OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE FOR GLOBAL

RETURN-ON-INVESTMENT

Mike Belasco@belasco

Gaëlle Callnin@cofrenchy

Optimizing websites for global ROI

• Global ROI Components• Technology / Tools• Methodology / Approaches• International Search• Sample Strategies

Global ROI = Revenue / Cost

Global ROI = Revenue / Costs

Internet = Global

* Source: Internet World Stats (www.internetworldstats.com)

Internet = Global

* Source: Internet World Stats (www.internetworldstats.com)

Internet = Global

• What does all this mean?• Where does the opportunity exist?• What can I leverage to achieve my goals?

Leveraging your website globally

• Use the current investment in your website (economies of scale)

• What are your options for targeting a new international audience?

• Where can you get the biggest ‘bang for your buck’?

Global Passport: Language, Culture

• Gisting.– Software translation, low accuracy.

• Translation. – Professional translation, high accuracy.

• Cultural Adaptation. – Expert level, adapt intent of message more than

actual words.

• Crowdsourcing.

Internal Considerations: Technology

• Content Management Systems– Exporting/importing capabilities– Language workflow management

• Language Terminology Management– Translator tools, productivity– Language consistency

I just like this one…

International SEO

What You Need To Know And Consider

International SEO

What we’ll talk about:• International Search Marketing Landscape• Site Architecture For International Success• International Optimization Tactics

International Search Marketing Landscape

• According to Oban Multilingual, 70% of internet search queries are not in English.

• Google is not the most popular search engine in every country

• International SEO is generally less competitive.

• Paid search is generally cheaper internationally as well

Top Search Engines Across The Globe

United States – GoogleChina – BaiduJapan – Yahoo (Google / MSN)UK – GoogleFrance – GoogleGermany – GoogleCanada – GoogleKorea – NaverBrazil _ GoogleTurkey – GoogleItaly – GoogleSwitzerland – GoogleSingapore – Google

Explore Demand Internationally

• Use Google Insights – available in 39 languages around the world!

Explore Competition Internationally

• Australian vs. US results for “athletics”

Explore Competition Internationally

• Adding &gl=au (for Australia, nz for New Zealand, etc) to the end of a Google query will return results as if you were in that country.

• You can also use Firefox Add-on “Google Global - http://www.redflymarketing.com/blog/google-global-view-results-different-locations/

Site Architecture For International SEO

Many Ways to Skin an Int’l Site

Which site architecture is right for your international content?

• Sub domains (ex. french.domain.com)• Sub Folders (ex. www.domain.com/fr)• Separate domains/sites (www.domain.fr)

• Each of these architectures has pros/cons

Using Sub Domains For Int’l Content

Subdomain - fr.domain.com

Pros:• Maintains some of the metrics (domain trust, domain popularity) of the root

domain.• Easy to see this is a country specific version of the site• Each sub-domain can be hosted on a server with a corresponding country IP

address. (will discuss this later)Cons:• While you maintain some of the value of the root domain metrics, you do lose a

significant amount.• Higher risk of mislinking. Many linkers will link to the "www" of the site out of

habit.

Source: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seo-guide-international-versions-of-websites

Using Unique Sites For Int’l Content

TLD - www.domain.fr

Great option for websites that have a strong attachment to country of origin and are vastly different from their foreign counterparts.

Pros:• Very obvious and intuitive to the user.• Good chance of getting correct links.• Provides the ability for each domain to be hosted on a country specific IP address.

Cons:• Completely different domain than its foreign friends, amigos and amis. This means

they do not share any of the benefits of inbound links.

Source: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seo-guide-international-versions-of-websites

Using Sub-folders for Int’l Content

Subfolder - www.domain.com/fr/ Great option for an already well established website that is looking to expand into new international markets.

Pros:• All links to any version of the site help boost the domain. It's a rising tide raises all boats

situation.• Less prone to linking mistakes as this format follows the standard website convention

www.example.com.

Cons:• This option has not performed as well in country specific search engines.• Potentially confusing for users looking for a ccTLD (ex. .fr) version of the site.• Not able to have different country sites hosted from different country specific servers with

proper IP addresses.

Source: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seo-guide-international-versions-of-websites

International SEO Tactics

Hosting and Domain Issues

• It is best to host the site in the country you are targeting so you get a local IP address

• You can specify Geographic Target for sub domains, sub folders and of course domains in Google Webmaster Tools

On-page Intl SEO Tactics

• As always start with Keyword Research– Google Adwords Keyword Tool– Keywords Discovery

On-page Intl SEO Tactics

• All SEO best practices still apply. Some ranking factors will very slightly on search engines other than Google/Yahoo, etc.

• Use the content-language meta tag:<meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en-gb">

• You can find the entire list of language codes at Microsoft's Developer Center.

• Display Intl address and phone on the site.

International Link Building

• Get links from sites with the same TLD (ex. www.other domain.fr)

• Other link building tactics still apply (keyword rich anchor text, links from more powerful sites, etc.)

• Use keyword and domain specific searches to find opportunities

• http://www.google.com/search?q=directory+site%3Aco.uk• http://www.google.com/search?q=intitle%3Adirectory+site%3Aco.uk• http://www.google.com/search?q=inurl%3Adirectory+site%3Aco.uk• http://www.google.com/search?q=resources+site%3Aco.uk

Example: French SEO

Example: French SEO

• Client: Winshuttle (Private)Project: Replicate US SEO strategy in FranceChallenge: Very niche market, almost no analytics dataSolution: Found best search terms on blogs and articles, instead of Google

Example: Language & User Content

Example: Language & User Content

• Client: MSMGF (Non-Profit)Project: Localize website into multiple languages and manage crowdsourcing processChallenge: Content is very sensitive, enormous quantity, can be in any 1 of 7 languagesSolution: Train specific language teams, develop client terminology, select and manage volunteer teams

Technology & Data

Thank You!

• Gaëlle Callnin, Virtual WordsLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gaellecallninTwitter: @cofrenchyEmail: gaelle.callnin@virtual-words.com

• Mike Belasco, seOverflowLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/miketheinternetguyTwitter: @belascoEmail: mike@seoverflow.com