The purpose of this paper was to examine the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to international market selection (IMS). To accomplish this, an investigation of the primary factors influencing SMEs’ choice when selecting international market was conducted. In addition we sought to understand whether there was a relationship between the systematic approach in IMS and the characteristics of SMEs. Data was collected during 221 owner/manager SME interviews in Italy. Results revealed that SMEs are influenced by firm-specific and host country factors, but not by entry barriers like geographic and cultural distance. In addition, results illustrated the existence of a relationship between systematic IMS and firm size.