The Problem with Being "Big in Brisbane" but Invisible in London
I recently sat down with a bloke named Dave who runs a manufacturing business out in Archerfield. Dave makes high-end, custom timber furniture. In South East Queensland, he’s a legend. If you want a boardroom table that makes people go "wow," you call Dave.
But Dave had a problem. He knew his products were world-class, and with the Aussie dollar where it is, he knew he could be cleaning up in the US and the UK. He’d spent about $15,000 on a fancy new website and another $5,000 a month on international ads.
The result? Crickets.
He was getting clicks, sure. But he wasn't getting customers. People in California would land on his site, see prices in AUD, see shipping info for "Gold Coast to Sunshine Coast," and leave immediately.
Dave’s story is common. Most Brisbane business owners think that because their website is "on the internet," the whole world can find it. That’s like opening a shop in a back alley in Fortitude Valley and wondering why people in New York aren't walking through the door.
If you want to sell overseas, you don't need a massive marketing department or a million-dollar budget. You need to stop treated the world like it’s just a bigger version of Brisbane.
The Story of the Morningside Exporter Who Cracked the Code
Let’s look at a real-world example of how this actually works when you do it right. We worked with a small industrial parts supplier based in Morningside. Let’s call them "Aussie Parts Co."
They were spending a fortune on Google Ads trying to reach mining companies in Canada and Chile. Every time someone clicked their ad, it cost them $12. They were burning through their budget before breakfast Brisbane time.
We sat them down and looked at their global customer strategy to see where the money was actually going. It turned out, they were showing up for the wrong searches, and when people did find them, the website didn't feel "local" to the buyer.
Step 1: Speak the Local Language (Even if it’s English)
You might think Americans and Aussies speak the same language. We don't.
In Australia, we might look for "utility vehicle accessories." In the US, they are looking for "truck bed accessories." If your website only says "ute," you will never, ever show up in a Google search in Texas.
For Aussie Parts Co., we changed their product descriptions. We didn't just translate them; we "localised" them. We made sure that when a guy in Canada was looking for a specific industrial valve, he found the Canadian name for it on their site.
The Result: Their website started showing up in organic searches (the free ones) in Canada within three months. No ads required.
Step 2: Show Them the Money (Literally)
Nothing kills a sale faster than a customer having to do math. If I’m in London and I see a price of $1,200, I’m wondering: Is that US Dollars? Aussie Dollars? Does that include VAT?
We set up Aussie Parts Co.’s website so it detected where the visitor was. If you logged on from Vancouver, you saw Canadian Dollars. If you logged on from Brisbane, you saw AUD.
This sounds like a small thing, but it’s about trust. If you can’t show a customer the price in their own currency, they won't trust you to ship a heavy crate across the Pacific Ocean.
Why Your Current Website is Probably Failing Overseas
Most websites built by local agencies are set up to win in the local market. That’s fine if you’re a plumber in Coorparoo. But if you’re exporting, your website is likely working against you.
Google is smart, but it’s also literal. If your contact page has a 07 Brisbane phone number and an address in Eagle Farm, Google thinks, "This is a Brisbane business. I shouldn't show this to someone in Singapore."
To fix this, you don't need to build five different websites. You just need to structure your site so Google knows which part is for which country.
I’ve seen dozens of businesses try to use those little flag icons at the top of the site. Most of the time, they are useless because they use a "plugin" that just translates the text poorly. If a German engineer reads a poorly translated technical manual on your site, they aren't going to buy from you. They’re going to think you’re a backyard operation.
Instead of wasting money on those gimmicks, focus on a solid foundation for search that tells Google exactly which countries you serve.
The "Big Three" Mistakes Aussie Exporters Make
I’ve been doing this in Brisbane for a long time, and I see the same three mistakes over and over. They are expensive, they waste time, and they are completely avoidable.
1. The "Set and Forget" Ad Trap
Many exporters think they can just "turn on ads" for the US market. Look, I love Google Ads for some things, but if your website isn't ready, you are just donating money to Google. I always tell my mates: check your ad spend vs search before you commit.If you spend $2,000 on ads to send people to a page that doesn't mention their country, you might as well throw that cash off the Story Bridge. You'll get the same result and it’ll be a lot faster.
2. Ignoring the "Local" Competition
When you sell in Brisbane, you're competing with the guy down the road. When you sell in the US, you're competing with every business in the world.Your website needs to load fast. If it takes 5 seconds to load because your server is sitting in a basement in Milton, a customer in New York will click away before they even see your logo. To them, your site "works slow." To you, it looks fine because you're sitting right next to the server. You need a global setup so your site loads fast everywhere.
3. Hiding Your Shipping Costs
Exporters often hide shipping costs until the very last step because they’re afraid the price will scare people off.Newsflash: The price will scare them off if it’s a surprise.
Be upfront. "Flat rate shipping to North America" or "Free shipping on orders over $500." When people know the cost, they stay on the site. When they have to "email for a quote," they go to your competitor who has a "Buy Now" button.
How Much Does This Cost and How Long Does It Take?
Let’s talk turkey. You’re running a business, not a charity. You want to know when the phone will start ringing with international enquiries.
The Cost: To do this properly—fixing your website structure, localising your content, and setting up the right tracking—you’re usually looking at a few thousand dollars to start, then a monthly investment to keep growing your presence in those new markets. It’s significantly cheaper than opening a physical office overseas or hiring a sales rep in another country.
The Timeline: This is not an overnight fix. If someone tells you they can get you to the top of Google in London in a week, they are lying to you.
Month 1: Fixing the technical errors that are blocking overseas visitors. Months 2-3: Google starts noticing your site is relevant to other countries. You’ll see your "impressions" (the number of times you show up) start to climb.
- Months 4-6: This is where the magic happens. You start getting enquiries. Not just any enquiries, but people who actually want what you sell and aren't shocked by the fact that you're in Australia.
What Should You Do First?
If you’re serious about growing your exports, don't go out and hire a giant "International Brand Agency." Start with these three practical steps:
1. Check your data: Look at where your current visitors are coming from. If you have people from the US landing on your site and leaving in 5 seconds, you have a problem you can fix right now. 2. Pick ONE market: Don't try to "conquer the world." Pick the US, or the UK, or New Zealand. Focus your website changes on that one spot first. Get it working, then move to the next. 3. Talk like a local: Go through your top 5 product pages. If you use Aussie slang or local references, change them. Make it easy for a stranger to understand exactly what you do.
Most of what you read online about "Global SEO" is rubbish full of technical jargon. At the end of the day, it’s just about making sure that when someone in another country looks for what you sell, they find you, they understand you, and they trust you enough to click "Contact."
We’ve seen this work for manufacturers, software companies, and even boutique clothing brands right here in Brisbane. It’s not about being the biggest company; it’s about being the most relevant one when that customer hits 'Search'.
Ready to stop being invisible overseas?
If you want to grow your export business and you're tired of seeing your competitors win the global contracts you know you should be getting, we can help. We don't do fluff, and we don't do jargon. We just focus on getting your business found by the people who want to buy from you.
Contact Local Marketing Group today and let’s have a straight-talk chat about how to get your business in front of global customers.