How to choose an international SEO agency

Agency, consultant or tools: three ways to do international SEO

There is no such thing as the “best agency”, only the right provider for your number of countries, your budget and your team. You have three options.

The local agency, based in the target country, is a variant of the specialist agency: it knows its market from the inside, but you will work in its language or in English, and you will have as many providers, contracts and reports as you have countries. For one priority market, it is a serious option; with several markets, the coordination falls on you.

For a company targeting up to five markets, a specialist often gives the best balance between results and cost. Between six and nine countries, it depends on your budget: from €3,000 a month, a larger agency can work on your markets in parallel; below that, a specialist remains the better choice. From ten countries upwards, a larger agency is the logical choice. For a language your specialist does not work in, bring in an expert in that market as well. If someone already does SEO full-time in your company, tools plus an occasional outside review may be enough.

The seven criteria that really matter

Before you compare prices, compare these seven points. For each one, here is how to check it without being an expert.

1. Language and market. Who writes your content in each language, and how well? A word-for-word translation ends up using words nobody searches for in the target country. How to check: ask the provider for a text they wrote in the target language, and have a client or partner in that country read it.
2. Keyword research for each country. A dictionary translates “mobile phone” as “téléphone portable”; the French type “portable”, the Belgians “GSM” and the French-speaking Swiss “natel”. The work must start from what people actually search for in each country, not from a translation of your English keywords: that is what keyword research for each country is for. How to check: ask for a sample of keyword research they have done; you should see search volumes for each country, not a translated list.
3. International technical SEO. Hreflang, site structure (/fr/, .fr or subdomain), separate URLs for each language, and no automatic redirection based on the visitor’s country or language: Google asks you to “avoid automatically redirecting users from one language version of a site to a different language version”, because it can stop both users and search engines from seeing all your versions. Search Console’s International Targeting report has also been retired: your structure and hreflang are what tell Google who each version is for. How to check: ask which structure they would choose for your site, and why.
4. Proof from your market. Case studies with figures from the country you are targeting, with clients the provider is allowed to name. How to check: ask for Search Console figures filtered for that country, and a client you can call.
5. Who does the work. Is your contact the person who audits, writes and fixes, or do they hand over to a subcontractor? How to check: ask for the name of the person who will write your content, and talk to them before you sign.
6. Measurement, country by country. Search Console filtered by country, Google Analytics 4, rankings for each market: you must see what each version brings in. How to check: ask for a sample report; if it mixes all countries, you will never know what works where.
7. The contract. Minimum term, notice period, what is included and what is not. How to check: read the contract; it must state that your content, your Google Ads account, Search Console and Analytics stay yours, even if you end it.

How much does an international SEO agency cost?

There is no single price. Four things drive it: the number of countries, the number of languages, the number of pages to fix or write, and the state of your website. Three countries in one language cost less than three countries in three languages; a well-built website costs less to optimise than one translated in a hurry.

Providers usually charge in one of three ways: a fixed fee (an audit, a set of fixes), a monthly retainer (content and monitoring) or a day rate. None is better than the others: what matters is knowing exactly what you are buying.

As a rough guide, excluding VAT and advertising spend: with under €1,000 a month, focus on one market; €1,000 to €3,000 covers ongoing work in one or two markets; €3,000 to €10,000, several markets in parallel; above that, a dedicated team for each language. These are the same bands as in the quiz above.

Compare like with like

Two quotes can only be compared if they cover the same scope. Before you look at the price, check that each proposal states:

• the countries and languages covered, and the number of pages;
• the deliverables: keyword research for each country, list of fixes, rewritten pages, reports;
• who writes the content, and their native language;
• the term, the notice period, and who owns the content and the accounts.

What an international SEO audit must cover

Some providers audit for free, others charge for it. Either way, the audit must cover at least these points, for each language version:

• indexing: is each version found and indexed by Google?
• hreflang: reciprocal, with the right language and country codes;
• the structure and URLs of each version;
• title tags and meta descriptions, written in the language of the country;
• text left in the original language, or translated word for word;
• automatic redirects based on country or browser language;
• canonical tags: each version points to itself, not to your main-language version.

An audit, free or paid, is only worth having if it ends with a list of fixes ranked by priority, with the pages affected, and if it is clear who will apply them: the provider or your own team. If it is free, check that it is done by the person who will then do the work. For the audit, give read-only access to your Search Console: that is Google’s own advice at this stage.

If you work with me, the international SEO audit is free and projects start at €500 excl. VAT. You then get a quote for a fixed fee or a monthly retainer, depending on your countries, languages and pages.

On a tight budget

Start with one market, with the pages that bring in business (home page, key products or services, contact) and with the technical problems that hold everything else back. To test demand in a country before investing in SEO, a few weeks of Google Ads will give you a good idea.

The questions to ask before you sign

Ask every provider these eight questions, in writing if you can. Google itself suggests asking an SEO about their experience with international sites and with your country; I have added the ones specific to multilingual work. The way they answer will tell you more than their home page.

