.
SERP Competition & Landscape
While direct competitors offering the same products and services are likely to be search competitors (i.e., competing for rankings in SERPs), they may not be the only ones—or even the most significant. Sometimes, a competitor you recognize from another market with strong SEO performance might appear to be doing little or nothing in a different market, possibly relying on other channels instead.
This can happen when sites fail to set up their international site structure in an SEO-friendly manner. For instance, they might not leverage backlinks or topical authority from their existing sites to benefit their new market sites—such as when using a separate domain or sub-domain.
Understanding your competition is especially important for higher-funnel, informational intent terms. In these cases, your main competitors might be content-publishing sites that don't sell products but have significant topical authority.
In other scenarios, government sites might dominate SERPs, particularly for Featured Snippets and AI Overviews. This often happens in markets and languages where Google prioritizes trusted, localized information.
Take health information, for example. While a site like WebMD, as well as pharmacy brands and pharmaceutical companies, may have strong visibility in many markets, they often lack local versions or content in the appropriate language. As a result, health ministry websites may serve as the most trusted source that Google relies on.
And talking about Google, it could be that the new landscape involves not just different competitors but also different search engines. In the US, Bing has around 10% market share, not including Chat GPT Search which at the time of writing has just launched.
In Russia, Yandex is the biggest search engine and in China, it is Baidu, but Bing, Haosou and Sogou taking market share all the time. Naver has a significant share in South Korea and Yahoo! Japan in Japan (powered by Google but with different SERP features and rankings).
Even when Google is your primary focus (until AI-driven search engines like Perplexity gain more market share), its SERP features can differ significantly. For example, Google recently announced the expansion of AI Overviews to 134 new markets. However, this feature currently supports only seven languages, meaning many users in these markets may not see or use AI Overviews — especially if the most commonly spoken languages, like French and German, are unsupported.
In a country like Canada, for instance, English speakers will soon have access to AI Overviews, while the country's more than 7 million French speakers won’t. This means that while you may want to consider AI Overviews for your long-term strategy, it may not be an immediate opportunity in some markets and languages.
Conversely, in some markets, you will find that Featured Snippets are less common—not because Google avoids displaying them, but due to a lack of high-quality sources. This gap represents a clear opportunity and a tactic to consider.
Search Demand & Intent
One common mistake is assuming that if the language is the same, there’s no need for new keyword research or that you can simply swap a few "S"s for "Z"s. There are multiple reasons why this doesn’t work, and if you are trying to directly translate your keywords you will find yourself even further off.
It’s not just about doing keyword research — you also need to learn from it. You also need to do an intent analysis for that keyword research to understand the market before you can come up with an effective SEO strategy.
Market Evolution and Keyword Differences
Markets evolve at different rates, which massively impacts the types of keywords people use and the intent behind them. For example, in less developed markets where knowledge of a product or service is still growing, searches are often shorter and more basic. People may also search in fewer, more uniform ways. As market awareness increases, queries tend to become more diverse and specific.
Consider the keyword “meal kit services”:
In many European countries: This is often an informational keyword because the concept of meal kits is still relatively new. People are more likely to search for information about what meal kits are and how they work.
In the USA: The keyword is more likely to be transactional, as meal kits are well-known. Users are searching for specific services like Blue Apron or HelloFresh to order from.
Regional Terminology Matters
As markets mature, don’t assume the terminology remains the same across regions. For instance:
In the UK HelloFresh is the best-known site offering ‘recipe boxes’ - everything you need to cook specific recipes delivered to your home.
Hello Fresh is also a market leader in the US, where the term ‘Meal Kit’ is used
And in Germany is ‘Kochbox’ (Cooking box) - all referring to the same thing.
If you’re first to market, you have the opportunity to define and "own" the term. However, if competitors are already established, it’s essential to adopt the language that both they and the consumers are using. Be mindful that multiple terms may coexist, especially with the influence of global markets and social media.
Cultural Influences on Search Behavior
Culture also impacts how people search, including the methods they use and the number of touchpoints in the decision-making journey.
For example:
In the US, people generally prefer quick decision-making with minimal research. They need fewer proof points and spend less time comparing options.
In contrast, in Japan, users typically invest more time gathering information and conducting detailed research before making a purchase.
Therefore, in Japan you can expect more mid-funnel searches: questions about specifications, comparisons, or reviews. To succeed, your content must address these queries to stay visible during the “moment of decision.”
