International Trade

Information Centre

Top Tips For International Search Engine Marketing

15/06/2010

By Greig Holbrook, Managing Director, Oban Multilingual: International SEO

First and foremost, search engines from Google, through Baidu to Yandex prefer local. In order to do well in competitive markets you need to analyse both your local and global competition in each target market. For example, some search engines prefer sites hosted locally, with country-specific top level domains (TLDs).

Don’t base keyword research on translations of English, either for Pay Per Click (PPC) or Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Oban Multilingual recently found that there was a ‘perfect’ German translation of a technology term but it had only 140 searches a month on it. Our German team identified a term that was actually being used which had over 40,000 searches a month.

Another interesting factor to look at is how cultures ‘mix’ languages together to create phrases. Italians, who have become famous in the search world for mixing language to derive their search terms, use the phrase ‘lastsecond’ when searching for travel related subjects. It’s English but used as one word in Italy as a synonym of ‘lastminute’ or ‘last minute’. With over 5,000 searches a month on the primary term alone, it’s the perfect example of how much search can vary in different cultures.

Social Media can be a great marketing tool; however, it is used very differently across the globe. To maximise the effects of social media marketing, make sure that your social media strategy is specific to the region and market you are targeting.

The one key fact to always remember is that localisation is the most important part of international SEO and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Every country uses the internet and search differently, and the differences can be huge. By researching the culture, the language, and the political and religious practices of a region, as well as the internet trends, businesses will be able to develop an effective and successful marketing strategy for the market they are aiming for.

For more information about the International Trade Awards please contact the awards team on 0845 5000 328, email awards@internationaltrade.co.uk or click here to enter the 2010 International Trade Awards sponsored by Santander.

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