Technical SEO Engineering
International SEO
hreflang implementation, URL structure decisions, content localisation strategy, and the AI Search validation most international SEO services skip. For brands launching in new markets or rebuilding a setup that broke years ago.
Deliverables
International SEO audit
Current state across every market: hreflang validity, URL structure, indexation per region, geotargeting setup, content duplication risks. The diagnostic foundation.
URL structure recommendations
Subdomain, subfolder, or ccTLD - the right architecture for your traffic profile, content velocity, and business setup. Documented with reasoning and trade-offs.
hreflang implementation
Validated, symmetric, error-free. Bi-directional reciprocity confirmed. Self-referencing tags present. Status codes verified. The implementation that does not break six months later.
Content localisation strategy
What to translate, what to localise, what to leave alone. Per-market content priority based on traffic potential and business goals. Documented so your content team can execute.
Search Console setup
International targeting configured per market, sitemaps split appropriately, indexation reporting aligned with your URL structure.
AI Search multi-region validation
The layer most international SEO services skip. Verifying that ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity cite the correct regional version when users ask in different languages.
Process
Discovery call
Thirty minutes. We walk through your current markets, your expansion plans, your URL structure, and your engineering setup. By the end I know whether the scope is a fresh international launch, a remediation of an existing setup, or a strategic restructure.
International audit
Two to three weeks. hreflang validity across every page, URL structure assessment, content duplication analysis, Search Console international targeting check, AI Search citation testing per region. Documented with the evidence behind each finding.
Strategy and structure decisions
URL architecture recommendations, hreflang scope, content localisation priorities, and which markets to launch first if expansion is the goal. Trade-offs documented per recommendation.
Implementation alongside engineering
hreflang shipped and validated. URL routing changes scoped with engineering. Sitemap structure rebuilt where needed. Geotargeting configured. Working code rather than just architecture docs.
Validation and handover
Post-deploy validation across Google, Bing, and AI engines per region. Documented runbook so your team can maintain international SEO discipline as markets evolve.
Packages
International Audit & Strategy
From £2,500
Find the gaps and plan the structure
3 to 4 weeks
- Full international audit across every active market
- hreflang validation with documented errors and fixes
- URL structure assessment and recommendations
- Content localisation priority matrix
- AI Search citation testing per region
Audit & Implementation
From £7,500
End-to-end international SEO work shipped alongside engineering
6 to 12 weeks
- Everything in the audit and strategy
- hreflang implementation shipped and validated
- URL structure changes scoped with engineering
- Sitemap restructure and Search Console setup per market
- AI Search multi-region validation post-deploy
- Documented runbook for your team
Ongoing Monitoring
From £800/month
International targeting that stays correct as you grow
Monthly cadence
- Monthly hreflang validation across every market
- Indexation reporting per region
- AI Search citation monitoring per language
- Quarterly strategy reviews as markets evolve
- Direct email access for international SEO questions
Case Studies
Halewood Editorial
Editorial expansion into French and German markets
UK editorial publication expanding into French and German markets needed a URL structure decision, hreflang implementation, and a content localisation strategy that did not require translating the full archive. Designed a subfolder structure with priority-translated articles per market, fully validated hreflang setup.
Outcome:
Cendric
Multi-region B2B SaaS launch
B2B SaaS launching in six markets simultaneously across English, German, French, and Spanish. Built the international SEO foundation from scratch: hreflang strategy, sitemap structure, Search Console geotargeting, AI Search citation testing per region. Live without rework needed.
Outcome:
Aldernode
E-commerce restructure into multi-region
E-commerce brand had been operating from a single /uk/ subfolder with international traffic served the wrong currency and shipping options. Restructured into proper per-region subfolders with full hreflang, market-specific canonicals, and currency handling that worked with the existing platform.
Outcome:
FAQs
Subdomain, subfolder, or ccTLD - which should we use?
Depends on your traffic profile, engineering setup, and business plans. Subfolders (example.com/de/) consolidate domain authority and are simplest to manage. Subdomains (de.example.com) give more independence but split signals. ccTLDs (example.de) signal strongest geotargeting but require separate domain management and lose consolidated authority. We make this decision together during the strategy phase.
What is hreflang and why is it so easy to get wrong?
hreflang tells search engines which language and region each version of your page is for. It is easy to get wrong because the rules are strict: tags must be symmetric (page A points to page B, and page B points back to page A), self-referencing, and use exact ISO codes. Most implementations I audit have at least one of these broken. The bi-directional reciprocity is the most-missed requirement.
Do AI engines respect hreflang?
Partially. Google parses hreflang and uses it for serving the right regional version. ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity do not implement hreflang the way Google does, but they do pick up regional signals from URL structure, content language, and entity context. This is why the AI Search validation step matters: confirming AI engines cite the correct regional version when users ask in different languages.
We are expanding to one new market. Do we still need international SEO work?
Often more so. Getting the structure right at one new market is much easier than rebuilding it across six. The decisions you make now (URL structure, hreflang scope, content strategy) get harder to change as you add markets. Doing it correctly at market one is cheaper than fixing it at market four.
Should we translate or localise our content?
Both, with priorities. Translation alone often misses cultural references, currency, regional product variations, and search intent that differs per market. Full localisation is expensive. The strategy phase produces a per-market priority matrix: what gets full localisation, what gets translation, and what gets left in the source language as a fallback. Built around traffic potential and business goals.
What about Yandex, Baidu, or Naver?
If your markets include Russia, China, or South Korea, yes. Each has its own quirks: Baidu prefers Simplified Chinese hosted in China, Yandex has its own webmaster tools and indexing patterns, Naver has different ranking factors entirely. We scope these markets specifically rather than assuming Google patterns apply.
How long until international SEO work shows results?
Indexation changes can take two to four weeks per market once hreflang is corrected. Ranking improvements typically follow over 60 to 120 days as search engines accumulate regional signals. New market launches are slower, often 90 to 180 days to establish meaningful regional presence. AI Search citation patterns shift on similar timelines.
Do we need separate teams per market?
Not necessarily. The international SEO work itself is centralised. Content production and per-market promotion can be local or centralised depending on your setup. The runbook I deliver gives one central team the framework to maintain international SEO discipline without needing market-specific specialists for the technical layer.