Why international B2B brands need to rethink their SEO in 2025

For international B2B marketers, SEO has never been just about keywords – translated or otherwise. The real challenge is upstream: understanding how people in different markets think, search, and buy. It’s about reading between the lines, where language, behaviour, and business culture intersect. That’s where SEO either pulls its weight or quietly fails.

This isn’t a guide to hreflang tags or canonical issues. It’s about the messier, more strategic side of international SEO: why buyer journeys don’t follow the rules, why language doesn’t always travel well, and why your beautifully localised page might still be completely irrelevant.

B2B SEO plays by different rules

Let’s start with the obvious: B2B SEO differs from B2C. While B2C often hinges on impulse and immediacy, B2B is rooted in complexity, consensus, and credibility. Buying cycles are longer, more technical, and frequently involve multiple stakeholders with different priorities – from a CFO concerned with ROI and risk, to a CTO focused on integration and security, a CEO seeking strategic fit, and an end user who just wants a solution that works.

You’re not selling shoes – often, you’re enabling strategic change. That shifts the role of SEO from simply attracting clicks to building trust and delivering value across a longer, more nuanced journey. Buyers aren’t just shopping – they’re researching, comparing, and problem-solving.

This sets the bar for content higher. B2B audiences are often highly specialised, and they expect your content to reflect their level of expertise. Generic messaging won’t cut through. It’s smarter to target lower-volume, high-intent search queries that speak directly to real business needs.

Trust is also critical. B2B buyers rarely convert on first click. They need reassurance – through in-depth content, expert insights, case studies, and thought leadership that establishes your brand as a credible, long-term partner.

And increasingly, SEO doesn’t stop at Google. With AI reshaping search and discovery taking place across platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, and even TikTok, being visible where your audience spends time is essential. B2B brands need to show up consistently with content that’s both technically robust and genuinely useful.

Buyer journeys are not funnels – and are not the same everywhere

The classic awareness → consideration → decision funnel often proves challenging in a B2B context, especially across borders.

In some markets, research is centralised and top-down. In others, it’s peer-driven and informal. One market might begin with vendor comparison tables; another with exploratory “what is” queries; a third with internal knowledge gaps that aren’t even Googleable yet. For example:

• In Singapore, enterprise buyers may start with structured vendor lists and government-accredited frameworks. SEO needs to plug into that process.
• In Sweden, early-stage content that helps build internal consensus can be more valuable than product content.
• In Brazil, buyers may begin with much broader queries, such as “how to reduce logistics risk”, as opposed to “3PL provider São Paulo”.

Country variations often stem from structural factors:

• Market maturity: Mature markets may search with specific, category-aware language, while emerging ones may start with broader, problem-led queries.
• Organisational culture: Hierarchical companies may delegate research, favouring practical explainer content over strategy pieces.
• Digital ecosystems: In some places, Google dominates. In others, decisions are shaped via LinkedIn, peer referrals, or WhatsApp groups as well.
• Communication styles: In low-context cultures, buyers expect clear, direct language. In high-context ones, meaning is often implied, so tone, nuance, and trust signals carry more weight.

International B2B SEO has to make room for all of this. That starts with abandoning the idea that keyword lists can be reused across borders. They can’t – and when they are, they often obscure more than they reveal.

Search intent is not universal – even when the keywords are

Search intent is often presented in neat categories: informational, navigational, transactional. But in B2B – and especially across international markets – intent is rarely that simple. It’s shaped by a web of factors: regulatory environments, buying structures, cultural expectations, job roles, and even how language is used.

Take the query “ESG reporting software”:

• In the Netherlands, the motivation may be compliance-driven.
• In Brazil, it could stem from investor pressure.
• In Japan, it might be about reputational insurance as much as data accuracy.

Same query, different drivers. If your content doesn’t address those underlying needs, ranking well won’t translate into relevance or results. Let’s take another example: “Digital transformation strategy”.

• In the UK, this might signal an appetite for high-level frameworks and long-term thinking.
• In Brazil, it could point to a need for tactical roadmaps and immediate execution plans.

If your content defaults to Western assumptions, it risks alienating your audience before they’ve even finished scrolling.

That’s why B2B SEO isn’t just about obvious keywords – it’s about reflecting the real conversations your audience is having, from the problems they’re solving to the comparisons they’re making and the business cases they need to build. Relevance beats volume every time. Ask yourself:

• What problems does your product truly solve?
• What are buyers searching for before they even know your solution exists?
• What might a stakeholder need to research to secure internal buy-in?
• How does all this vary across cultures and languages?

The better you understand intent in each market, the more useful and effective your content will be.

