Even if your physical location is outside the UK and you do not have the ability to open an actual shop or fulfillment center in that part of the world, you can still develop a business presence internationally by following a few simple tips. This can be very advantageous for many reasons, including the fact that it will enable you to capture a much larger base of customers.
It might seem simple to merely design a single website around an international audience, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Even Amazon has established dedicated websites for a variety of countries around the world. This makes it easier for them to connect with buyers in each area.
Competing on an international stage for website attention is far more difficult than focusing on individual addresses within two or more countries. Localized SEO is becoming increasingly important, so it makes good business sense to have multiple addresses linked to your company. Before you can begin, you need to know what steps to take.
1. Acquire a Physical Address for Your UK Business Presence
This might seem impossible, but it is actually very easy. Simply turn to a UK mail forwarding service to receive a physical address in this portion of the world. This will give you an address to use to establish a business presence with Google and other local online business directories.
As an added bonus, you can purchase items from China and other countries, and have them sent to your UK address. From there, the mail forwarding company can ship them to Amazon on your company’s behalf, where they will become eligible for Fulfillment by Amazon. In most cases, there will not be a significant delay as mail forwarding can be completed within two to four business days.
2. Arrange a Forwarded UK-based Toll Free Number
Phone numbers in the UK are quite different than U.S.-based phone numbers and calling internationally requires a country code. Many potential customers will not be familiar with how to dial internationally or may be concerned about toll charges.
If you want to operate as a business with a UK presence, you need to offer a toll-free UK-based phone number to make contacting you fast and easy. Fortunately, there are companies offering UK toll-free numbers which forward calls to your existing business phone line.
3. Host Your New Site in the UK on a UK Domain
There are numerous cues Google uses to know what country a site is targeting. One is to register a .co.uk domain to indicate yours is a website targeted to the UK. Another is to host your site on servers physically located in the UK. You can also indicate the geographic targeting in Google webmaster tools.
Most importantly, your new site should display your new physical address and UK-based toll-free phone number on every page. This is typically added to the footer, but could also be in the header. Most commonly, your phone number and business name are in the header at the top of the page and your business name and full address are in the footer at the bottom of the page.
Here is an example of an international site showing the phone number in the top right above the shopping cart. Note the option to choose the currency in U.S. dollars (USD) or GPB or Euros.
On this site, the business name and address is located in the footer. Click the image above to visit the site and look at the header and footer. If you choose to sell to more than one country from the same website, you need a way to allow buyers to choose their currency or switch between translations. That is typically located near the "view cart" option.
4. Launch a Blog With Local SEO
If you want to attract customers from the UK, you need to reach out to them via localized SEO. Setting up local listings via local directories on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp and the like is a good first step. But you must do more if you truly want to break into a new market. You should also have a blog in the area where your business is physically located so that you can reach out more easily to both sets of potential customers.
If you do not already know how to build a blog, it will be important to take some time to compare your options. Self-hosted WordPress has become the standard for most businesses because it comes with SEO plugins and numerous other add-ons that will make it easier for people to find your blog.
5. Look Into Tax Rules
The laws regarding sales taxes and online sales are constantly changing, so it will be a good idea to speak with an attorney who is familiar with laws in the UK. Most goods and services sold in the UK are subject to a 20% VAT tax.
VAT is a foreign topic to most Americans, so watch this video to better understand how it works:
Even though you will not have a physical location or fulfillment center in the UK, it is possible that any customers who purchase something directly through you that is forwarded from a UK address may be required to pay sales tax.
In most cases, however, you will probably be able to avoid this issue, especially if you have everything forwarded by Fulfillment by Amazon. After all, if Amazon serves as the middle man, the tax laws will be based off of the physical location that the massive e-commerce site uses for the sale.
Virtual phone numbers, addresses, and a mail forwarding service can give you a competitive edge, and you can also use these services for personal reasons. For example, if you want to purchase something from a country that ships to the UK but not to the U.S., you can use your UK based address to acquire the item in question.
With this in mind, a business that makes a lot of purchases from international companies may need a UK forwarding service, even if it is not trying to establish a presence in the UK for SEO purposes.
