Ok, so the past couple of months I have been researching international (or global) SEO and best practices that go along with it. For the most part I have found few resources, so I figured I would give you some best practices that are probably beginner level along with some links from Michael Gray, who was kind enough to share his knowledge when I ran into him at IZEAfest.
Below are the tips, but what I really want is YOUR input and assisting me and others who are running into the same issues with finding REALLY good resources regarding best practices for international search engine optimization. Please leave comments and links so we can all share the wealth and gain a better knowledge of narrowing the gap when it comes to global search engine optimization.
Cheers,
Victoria @tallchickvic
International SEO Tips:
- If you have a global website for example yousite.com and yoursite.co.uk, each one should have its own IP address in that country. So, if your site is a UK site, don’t expect to rank for terms that are generic if you’re hosted in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Search engines want to make sure you.
- Don’t assume that direct word for word translation will yield high rankings on international search engine result pages. Direct word for word translation is NEVER a good idea and will show your site’s ignorance doing so, hence forth ticking of your international visitors, and possibly resulting in low conversion. Here is Google’s translation tool, which can aid you in translating content. If you type in a phrase in English, like “How are you today?” and then request German, the search engine will show you translated results from German web pages as well as the English and German SERPS for that phrase..not too shabby
- Do international keyword research! If you’re doing keyword research for an international site, it really won’t do you much good if you’re using US tools and getting keyword suggestions from Google US. Here are some obvious URLS for you:
www.google.de (Germany)
www.google.fr (France)
www.google.ca (Canada)
www.google.co.uk (United Kingdom)
www.google.it (Italy)
- Thank you Michael Gray for the clarification!!! Use the top level domain (TLD) for the appropriate location. Meaning use your country code TLD (.co.uk, .de, .fr….) for that specific region. If you plan on doing global sites, than it is suggested to grab those domains too!
- Study the vernacular!!! If you’re doing SEO for a UK site even though English is spoken there (duh,) there are many terms that you should be aware of that we don’t necessarily use in the U.S. I, being a fellow limey born in the U.K, can assist with some terms. For example:
- Coupon = Voucher
- Store = Shop
- Hood = Bonnet
- Trunk = Boot
- Line (as in waiting in line) = Cue
So the above tips are rather common sense. In writing the blog, I have found some other resources which you will see are linked throughout the post. However, I am still hungry for more resources!
Victoria is an Internet Marketing Specialist for LinkShare Corporation. She works in the Creative Services branch and provides Search Engine Optimization and Social Media audits and consulting. She blogs for LinkShare and in her free time is TRYING to not neglect her site VictoriaSEOLove.com
