International SEO Agency
International SEO Agency for Growing Beyond Your Home Market
We are an international SEO agency for businesses selling in more than one country, helping buyers in each market reach the version of your site built for them. Senior SEOs get the structure and hreflang right first, then build each market's pages from research in its own language.
- Search platforms optimised, from Google to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Reddit and YouTube
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Some of the brands we have worked with
Who this is for
When one country's SEO is no longer enough
A new country on the plan
You are about to sell in another country and must decide where it sits: a subdirectory, a subdomain or its own country-code domain. Settled early, that structure can take the next market too.
The wrong country's pages showing
Your UK pages turn up for searchers in the US, or the reverse, and pages that are nearly identical across regions risk being read as copies rather than as versions for separate markets.
Translated pages nobody finds
Your English pages were translated for a new market but draw little search traffic there. People abroad rarely search with a word-for-word translation of your keywords, so research starts again in their language.
Ranking at home, not abroad
Your site ranks well in the UK, but in the new market local competitors fill the results. Search engines look for authority inside each market, so that country needs links from its own sites.
What we do
How search engines pick a country version
Most of what an international SEO agency does feeds one decision a search engine makes for every searcher: which version of your site, by country or language, to show them. When UK and US pages say almost the same thing, the wrong one can reach the wrong audience, and the pair can run into duplicate content issues.
Hreflang guides that decision. Each version carries a tag stating its language and country, and canonical tags set alongside make a regional page count as its market's own version, not a copy.
What our international SEO services include
Our international and multilingual SEO services have five parts, weighted to your priority markets.
Keyword research per market
Research runs in each market's own language, since a translated English keyword is rarely the phrase buyers there type. Its findings decide which pages each market needs.
Pages written for each market
Existing pages reworked for the country each one serves, in the words buyers there use for what you sell, plus new pages where the research shows a gap.
Hreflang and canonical tags
Tags on every language and country version, with canonicals to match, implemented directly on Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce and headless builds, or ticketed for your developers.
A profile for each region
Each region you operate in gets its own Google Business Profile, its name, address and services matching your site, so local buyers find you in search and on Maps.
Links from each market's own sites
Links from sites in each target country, earned through digital PR, partnerships and community placement, so authority builds where you want to rank. None is bought from networks.
How results are reported for each market
Every month's report gives each country and language its own line for rankings, Search Console data, traffic, leads and revenue, with commentary for each market alongside the figures. A growing market cannot then hide one that has stalled. Each month's work follows a plan agreed with you in advance, and every technical fix is confirmed in Search Console after it goes live.
Where international SEO sits in our work
We run SEO Services for UK and US clients, and international campaigns with hreflang and market-specific content are part of that work. Technical SEO covers the wider technical foundations; if a market's structure means a domain change, Website Migration SEO plans the move.
An AI model should find the same description of your business in every market, so our Generative Engine Optimisation work keeps your name, services and details consistent across regions. AI tools help us research faster, but experienced SEOs make each market's decisions.
How it works
How an international SEO project runs
Once the strategy is properly in place, meaningful movement comes for most businesses inside three to six months, sooner or later depending on each market's competition and your domain's standing.
Related services
Other SEO services
Link Building
Authority is still the hardest ranking factor to fake and the one that separates page one from page three in competitive sectors.
On-Page SEO Services
Our on-page SEO services tune each page for the searches it should win, through the title, headings, copy, internal links and images search engines read, with the copy checked for how an AI assistant would read it.
SEO Services
Every account at Essheo is worked by a senior SEO, not handed down to a junior after the pitch.
Shopify SEO Services
As a Shopify SEO agency, we help stores get their collections and products found, whether shoppers search Google or ask an AI assistant.
Technical SEO
Content and links are wasted on a site Google cannot crawl efficiently or render properly.
Website Migration SEO
We are an SEO migration agency for businesses changing platform, domain, design or URL structure, planning the search side so the rankings and links your site has earned can carry across.
Insights
Latest guides
How to Measure Success From Generative Engine Optimisation
AI SEO Guides
What ROI Can Businesses Expect From GEO Services?
AI SEO Guides
How Much Traffic Can AI Search Generate for Your Business?
AI SEO Guides
Is GEO Worth Investing In? A Business Case for AI Search Optimisation
AI SEO Guides
How AI-Powered Search Engines Decide Which Brands to Recommend
AI SEO Guides
Google’s AI Overviews: What They Mean for Your Business
AI SEO Guides
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Hreflang tags mark which language and country a page is written for. With UK and US versions of one page, they let a search engine show each searcher their own, while canonical tags alongside stop the pair being treated as duplicates.
Foundations first, then content and links. The first fortnight covers priority markets, keyword research in each one, the structure and an audit of hreflang and canonicals. Fixes ship from week three; months two and three bring adapted pages and the first placements, with links aimed at sites in your target markets.
A ccTLD is a country-code domain, one of the structures a market can use alongside subdirectories and subdomains. You do not necessarily need one, as all three can work. The right choice depends on the authority each option can build and the upkeep your team can take on.
Start from research, not translation. The phrase a buyer types in one market is rarely a direct translation of the one used in another, so keyword research runs in each market's language first. Pages are then rewritten around what it finds, in the terms customers there use.
Separately for each market, with the tools behind all our SEO work: rank tracking, Search Console and revenue attribution, each read by country and language. What counts as success is tailored to you, whether that means leads, sales or rankings for your main products.
Nobody can fairly claim that title; the best one for you plans around your markets, not a template. Whichever international SEO agency or consultant you meet, ask who does the work (everyone on an Essheo account has 8+ years' experience) and be wary of promised rankings: nobody controls Google's results.
Speak to us today to get started