Subfolders are usually the strongest default. Country domains make sense for strong local brand or legal needs.
International SEO · San Francisco
International SEO Consultant in San Francisco
Expand into new markets without splitting your authority or confusing search engines.
Book an international SEO call
30 minutes · No pitch, no proposal to chase
Bay Area companies go international early, often right after a Series A or B. The usual pattern: translate the site into a few languages, launch, and discover that the new versions barely rank, the US site lost traffic, and Google shows the German page to users in Austria and the English page to users in Germany.
I help San Francisco companies plan and fix international SEO so every market gets the right pages and the whole site gets stronger.
Why I understand this problem
I'm based in Yerevan and work with clients in the US and Europe. My own agency site runs in 11 languages. As CMO of Renderforest, I work on a product used around the world. International setups are everyday work for me.
What it involves
- Market prioritization: which countries get full localization, a lighter version, or nothing yet, based on demand, competition and your go-to-market plan.
- Structure: subfolders, subdomains or country domains. Subfolders are the right default for most SaaS companies, but not all.
- Hreflang and signals: correct hreflang, canonicals, sitemaps and internal linking. This is where most setups break.
- Localization, not just translation: keyword research per language, local examples, currencies and regulations.
- Local authority: links and mentions that matter in each market.
- AI answers by market: assistants answer differently by language and region. We check each priority market.
Common fixes
- Hreflang pointing to redirected or non-canonical URLs.
- IP-based auto-redirects that stop crawlers reaching other versions.
- Unedited machine translation with no local keyword targeting.
- One English page trying to serve the US, UK and Australia.
Frequently asked questions
A few months, depending on competition and existing authority.
Yes, when I'm in town.
Book an international SEO call
Tell me the markets you're going into and the structure you're considering. We'll pressure-test it before anything ships.
Book an international SEO call
30 minutes · No pitch, no proposal to chase