Stop Waiting for Referrals and Start Winning Global Contracts
If you’re an Australian business owner exporting products or services, you’ve likely felt the frustration of being invisible overseas. You know your product is better than the competition in California or London, but when a buyer over there searches Google, they find a local provider instead of you.
Most Brisbane exporters I talk to think that having a website is enough to "be online globally." It isn’t. Google is smart—it tries to show people results that are local to them. If your business is registered in Eagle Farm, Google assumes you only want customers in Queensland unless you tell it otherwise.
I’ve seen dozens of local businesses waste thousands of dollars on generic digital marketing that never reaches beyond the Gold Coast. To win overseas, you need a specific plan that makes you look like a local expert in your target market.
In this guide, I’m going to show you exactly how we helped a Queensland manufacturing client stop relying on expensive trade shows and start getting daily enquiries from the US and UK. We’ll look at the data, the costs, and the mistakes that will kill your international growth.
Case Study: The Brisbane Manufacturer Who Doubled Exports in 12 Months
Let’s look at a real-world example. We worked with a business based in Morningside that makes specialized industrial components. They were doing well in Australia but wanted to break into the US market.
The Problem: When they started, 98% of their website visitors were from Australia. Even when Americans searched for their exact product, they didn't show up. Their website was full of "Aussie-isms"—using terms like "industrial fittings" when Americans call them "hardware connectors."
The Strategy: We didn't just change a few words. We built a strategy that told Google: "This business is a serious player in the United States." We focused on three things: localizing the language, proving they could ship fast, and getting other US websites to talk about them.
The Result: Within six months, their US traffic went from 50 visitors a month to over 1,200. More importantly, they started getting 3-4 high-value quote requests every week from American buyers. By the end of the year, their export revenue had doubled, and they had to put on a night shift at the factory to keep up.
Why Your Current Website Isn't Working Overseas
Google wants to give its users the best experience. If a guy in Texas searches for a supplier, Google thinks: "If I show him an Australian site, he’ll have to deal with time zones, expensive shipping, and different currency. That’s a bad result."
To beat this, you have to prove to Google that you are a convenient, reliable option for that Texan buyer. If you just leave your site as it is, you'll likely see your website traffic dropped or stagnated because you aren't relevant to the new audience.
1. The Language Trap
I’m not talking about translating into French or Spanish. I’m talking about the difference between Australian English and US or UK English.If you sell "safety vests" but the UK market calls them "high-vis waistcoats," you will never show up in their searches. You need to speak their language. We call this "localizing." It’s about more than just spelling "colour" as "color." It’s about knowing the terms your customers use when they are ready to buy right now.
2. The Currency and Shipping Hurdle
Nothing kills an international sale faster than a price in AUD with no shipping info. If a buyer sees "$100" and doesn't know if that's USD or AUD, they leave. If they don't see a clear shipping time to their country, they leave.For our Morningside client, we added a simple feature: if you visited from the US, the prices automatically showed in USD and a banner appeared saying "Flat-rate 4-day shipping to the USA." This simple change turned more visitors into customers overnight.
What This Will Cost You
Let’s be honest: expanding your reach to another country isn’t free, and anyone who tells you it’s a "quick fix" is lying.
If you’re serious about winning in a market like the US or UK, you should expect to invest between $2,500 and $5,000 per month for a professional to manage this. Why so much? Because you aren't just competing with the guy down the road anymore; you're competing with every business in that country.
Where the money goes: Market Research: Finding out exactly what terms they use over there. Content Creation: Writing pages that appeal to those specific buyers. Authority Building: Getting reputable websites in that country to link back to your site. This is the hardest part but the most important for Google's trust.
If you try to go cheap and hire someone for $500 a month, you’ll get generic, AI-generated rubbish that won't rank. You’re better off keeping that money in your pocket.
How Long Until You See Results?
This is a marathon, not a sprint. If you need sales tomorrow, go buy some Google Ads (and be prepared to pay a premium for them).
For organic growth—where people find you naturally—here is a realistic timeline for an Australian exporter:
Months 1-2: Technical setup. Fixing your site so it works on phones overseas and loads fast in other countries. Months 3-4: You’ll start seeing your business show up for "niche" terms. You might get your first few international enquiries. Months 6-12: This is when the momentum builds. As Google starts to trust you as a global player, your rankings climb, and the phone starts ringing more often.
What You Should Do First (The 3-Step Plan)
If you want to start exporting or grow your current international sales, don't try to conquer the whole world at once. Pick one market—say, the US—and do these three things:
Step 1: Check Your "Local" Signals
Make sure your contact page lists international phone numbers and clearly states your shipping capabilities. If you have a physical presence or a distributor in that country, shout about it. Google loves seeing a local address or phone number.Step 2: Fix Your Language
Look at your top 5 products or services. Research what they are called in your target country. Use those terms on your pages. If you aren't sure where to start with your overall digital presence, have a look at a complete guide to see how the basics should be set up before you go global.Step 3: Build International Trust
Google looks for "votes of confidence." If a major US industry blog links to your Australian site, that’s a massive signal to Google that you are relevant to Americans. Start reaching out to international partners or industry publications to get your name mentioned.What is a Waste of Money?
Buying "International Traffic": There are plenty of scammers who will sell you 10,000 visitors for $50. These are bots, not buyers. They will do nothing for your bank account. Translating into every language: Unless you have a sales team that speaks those languages and a way to ship there cheaply, don't bother. Focus on your best English-speaking export markets first.
- Generic "Global" SEO packages: If a company says they can make you rank "everywhere" for a flat fee, run. Every country requires a different strategy.
The Bottom Line
International growth is the fastest way for a Brisbane small business to become a big business. The Australian market is small; the global market is massive.
It’s not about "tricking" the system. It’s about proving to Google—and your customers—that you are the best choice, regardless of where your office is located. It takes time, it takes a bit of a budget, and it takes a lot of attention to detail. But when those US dollar or British pound invoices start getting paid, you’ll realize it’s the best investment you ever made.
Ready to get your business found by international buyers? At Local Marketing Group, we help Aussie exporters stop being invisible and start winning global contracts. We don't do jargon; we do results.