(This guest post was written by Ryan Underwood Wall, SEO expert and entrepreneur):

Search engines are an international marketer’s new best friend. It’s a lower cost, effective, and efficient global marketing channel.  However, even though the world has flattened and costs have dramatically decreased to deliver marketing messages abroad, it’s still not cheap to roll out or easy to perfect.  Tactics such as foreign language keyword research, translations and trans-creations are usually expensive if you want the job done right.  Not to mention all of the other costs that are accrued through building a separate Web property.  So before you decide to cross the pond, be sure to test market demand by leveraging your current Web site and pushing several international SEO strategies live.

For example, let’s just say your Website domain is http://www.desklamps.com/ and you’re trying to enter the French market.

Create a new folder. For France, the folder structure would look like http://www.desklamps.com/fr/.  This allows you to leverage the inbound link equity already accrued on the primary domain (.com).

Do some keyword research.  Make sure you are using the correct spelling and keyword translations.  Remember, its garbage in Canada, trash in the U.S. and rubbish in the U.K.

Create content.  Use your keyword research to create the most productive search copy. All content on the France URL should be written in French.  Visit SEOMoz to learn about SEO copy writing, meta-data and file names.

Localize the code with “lang” tags.  “Lang” attributes assist search engines and screen readers to decipher the dialect of the content.  “Lang” attributes are to be placed inside SPAN and DIV tags.

Get the locals to talk about you.  Hyperlinks from other Web sites are like votes, the more votes you have, the better your Web site performs in the Organic search results.  Since you want to be relevant for the Google.fr database, you need to attract links from authoritative www.name.fr domains. Remember to make link partnerships with relevant Web sites and attract “the locals” with exciting and relevant content (best written by fellow locals).

Define KPI’s and track success.  How strong is your visibility in local search engines (Google.fr)?  How is your paid search account performing compared to the primary domain and other localities?  Remember, if you are running a France Paid search campaign, don’t forget to deep-link to the most relevant page on the local domain.

Next steps.  If you’re seeing a lot of success and you’re ready to dedicate more marketing dollars to the France market, you are already one step ahead.  After you create www.desklamps.fr make sure to implement a 301-redirect migration to the new Web property.  This enables you to retain all Google.fr search engine equity you accrued with the folder, giving country relevancy and visibility to the new Web site.  For best results with your new France Web site, make sure to use the correct TLD (.fr) and if possible, host the Web site in France.

International SEO is complicated and this post just scratches the surface on the number of nuances that exist.  However one thing is clear, when strategically thought out, all companies can become players in the global marketplace – just remember to evaluate and consistently measure results.

Learn more about International SEO:

International SEO Challenges and Tips
International Search Recession is Over
Multilingual Marketing, SEO and The Global Village