1. Who will write the content in each language, and what is their native language? Good answer: a name, and a sample text.
2. Where will the keywords for each country come from? Good answer: research done for that country, with local search volumes.
3. Do you have results with figures for this country, and a client I can contact? Good answer: a case study from that country, not just from their home market.
4. Which structure do you recommend for my site (/fr/, .fr or subdomain), and why? Good answer: a reasoned choice for your site, not a one-size-fits-all answer.
5. Who will be my day-to-day contact, and who will do the work? Good answer: the same person, or specific names.
6. When will I see the first results, and how will you measure them country by country? Good answer: milestones with dates, and a sample report for each country.
7. How will you get links to my website? Good answer: through content, partnerships and PR, never through bought links, or a frank “we don’t do link building”.
8. If I stop, who owns the content and the accounts? Good answer: you do, unconditionally.

The red flags

Some signs should make you think twice before you sign, whatever the price. Google itself publishes warnings for anyone hiring an SEO; I have added the ones specific to international work.

• A guaranteed first place. Google says it plainly: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” If a provider guarantees you first place, Google’s advice is to find someone else.
• Top rankings promised within days or weeks. First effects can come quickly, but solid rankings take months (see “How long before the first results?”).
• A “special relationship” with Google, or priority submission. Google warns against SEOs that “allege a ‘special relationship’ with Google, or advertise a ‘priority submit’ to Google”. You can submit your site yourself, for free, with a sitemap in Search Console.
• A secret method. Google suggests asking whether the provider will share every change they make to your site, with the reasoning behind their recommendations. A provider who will not is asking you for a blank cheque.
• Machine translation published without human review: Google’s spam policies target pages generated at scale, including through automated translation, when they provide little value to users.
• Guaranteed visibility in ChatGPT or AI answers. Among the third-party services Google tells you to think critically about are those promising improvements for AI experiences (AEO or GEO tools); Google also points out that third-party tools “can’t guarantee performance”.
• The same keywords translated into every language, with no research for each country.
• Hundreds of bought links, or listings in hundreds of directories: “buying or selling links for ranking purposes” is listed in Google’s spam policies, and Google advises avoiding SEOs that talk about submitting your site to thousands of search engines.
• No case study from your target market, only results from their home country.
• A long contract with no way out, or content and accounts that remain the agency’s property.
• A “best agency” list where the author comes first. Look instead for verified reviews on independent platforms and case studies with figures.

What each market demands

A good provider knows the rules and habits of each country you are targeting, not just Google’s. Here is what I check before working on a market.

The Google figures above are its share of the traffic sent by search engines, all devices, in September 2026 (StatCounter). On desktop, Bing sends 14% to 22% of that traffic, depending on the country, so in B2B, where many searches are made on work computers, Bing matters too.

How long before the first results?

On a version that is already online, technical fixes and rewritten tags often show their first effects within a few weeks, the time it takes Google to recrawl the pages; solid rankings usually take three to six months, and up to a year in a very competitive market. For a language your website does not have yet, allow four to nine months for the first rankings and nine months or more for solid ones: the new version starts from zero.

Google’s SEO Starter Guide puts it this way: “Some changes might take effect in a few hours, others could take several months.” It also suggests waiting a few weeks before judging whether your work has had an effect. If you need leads straight away, Google Ads can bring some in within the first weeks, while SEO builds up.

When to hire me, and when not to

Anton Anton is just me: an independent consultant based in Pantin, on the edge of Paris. I do the audit, the fixes and the content myself. French is my native language; I also write your German and English copy, languages I have worked in since studying in Kiel and spending a year in Berlin. If someone on your team is a native German or English speaker, I am glad to involve them in the review.

I am a good fit if

• you are a company outside France that wants to be found in France, in French that reads as if it were written there;
• you are targeting Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg or the UK (for Dutch, I handle the strategy, keyword research, technical SEO and writing, and a native speaker on your team reviews each text before publication);
• you want one contact, from the audit to the results;
• you want to start with a free audit and a reasonable first budget.

I am not the right fit if

• you want to be visible in Spain, Italy or Asia, in the language of those countries: you need a specialist in those markets;
• you want link building or bought links: I offer neither;
• you need certified translations.

My results are public: in three years, Hotel Beaulac went from 1,700 to 20,000 organic visitors a month; Walbeez doubled its turnover in a year after rebuilding its website; ABI Profils doubled its daily users on its French site, with SEO and Google Ads support in four languages. See all my case studies.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

The facts quoted in this guide come from these pages, checked in October 2026:

• Google Search Central, “Do you need an SEO?”
• Google Search Central, “Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites”
• Google Search Central, “Tell Google about localized versions of your page”
• Google Search Central, “Spam policies for Google web search”
• Google Search Central, “SEO Starter Guide”
• Google Search Central, “Guidance on third-party SEO services”
• Search Console Help, International Targeting report retired
• StatCounter, “Search Engine Market Share” (September 2026)
• Ministère de la Culture, “Garantir l’emploi du français”
• economie.gouv.fr, “Mentions sur votre site internet : les obligations à respecter”
• CNIL, “Refusing cookies should be as easy as accepting them”
• Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG), § 5
• Duden, “s-Schreibung: s, ss und ß”
• Dutch Payments Association, “Online payments”
• iDEAL, “iDEAL vanaf 2026 stapsgewijs over naar Wero”