International SEO

What you need to know to compete globally

• Got on the Internet in 1986• Working online with search since 1996• Paid & Natural Search – all aspects• Worked in house within Ecommerce, Publishing

& High Tech• Moved to i-level in 2008• Worked with Orange, Sony, COI• SEO Chick• Freelance through Seshet Consulting

Who am I?

Agenda• Searcher Behaviour• Search in Europe• Search Worldwide• Domain strategy• Encoding• Language & Content• Translation• External linking & Link Bait• Local & Legal Issues

What is SEO?

“SEO is the active practice of optimizing a web site by improving internal and external aspects in order to increase the traffic the site receives from search engines.”

- SEOmoz

Top Factors You Need To Consider

• Keyword Research• Tags• Image Optimisation• On Page Text• Site Architecture and Internal Links• Links• SEO Tools

Elements of Ranking• Title Tags • Meta Description Tags • Meta Keyword Tags • ALT Tags • H1, H2, H3 (and accompanying CSS) • Keywords in the content • Internal Links (images vs. keyword rich text) • URL Structure• Advanced Linking• Authority• Age of domain

Search Myth

Search Results YourSite

CONVERSION!

Search Reality

E1 Last Exposure

E2

E3

E4

E5

Sale

Event 5

Event 5

Event 3

Event 2

Last Event

Event type

Display Impression

Display Click

Paid Search

Natural Search

Affiliates

Reasons People Use SE’s

Source: Enquiro

European Search Landscape

Source: comScore

Search in Europe• Although developed in terms of use of search engines,

Europe is behind the UK in terms of actually doing SEO• Germany, France and Spain have well developed paid

search but SEO is still not main stream of marketing budgets

• It is often easier to rank highly in Europe as SEO competition is less well developed

Search WorldwideGoogle does not rule the world but...

Worldwide Search Market Share

Russian Search Market Share

So How Do You Tackle The International Search Scene?

Domain Strategy• Subdomains vs localised domains vs directories• fr.chocolate.com vs chocolate.fr vs

chocolate.com/fr• Cost• Geo location• ALWAYS host in the country you are wanting to

rank for• Also beneficial to own the country TLD• Use tools to find out if you are getting traffic

already

Pages in French

Pages in French Pages from France (.fr domains)

.be hosted in Paris

.com hosted in Paris

.fr hosted in NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE

Promoted to pos. 1 – Belgian result removed

Domain Strategy

• Separate domains, local hosting etc = expensive• Best for branding• Easiest to develop natural links into the local site

With local content relevant to the market

Encoding

• Localisation not translation• Use UTF-8 (Unicode) Encoding• Does not count as duplicate content• If retailer does not offer localised copy, you then

create unique content

Language & Content

• Understand local language nuances• Use translators, not just Babelfish• Use a PPC campaign for keyword testing and

research.• Use a tool such as

“Exact Keyword Tracking” from ROI revolution to view what keywords people actually use when you are bidding in broad or phrase match

Language & ContentEnglish Keywords German Keyword Translation Google Search

Volume

adventure Abenteuer 1500000advice Beratung 673000books Bücher 13600000books Buecher 135,000book search Buch suche 6,600diet & exercise Diät & fitness 73diet and exercise Diät und fitness n/adiet diaet 27,100diet Diät 550,000lose weight abnehmen 823,000fitness& nutrition fitness & ernährung 4,400Fitness Fitness 4,090,000

Language & ContentEnglish Keywords German Keyword Translation Google Search

Volume

adventure Abenteuer 1500000advice Beratung 673000books Bücher 13600000books Buecher 135,000book search Buch suche 6,600diet & exercise Diät & fitness 73diet and exercise Diät und fitness n/adiet diaet 27,100diet Diät 550,000lose weight abnehmen 823,000fitness& nutrition fitness & ernährung 4,400Fitness Fitness 4,090,000

English Keywords Spanish Keyword Translation Google Search Volume

acupuncture acupuntura 452 adventure aventura 110,000 advice aviso 2,400 advice consejo 2,400 legalisation of drugs legalizacion de la droga 379 legalisation of drugs la legalizacion de las drogas 325 legalisation of drugs legalización de las drogas 318 legalization of drugs legalizacion de las drogas 2,795 legalization of drugs legalizacion de drogas 1,141

cartoons chiste 1,000 cartoons viñeta 22

Use Translators Not Just Babelfish

• Educating translators about SEO is key• You need translator feedback for localisation• Use translators for:

– On page optimisation (incl. Title & meta)– Creative writing for meta descriptions + PPC ad

creative if relevant– Link generation (writing of on topic articles)

Dangers of Babelfish

External Linking

• Links count!• Links from country-specific sites help

boost country-specific rankings

Link Bait to Link Build1. Create content

(informative, entertaining, controversial, humorous)

2. Host content on your site3. Promote your content

through social media, distribution or syndication

Success gets relevant traffic + LINKS

Local & Legal Issues

• Be aware of local laws and nuances• Personal Details• Country Politics• Need to be a French company to get a .fr

domain• Data Protection• Consumer Protection & Distance Trading

Regulations

Summary

• SEO is ongoing• Hosting, domains, language, links - they

all give context• Google does not rule the world• Use translators• Link bait to build links• Keep track of everything you do & change

THANK YOU!

SeshetConsulting@gmail.com

http://www.seshet.co.uk

http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=10335408

http://www.seo-chicks.com

http://www.twitter.com/JudithLewis