Words don’t always travel well, and jargon can break SEO

B2B marketing loves its terminology. “End-to-end enablement.” “Scalable frameworks.” “Mission-critical capabilities.” “Seamless integration.” But step outside your headquarters, and those familiar phrases can fall flat – or worse, sound like empty jargon. Local buyers may be searching for entirely different terms for the same thing:

• “Supply chain management” could mean strategic procurement in one market, or warehouse logistics in another.
• “Cloud computing” might be globally recognised, but in some regions, “virtual servers” or “on-demand infrastructure” resonates more.
• “Compliance” can shift meaning completely depending on the regulator – FCE, GDPR, SEC, or local equivalents.

Even shared concepts come with tonal differences. For example, Industry 4.0 refers to the digital transformation of manufacturing, but while in Germany it’s a serious, policy-driven initiative, in the UK it’s often used more loosely to mean general digitisation or smart tech adoption.

The takeaway? Tools can give you keyword data but not the full picture. You need to interrogate that data. Look at local SERPs. Talk to native speakers. Understand not just the language, but the buyer intent behind it. And remember that translating content isn’t the same as localising it. True localisation means adapting to:

• Linguistic norms: Are technical terms translated or kept in English in your target markets?
• Cultural expectations: Does your CTA feel too blunt or too vague? High-context cultures may prefer subtlety, while low-context cultures often expect directness.
• Regulatory context: Are you referencing the right laws, standards, or authorities?

Practical tip: Work with native-speaking content creators or use a network like Oban’s LIMEs. They’ll help you go beyond word-for-word translation, shaping tone, terminology, and messaging to land in market.

SEO isn’t just Google anymore

These days, B2B discovery doesn’t necessarily begin and end with Google – especially across borders. Depending on the market, your buyer may:

• Use LinkedIn (or in Germany, Xing) for peer reviews and vendor validation.
• Watch YouTube to understand product complexity.
• Turn to Reddit or Quora for unfiltered opinions.
• Rely on local search engines like Baidu or Naver.

If your SEO strategy assumes Google is the only battleground, you’re potentially ignoring key spheres of influence.

Practical example: In South Korea, Naver prioritises community forums over corporate websites. Ranking well on Google is still useful – but it may not move the needle if your Korean buyers are searching elsewhere.

Consistency in global branding can hamper performance

Sometimes, the biggest blocker to international SEO isn’t external – it’s internal. Brand teams want consistency: global messaging, a defined tone of voice, standardised terminology. But local markets need content that actually performs. SEO teams often sit in the middle, negotiating between brand orthodoxy and what buyers are really searching for and how they expect to consume it.

For example, “AI-powered automation suite” might align with your brand’s internal language. But your audience could be looking for something more practical: “workflow software that helps us stay compliant.” And it’s not only about words. Content expectations vary between markets:

• In Germany, readers often expect thoroughness – detailed specs, regulatory context, and evidence.
• In France, logical structure and persuasive argument carry weight.
• In Japan, credibility and consistency build trust – think heritage, validation, and attention to detail.
• In the US, clarity, benefits, and a conversational tone tend to work best.

The key is interpretation – of language, of tone, of commercial priorities and buyer psychology. Good SEO teams act as internal diplomats, ensuring that local relevance doesn’t get lost in a global rollout.

Practical tip: Audit what’s already ranking in your target market. Don’t copy it, but study it. What’s the tone? The format? The length? Who’s linking to it? Use that to set your benchmark.

AI won’t save you, because B2B still needs human insight

AI tools have made content creation easier, leading to a flood of low-effort material. That’s eroding trust in SEO and content marketing – especially in B2B, where buyers are cautious and discerning.

This matters, because in specialised sectors, AI-generated content can sound fluent but still lack real value. It often misses nuance, depth, and insight. Experienced B2B buyers – who are often experts themselves – can tell the difference.

This is where human expertise becomes your edge (a theme Oban explores in our new book, Beyond Borders). Google’s focus on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) means the most valuable content often comes from:

• Long-tenured team members
• Satisfied customers
• The practitioners and developers behind your product

Search-driven content hubs work well here – structured around user intent, not linear funnels. This can help users through the “messy middle,” where most decisions are shaped long before sales get involved.

B2B buyers don’t impulse buy. They weigh up risks carefully – because the wrong decision could cost money, credibility, or even someone’s job. That’s why building trust through content is critical. Great B2B marketers use a mix of tactics to do this:

• In-depth case studies
• Interviews with real experts
• Engagement in relevant communities
• Helpful, educational content that solves real problems
• Independent third party reviews and testimonials

This boosts credibility and improves SEO too. With Google tightening up on AI-generated fluff, genuine insight is a competitive advantage.

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In international B2B SEO, relevance always wins

Visibility means little if your content doesn’t matter to the people you’re trying to reach. It’s not about translating what works at home but about understanding how buyers in each market search, think, and decide. That requires local nuance, not generic checklists.

If your SEO treats localisation as an afterthought, it’s probably underperforming. At Oban, our Local In-Market Experts help B2B brands build search strategies with depth, relevance, and commercial impact. Relevance doesn’t scale on its own. But with local insight, smart SEO, and buyer empathy, it can. Want to sense-check your international B2B SEO strategy? Let’s talk.