If you're hoping to expand your company and participate in the global economy, it's crucial to customize your local search efforts for each of the foreign markets in which you plan to do business. International SEO done right is much more involved than you might think. The following offers some important tips for tailoring your online presence for global search marketing.

International SEO -- Local Domains and Hosting for Optimized Local Search

In order to have your pages recognized by the search engines, you need a country-code top-level domain (TLD) for the nation in which you plan to conduct business. For example, if you're planning to launch a site for an Italian audience, the TLD .it is vital for getting noticed and achieving high rankings.

Be aware that some countries place stipulations on whether a business is eligible for a TLD. Case in point, Italy will only register local domain extensions to those who reside, hold citizenship or have a physical business location in one of the 27 member states of the European Union. These conditions help underpin the importance of quality local search results.

When it comes to establishing relevancy and rankings for users, search engines favor not only local domains, but also local servers. A website with both a TLD and hosting in Italy will have the best chance to achieve high rankings in the SERPs. In fact, even if you plan to expand your business out to several foreign markets, you'll find it worth the time to optimize for local search by registering local domain extensions and hosting for each country. Without local hosting, the search engines will place much less relevance on your site.

Local Search -- Don't Forget Your Address

Make sure you place your physical address on each of your webpages, including the name of the country. In doing so, you underline the importance of your site, signaling your relevance to that region.

Local SEO -- Regional Links

Another way to establish relevance for your site is with local links. Search engines pay attention to the location of your links as another method for evaluating whether your site is appropriate for a specific region. If your site is in Italy and other Italian sites are linking to you, the search engines will take notice.

International SEO -- Localize Your Content

Translating content for foreign markets involves more than a simple conversion. Each language abides by its own set of semantic rules that can produce some comical results when overlooked. Think about the number of humorous websites out there devoted to poorly translated signs and advertisements. From puzzling directions, such as "let the trash back to its home" to confusing item descriptions like "multiply function pot," these perplexing phrase formations may be good for a laugh, but the last thing you want is to have your content noticed for the wrong reasons.

In addition to localizing your content for the intended foreign market, it's necessary to conduct some international keyword research. Obtaining keyword data unique to a specific region will give you an important edge for your international search engine marketing campaign.

Beyond SEO is the importance of developing a business strategy that will help you expand into foreign markets with your best foot forward. The competition is fierce all over the globe; so make sure you spend the time to develop a solid plan of action.