Keyword Intent and Cultural Nuances
The intent behind keywords will also be impacted by culture. For example, even where you can see that users in the UK and USA use the same keyword in similar volumes, intent may be different. To understand the intent, take a look at the SERPs to see who is ranking and what type of pages.
Let’s look at the term “garden room”:
In the UK, this is a highly commercial term, with search results dominated by companies offering garden rooms and garden offices, as well as a heap of Ads and Shopping Ads.
In the US, it is more of an informational search around ‘what is a garden room?’, ‘how to build your own garden room?’, with video results, or local venues offering garden rooms for private events.
Strategic Advantage
These points for reconsidering your SEO strategy are presented in this order for a reason. First, you need to understand who your direct and search competitors are, how users search, the market’s development stage, and what matters most to users—keyword research is a key source for the last three points.
This applies not only to your final, saleable offering but also to the information and content you provide. Search engines prioritize results that reflect what is important to local users, so examining the SERPs for differences across markets is essential.
For example, in a potential new market, let’s say Germany, you might find that top-ranking pages for commercial terms often feature a lot of reviews, particularly from local users. This indicates that reviews are probably something important to your users and by extension to Google. (This is a real-world example, in my experience with B2B companies having plenty of reviews from German businesses on your German site has a big impact).
This will only take you so far, though. While this type of analysis helps you match your competitors, to truly stand out, you need a unique strategic advantage. Ask yourself: What are users looking for or what are search engines favoring that no one else is doing well?
Keyword research can provide clues. Are there questions left unanswered? Funnel stages that are underserved? Features users want that don’t yet exist?
Also, read reviews and explore platforms like Reddit, X, and LinkedIn, or niche sites like TripAdvisor to uncover common frustrations and unmet needs. Identifying gaps or shortcomings in competitors’ offerings can reveal opportunities to better serve users.
Looking at what annoys customers about competitors or just answering questions better can help you spot opportunities. - Source
For Google and other search engines of course your strategic advantage is unlikely to be something that the search engine algorithm only values or rewards in that country, but something that competitors simply aren’t doing in that market.
For example, in your main market, guest posting might be something that has been done to death, with most worthwhile sites so overwhelmed by requests that you’re unlikely to get any kind of response. However, that might not be the case in your new market.
Similarly, in your home market, competitors might have exhausted the value of “people also ask” questions, covering every query with or without search volume. But in your new market, no one might have tackled this yet.
Finally, leveraging your origin or culture can sometimes be a strength—but it must align with how the target market perceives your brand. In certain countries, being from another specific country might not be the selling point you’d hope for. Adapt your strategy accordingly.
Value Proposition & Messaging
Everything we've covered so far can help you refine this critical aspect: your value proposition and messaging.
Your value proposition is what grabs attention and compels users to click on your results in the SERPs. It's also what keeps them engaged once they're on your site, potentially leading to a sale. Beyond that, a clear and consistent message helps you stand out when users come back—whether in a few minutes, hours, or days—with a follow-up search or a purchase-intent query.
If you have a strong strategic advantage, then you may want to communicate it in your Page Titles and Meta Descriptions to stand out. However, how you present this advantage should align with the expectations and culture of your target country.
In some regions, being bold and self-promotional with words like “best,” “unique,” or “ultimate” can be effective. In other cultures, audiences may value facts over bravado. For instance, mentioning awards or emphasizing specific features—like “Free Shipping,” “12-Month Warranty,” or “12-Hour Battery Life”—can resonate more effectively.
Again, keywords can give guidance, but as a final key piece of advice, with this and every point in this article: it is invaluable to work with local people who know the culture and, ideally, a little about the specific vertical you are in.
Finally, remember that even well-chosen keywords and observations can lead you astray if not interpreted correctly. It is always good to have people who can get you back on track or explain the nuances to you.
Article by
Dave Cousin
Dave, the founder of Dave the SEO & Co., is an SEO consultant and trainer based in the UK and Canada. With over 20 years of experience in the SEO industry, both in-house and agency-side, Dave has worked with some of the world's biggest brands, specializing in SEO strategy and international SEO. In 2024, he founded Dave the SEO & Co., where he now collaborates with brands and agencies to refine their SEO strategies, successfully launch into new markets, and enhance their teams' SEO knowledge and skills.
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