The Real Problem with Multi-Country SEO
When I started thinking about Find Emergency Plumber, I had one clear question: could a SaaS rank in multiple countries without splitting resources?
Most startups make the same mistake. They launch in one market, optimize for that country, then try to expand. Result: they lose initial momentum or end up with two mediocre products instead of one good one.
We decided to do something different. From day one, we built thinking about UK and US simultaneously.
The Architecture We Chose
Domains vs. Subdomains
This was the first critical decision. Many people will tell you to use separate domains (plumber.co.uk and plumber.com). Google will tell you to use subdomains (uk.plumber.com).
We chose separate domains with intelligent linking strategy. Why?
- Google treats separate domains as distinct entities (better for local SEO)
- But you lose authority if you don't connect them
- Solution: we created a content hub on the main domain that strategically links to both
In numbers:
- find-emergency-plumber.co.uk: 8.2K users/month after 6 months
- find-emergency-plumber.com (US): 6.8K users/month after 6 months
Total: 15K without a single dollar in ads.
Content Structure
This is where most fail. They create "generic" content that tries to serve both markets.
We did the opposite. Each page was designed specifically for its market:
UK:
- "Emergency Plumber in London" vs. "Plumber in London"
- Mentioned Gas Safe Register (UK certification)
- Prices in GBP
- References to UK regulations (Water Industry Act)
US:
- "Emergency Plumber in New York" vs. "Plumber in New York"
- Mentioned state licenses
- Prices in USD
- References to local regulations
Key point: same template, different context.
The Keyword Strategy
This is where you see the difference between doing SEO and doing it well.
Parallel Research
We used Ahrefs for both markets simultaneously. We created two separate spreadsheets but with the same structure:
| Keyword | Search Volume | Difficulty | Intent | Priority | |---------|----------------|------------|--------|----------| | emergency plumber london | 1,200 | 35 | High | 1 | | 24/7 plumber near me | 890 | 28 | High | 1 | | burst pipe emergency | 650 | 22 | High | 2 |
The key here is that search volume is different, but intent is the same.
Content Clustering
Instead of creating 50 pages for UK and 50 for US, we created 15 main clusters and replicated them with local variations:
1. Emergency Services (quick response to emergencies) 2. Cost & Pricing (how much it costs) 3. How-To & Prevention (prevent future problems) 4. Local Guides (by city/state)
Each cluster had:
- One pillar page (the main topic)
- 3-5 subtopics (minor clusters)
- Strategic linking between them
The Technical Side (Where Most Fail)
Hreflang Tags
This is the part 80% of startups ignore or implement incorrectly.
```html <!-- On find-emergency-plumber.co.uk/london --> <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB" href="https://find-emergency-plumber.co.uk/london" /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-US" href="https://find-emergency-plumber.com/new-york" /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://find-emergency-plumber.com" /> ```
Without this, Google doesn't understand you have different versions for different markets. With it, each domain ranks for its market.
Geolocation in Headers
We implemented this in Next.js:
```typescript export async function generateMetadata({ params }: Props) { const country = getCountryFromDomain(req.headers.get('host'));
return { title: `Emergency Plumber in ${city} | ${country === 'UK' ? '24/7 Service' : 'Same Day Service'}`, description: getLocalizedDescription(city, country), }; } ```
Small change. Huge impact.
Real Results Validation
After 3 months:
- UK: 4.2K users/month (ranking positions 1-3 for 23 main keywords)
- US: 2.8K users/month (ranking positions 1-3 for 19 main keywords)
After 6 months:
- UK: 8.2K users/month
- US: 6.8K users/month
- Organic traffic: 94% of total
- Customer acquisition cost: $0 (time only)
The Mistakes We Made (And You Should Avoid)
1. Initial Duplicate Content
In the first 2 weeks, I copied the exact same content on both domains. Google detected it as duplicate content and penalized us.
Solution: Rewrite 40% of the content for each market. Different sentence structure, local examples, specific data.
2. Ignoring Cultural Differences
In UK I wrote "brilliant service". In US, that term didn't resonate.
After user feedback, I changed to "reliable service" in both markets. Small change, but clicks in US went up 23%.
3. Not Thinking About Local Search Intent
I created a page "Best Plumbers in the World". Nobody visited it.
I changed it to "Best Emergency Plumbers in London" and "Best Emergency Plumbers in New York". Traffic multiplied by 8.
The Mental Model That Works
Most people think of multi-country SEO as:
Market 1 → Market 2 → Market 3
We thought:
Main Structure → Local Variations → Strategic Connections
That changed everything.
Practical Takeaway
If you want to rank in multiple countries simultaneously:
1. Use separate domains (not subdomains) if you want maximum control 2. Structure content the same, context different 3. Implement hreflang correctly from day one 4. Research keywords by market, not generically 5. Rewrite 40% of content for each region (don't copy) 6. Measure by market, not as a total
This strategy allowed us to scale to 15K users in 6 months without spending on ads. Multi-country SEO isn't magic. It's architecture.
If you're building a SaaS for multiple markets, start with this mindset from the beginning. It's 10x easier than trying to fix it later.
Are you working on something similar? Tell me in the comments. I'm always interested in how others are solving this problem.