Your Door to the World
International SEO
SEOReach your audience organically in markets around the world.
Germany SEO
Suchmaschinenoptimierung
Get your company's products or services in front of your audience in the German market.
See the page →
France SEO
Référencement
We bring your company to potential customers in French-speaking countries through organic search.
See the page →
UK SEO
UK SEO
We get your website in front of the audience searching in English across the United Kingdom.
See the page →
If your market is the United Kingdom
UK SEO focuses on a single country: British spelling, en-GB targeting and .co.uk trust signals sit at the center of that work.
← The UK SEO pageIf your language is English and your market is the world
An English-language site speaks to everyone searching in English, not to one country; we explain the cluster strategy we built for exactly that in our guide.
The English SEO guide →The International SEO Guide
We take on the management of the work that gets your website ranking better in organic search results for the markets you serve abroad.
Since 2001 we have run, and continue to run, projects centered on a number of European countries. There are also organizations we advise on international SEO as Türk SEM.
First, it needs saying that SEO is a critical and delicate field of work. Every discipline involved moves with real precision and care. We apply every new technological development that will bring out your site's existing strength. Search engine optimization (SEO) is covered generally on its own page.
“To build the future, we have to protect the present.”
2001
the year our Europe-based projects began
20
markets in the Country Atlas: engine, language and local signals
90%
of the world's internet users reachable through Google Ads
We Reach 90% of the World's Internet Users Through Google Ads
Google Partner
Through Google Ads we can put your company's products and services in front of 90% of the world's internet users. Türk SEM is a Google Ads partner agency, and we run the work of reaching the right user at the right time in your target market alongside SEO.
Why Türk SEM for Your International SEO?
We take a different SEO approach for every country, and we have been succeeding at it since 1999. Our country experience is measured by our archive of work, not by which languages we speak: we know which signal works in which market because we have run the projects.
Note: our International SEO certificate (PDF) was awarded by the Semrush Academy.
From the archive · Field note 01
US-based English-language sites
On the English-language sites we built for the US market, our development team and we ran the whole process, from building the site to structuring the content. The country variant of English (en-US spelling, date and measurement formats) was settled at the setup stage.
From the archive · Field note 02
Arabic SEO work
On the Arabic project, right-to-left text layout was the easy part; the real difference was in country targeting. We saw in the field that there is no single Arabic market, and redesigned the off-page setup specifically for the target country. Today's principle comes from that experience.
From the archive · Field note 03
German-language projects
Our longest-running experience abroad is in the German market: our ties to Aksaray, a city with deep expat links to Germany, and our partner German portals solved the first-audience problem. Germany SEO
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”
What Comes First in Our International SEO Work
On timelines
“Talking about a timeline isn't right for the work we do.”
Building the most authoritative site in your sector is a long and demanding process. What we can say comfortably is this: you end up with a faster site, you reach hundreds of thousands of people through content, and you build a structure that's integrated with your sector.
On off-page
“The first audience comes through our partner European portals.”
Off-site SEO is the most demanding part of working abroad. We have agreements with a number of significant portals based in Germany, France and the UK. In Arabic-speaking markets, country targeting works differently; we redesign the off-page setup specifically for the company in question.
On defining the niche
“Our client doesn't pick the keywords; we define the niche.”
Our order of work is strict: first we determine the right country and the right keywords for a company's products and services to appear for on Google. Google Keyword Planner plays a significant role in that process.
International Site Structure: ccTLD, Subdirectory, Subdomain
This is the first structural decision any site expanding abroad has to make, and the most expensive one to change later. We have had projects where all three worked; the difference is choosing the right one from the start, based on the company's goal.
Country extension: ccTLD
example.de
This carries the strongest country signal and the most local user trust; in trust-driven markets like Germany its effect is significant. The trade-off is just as clear: authority has to be built from zero for every country.
When: projects focusing deeply on one or two countries, where local trust is the deciding factor.
Subdirectory
example.com/de/
The main domain's authority is shared across every language, and management and measurement run from one place; the country signal is given through hreflang. It's the most common choice when opening into multiple countries.
When: companies opening into several markets at once under a single brand.
Subdomain
de.example.com
This separates country sites technically, giving flexibility where separate teams, infrastructure or hosting are required. Authority sharing isn't as direct as with a subdirectory.
When: organizations whose regional teams and infrastructure operate independently of each other.
A 2026 note: AI translation is in everyone's hands now, which is why rankings are decided by localization, not translation. Keyword research is redone in the target language, currency and legal trust blocks are built per country, and country variants of the same language (de-DE and de-CH, en-GB and en-US, fr-FR and fr-CA) are handled separately. We cover these details one by one on our country pages.
