How To Combine SEO And CRO For Successful Globalization

Author: Veruska Anconitano, Multilingual SEO & Globalization ConsultantAuthor information
Veruska
About the author
Veruska Anconitano
Veruska is a International Expansion Specialist focused on Multilingual SEO and Globalization with 24 years of expertise working with brands wanting to enter non-English speaking markets.
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SEO and CRO, or Search Engine Optimization and Conversion Rate Optimization, are two essential strategies businesses use to improve their online presence and increase sales. Despite the differences in their goals, SEO and CRO share many similarities. In particular, both are designed to help websites increase traffic and conversions, ultimately leading to more revenue. Hence, it’s essential to understand how these two strategies can work together for maximum effect in international markets.

As digital marketers invest more effort into targeting international customers through localized search engine visibility and website optimization, understanding the relationship between SEO and CRO is paramount to success in foreign markets. Both strategies have an important role in capturing a larger share of the international market if combined in a culturally-aware strategy.

Why SEO and CRO should work together in the global expansion phase

First, optimizing websites for organic searches is critical to achieving better rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). Optimization must include keyword research specific to the language and location of target audiences to capture relevant organic search queries from diverse geographies. Without local keyword research, businesses will miss vital opportunities for increased search engine visibility and targeted leads from potential customers overseas. It’s also essential to create website content using industry-specific language that resonates with each geographic audience; this will help ensure that your message does not get lost in translation or misinterpreted due to cultural differences.

In addition to localized SEO efforts, adding CRO tactics such as A/B testing can help ensure relevance with international consumers. A/B testing allows marketers to compare different versions of webpages or ads with different target audiences to identify what works best with each demographic group they’re trying to reach. For example, a business may find that certain colors or images work better in one market than another; easily switching them out helps maximize the campaign’s effectiveness by ensuring that each version speaks directly to its intended audience.

Combining these two strategies allows businesses to create a seamless and effective online presence in international markets. SEO helps to drive traffic to your website, while CRO ensures that this traffic is converted into paying customers.

International SEO and CRO together: a practical example

For example, you run a clothing store and want to expand into the German market. First, you would need to research keywords to identify the phrases German customers use to search for clothing online. You would then optimize your website’s content and design to include these keywords and appeal to German consumers.

Next, you would use CRO techniques to improve the user experience on your website. This could involve testing different call-to-action buttons to see which gets the most clicks or using customer feedback to change your website’s navigation. By continually optimizing your website, you can increase the likelihood that German customers will purchase from your store. And by making your website more accessible to browse and navigate, you will likely help boost its ranking in Germany.

8 proven strategies for combining SEO and CRO in international markets

A/B testing

A/B testing involves testing two web page versions to see which performs better in conversion rate. A/B testing can be a valuable tool for improving the user experience on your website, which can ultimately help with your SEO efforts. However, some potential drawbacks to A/B testing could affect your SEO. For example, if you run an A/B test on your website, you must create multiple web page versions. This can confuse search engines, as they may not know which version of the page to index or rank.

Additionally, making significant changes to a web page as part of an A/B test could temporarily affect the page’s performance in search results. This is because search engines use various signals to determine the relevance and authority of a web page, and sudden changes to these signals can impact the page’s ranking. Overall, it is important to consider the potential impact of A/B testing on your SEO efforts and take steps to minimize any negative effects (check Google’s documentation).

User feedback

Collecting and analyzing feedback from website visitors can provide valuable insights into areas of your website that may be hindering conversions. You can use surveys, heatmaps, data from customer services, public sentiment, sales data, etc. Feedback is also helpful in strategizing your SEO effort to meet and find people’s needs, such as improving your market-based keyword research.

Data analysis

Analyzing traffic patterns, conversion rates, and customer behavior can help identify areas for improvement on your website. Data analysis is also extremely important for SEO. By analyzing your website’s performance, you can gain valuable insights into how your website is performing in search results and identify areas for improvement. For example, data analysis can help you understand which keywords and phrases drive traffic to your website and which pages perform well in search results. This information can help you optimize your website’s content and design to improve your search engine ranking and drive more organic traffic to your website. Additionally, data analysis can help you understand how visitors interact with your website, including how long they spend on each page and which pages they are most likely to convert on. This information can help you identify potential issues with your website’s user experience and make necessary changes to improve conversions.

Personalization

Customizing the user experience based on individual preferences and characteristics can improve your website’s relevancy and effectiveness, which can help with your SEO efforts. For example, use personalization to show visitors in a specific market content that is more relevant and tailored to their interests. They may be more likely to engage with your website and spend more time on it. This can improve your website’s dwell time, a signal that search engines use to determine the quality and relevance of a web page. Personalization can also help you create a more engaging and enjoyable user experience, improving your website’s user satisfaction and reducing the bounce rate. Both of these factors can have a positive impact on your search engine ranking.

Optimizing the user journey

Streamlining the process for customers to take the desired action, such as making a purchase, can increase the likelihood of conversion and be good for SEO. Optimizing the user journey involves identifying potential obstacles or friction points that may prevent visitors from taking the desired action and making changes to remove or reduce these barriers. For example, you may want to simplify the checkout process on your e-commerce website or make it easier for visitors to find the information they are looking for on your website. Improving the user experience on your website can have several benefits for SEO. For one, it can increase user engagement, improving your website’s dwell time and reducing the bounce rate. Both of these factors are signals that search engines use to determine the quality and relevance of a web page and can impact your search engine ranking.

Optimizing for mobile

Ensuring your website is mobile-friendly and easy to use on mobile devices can improve the user experience, increase conversions and help with rankings. Optimizing your website for mobile involves making sure that your website is mobile-friendly and easy to use on mobile devices. This includes having a responsive design that automatically adjusts to fit the screen size of different devices and making sure that your website’s content and images are optimized for mobile viewing. Optimizing for mobile can improve the user experience for visitors accessing your website on mobile devices, which can benefit your SEO efforts. For one, it can improve your website’s dwell time and reduce the bounce rate, which are signals that search engines use to determine the quality and relevance of a web page. Additionally, mobile optimization can improve your website’s accessibility and make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content. This can help improve your search engine ranking and drive more organic traffic to your website.

Using social proof

Including customer testimonials, reviews, and ratings on your website can help build trust and credibility with potential customers and ultimately help your SEO efforts. Reviews are not a ranking signal for Google, but they can indirectly help. How? First, they can provide valuable information and insights to potential customers, helping them make more informed decisions and feel more confident in their purchases. Then, they can increase the amount of text on each page, making your website richer and more appealing to search engines, considering we’re heading towards a relevance-first SERP. This can increase the likelihood of conversion and ultimately improve your website’s performance and user experience.

Providing clear and compelling calls-to-action

Encouraging visitors to take action through clear and compelling calls to action can increase conversions. Having clear and compelling CTAs on your website can improve the user experience by making it easy for visitors to understand what they need to do next. This can increase the likelihood of conversion and make your website more effective at achieving its goals. If SEO brings the right people to a page, but these users don’t find a clear path and don’t know what to do, the efforts have been in vain, and both SEO and CRO haven’t provided a good service to the company. CTAs are the weapons to test the efficiency of the relationship between SEO and CRO in global markets.

International SEO and CRO: a match made in heaven

SEO and CRO are both important when it comes to international marketing. SEO will help you ensure your site is visible to potential customers in other countries, while CRO can help you convert more visitors into paying customers. By combining the power of these two strategies, you’ll be able to increase revenue in international markets and see a higher return on investment for your efforts.

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