Key Takeaways:
Content plays a key role in International SEO, and crafting the right content strategy will determine your chances for success in competitive global markets. Optimising pages about your products and services won’t suffice, you need to identify Micro-Moments and deliver answers to clients’ questions across the purchase funnel.
What is an International Content Strategy?
The purpose of an international SEO Content Strategy is making our site visible across the different steps within our search personas funnel. Delivering the right content for each step of the funnel and for different search personas across different markets, will significantly improve our chances to surpass competitors and print our brand as the best option in users’ minds.
What type of content should you create for International SEO?
In order to achieve the maximum possible level of visibility for your products and services, optimising content for pages regarding your products and services won’t be enough. Your brand will need to successfully cover the different questions that may arise in customers minds across the different stages of the decision-making process.
TOFU (Top of The Funnel)
During the first stage, potential clients are possibly not fully conscious of what they specifically need, and all the requirements a specific product or service should cover in order to deliver a solution that’s right for them. In this stage is particularly important delivering content inline with our search personas interests, which are usually a signal of the type of need they are facing.
For example, users who may need a fleet management solution, will possibly start their journey searching for questions like How to reduce fuel costs in a taxi fleet?
MOFU (Middle of the Funnel)
At this second stage, the potential customer goal is to compare the different options available to fulfil their needs. The content aimed at this stage should help users find the motivation to continue, overcoming sticking points. During this second stage, the user’s search intent is tied to gathering enough intelligence to support a final decision. In fact, studies show this is the most crucial stage of the funnel. You need to show users how your products and services can help them and why you are their best call.
Typical content formats that work well in this stage are:
- Webinars
- E-books and guides
- Resource libraries
- FAQs
- Checklists
- Case studies
- Videos
- Buyer’s guides
BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel)
This is the last stage, the user will take a final decision and have different options in line to choose from. The search terms input by users in search engines during this last stage will be mostly transactional, displaying a clear purchase intention. Here is when your product and service categories, and of course, your product pages come into action.
Optimising these pages to maximise conversion is the key, your category pages should again reinforce the concept of why you are the best option.
How Micro-Moments help your SEO Strategy?
Having the different funnel stages defined and having the right content for each step is a great idea. However, as Google has pointed out, going beyond a generic model and mapping the entire customer journey will guarantee your success.
The different stages described above are filled with micro-moments, and identifying those micro-moments will lead you to discover the best opportunities along the buying journey.
For example, identifying a specific need during one of the stages and creating a specific content piece to cover this need, will place your brand predominantly against the competition.
Imagine a fashion retailer selling adventure travel clothing. This brand’s micro-moments start when potential customers dream about an adventure trip, and it continues until the trip materialises. The micro-moments for this brand will be therefore closely related to those for travel customer journey:
- Dreaming about the trip (user starts thinking about the adventure)
- Planning the trip (the user starts gathering information, clothing included)
- Booking the trip (once the trip is confirmed the user starts the clothing purchasing stage)
- Experiencing the trip (the user enjoys the trip and the products bought in our shop are a big part of it)
Micro-moments are the stitching thread of your content strategy and identifying those will make a real difference in your results across your different target markets.
If you wish to explore further, our site has articles, FAQs and other in-depth information that can help you get a better idea about International SEO works. However, if you have specific questions, or want to learn more about how we have helped numerous brands to successfully implement International SEO Content Strategies, feel free to contact us using the form below or emailing our Search Director Joaquin Morales at [email protected]