Hreflang Markup on Multilingual Sites
Hreflang markup tells search engines which page of a multilingual site belongs to which language and country; set up wrongly, the wrong page gets listed in the right country. The hreflang tools our SEO specialists built years ago have moved into our SEO analysis core on the new platform: when you crawl your site, the hreflang audit runs automatically and multilingual structure errors show up in the report.
We cover the finer points of country-level hreflang setup (the de-DE versus de-CH distinction, choosing between en-GB and en-US, the fr-FR and fr-CA difference) on the relevant country pages.
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="tr" href="https://example.com/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-DE" href="https://example.com/de/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB" href="https://example.com/en/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />
Türksemveri · Hreflang Checker
Test Your Multilingual Setup Now
Enter your address and let our Hreflang Checker lay out your hreflang set, your self-reference and x-default rules and your language codes in a single crawl. That same crawl also feeds every one of our tools and your SEO analysis report.
An SEO Atlas by Country
Every market has its own dominant search engine, language rules and local trust signals. We've summarized the observations we've gathered over the years for 20 markets:
United States
GoogleMobile-first indexing, E-E-A-T, Core Web Vitals
Local business listings, Google Business Profile
Argentina
GoogleSpanish (es-AR) localization
Local directories and marketplaces
Australia
GoogleHigh-quality content, fast load times
Local business directories, .com.au domain
Brazil
GooglePortuguese (pt-BR) content optimization
Local directories, WhatsApp-heavy communication
China
BaiduBaidu-specific optimization, ICP license
WeChat and Weibo integration
Indonesia
GoogleMobile optimization, local language support
Local social platforms (e.g. LINE)
South Africa
GoogleMulti-language support, mobile optimization
Local business directories, .co.za domain
South Korea
Naver, GoogleNaver-specific optimization, blog marketing
KakaoTalk integration
India
GoogleMulti-language support, mobile optimization
Local search engines (e.g. Justdial)
Italy
GoogleGDPR compliance, Italian-language content
.it domain, local business listings
Japan
Google, Yahoo! JapanJapanese character optimization
Local social networks (e.g. LINE)
Canada
GoogleBilingual content (English and French)
.ca domain, local directories
Mexico
GoogleSpanish-language content optimization
Local business directories, .mx domain
Russia
Yandex, GoogleCyrillic optimization, Yandex-specific SEO
.ru domain, local networks like VK
Saudi Arabia
GoogleArabic content, right-to-left text layout
Local social platforms
European Union
GoogleGDPR compliance, multi-language support
Country-specific domains, local directories
Coming the Other Way?
An international company entering the Turkish market?
This page is for companies expanding out of Türkiye. If your direction is the opposite, entering the Turkish market from abroad, we cover that process on its own page.
2026: A New Layer in International Search
AI Answers Are Rolling Out at Different Speeds Country by Country
Google's AI-assisted search experience doesn't open in every market at the same time or in the same form; for one product you may see an AI answer in the US while the same search returns classic results in Germany. That's why structured data, clear sourcing and language-specific content quality are now part of country targeting in international SEO. You can learn how visibility in AI search actually works on our AIO page.
The Questions You Ask Us Most
What's your experience in building international sites?
Türk SEM isn't a web design agency as such, but we do carry out development and design work on our own clients' websites. Our development team has significant experience and depth in building international websites. US-based English-language sites, Arabic SEO work and German SEO services have all been delivered by our company.
What results do you expect, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?
Because we offer all digital solutions together as an agency, we expect an immediate increase in customers. On the SEO side, we know you want to climb. But we aren't an aggressive player. We work with established companies operating to high standards, and committing to a timeline isn't something we can do. After our work, your site will "come into its own."
Will you share all the changes you make on our site with us?
Every one of our SEO consultants shares the work they do each day with us in report form, and we archive that work. Within what we archive, we share some data with you and some we don't. Data that can be shared can be included in the monthly report on request.
Should we choose a ccTLD or a subdirectory for an international site?
There's no single right answer; it depends on the goal. If you're focusing deeply on one or two countries and local trust is the deciding factor, a country extension (example.de) is a strong choice. If you're opening into several markets at once under one brand, a subdirectory sharing the main domain's authority (example.com/de/) is the most common and the easiest to manage. This decision is settled together during the niche-definition stage of the project.
How will you measure our SEO performance? How will you report it?
Our biggest priority is making your site one of the most authoritative in your sector. We understand perfectly well that you want to be at the top. But remember that we aren't magicians with a magic wand. Building the best site, showing it to our first test group, gathering reactions and working toward something better all take time. We remove the obstacles for your site and carry out all the technical work; we don't apply aggressive SEO methods. Success only comes when all the gears turn in proper harmony.
“Every successful person has a plan; every unsuccessful person has an excuse.”
Let's Define Your Target Market Together
Determining the right country and the right niche for your company's products and services is the first step of international SEO work.