🎙️ Unscripted SEO Podcast
International SEO & Building Brand Authority with Erika Varangouli
Head of SEO Brand at Semrush on how international SEO strategy intersects with brand-led organic growth — and what most global teams get backwards.
Erika Varangouli is Head of SEO Brand at Semrush — with deep expertise in international SEO strategy, multilingual content, and how brand signals intersect with organic search performance at scale.
“Martin MacDonald on Scaling Enterprise SEO” — the former Head of SEO at Paddy Power on what enterprise SEO actually looks like at scale and the systems that make it work.
— Martin MacDonald | Listen: Martin MacDonald on Enterprise SEO →
Key Takeaways
- International SEO is not just translation. Localization — adapting content, intent, and user experience to the cultural and linguistic context of each market — is what actually drives international organic growth. Translation is the table stakes; localization is the competitive advantage.
- Brand signals are becoming a primary SEO input globally. As Google’s systems get better at understanding entities, the brand’s online footprint — mentions, branded search volume, entity clarity — increasingly determines its organic ceiling in any market.
- Hreflang is often poorly implemented, even at large companies. The technical implementation is straightforward; the strategic decision of which pages to localize, at what priority, for which markets, is where most international SEO programs fail.
- Semrush’s content investment is itself an SEO case study. Building brand authority through content at scale, in multiple languages, across multiple channels, is the playbook Erika helps develop — and it’s the same playbook every global brand needs.
Connect with Erika Varangouli
- LinkedIn: Erika Varangouli
- Twitter/X: @erika_varan
The Unscripted SEO Podcast features candid, unscripted conversations with SEOs and digital marketers. Hosted by Jeremy Rivera.
