Presentation slides from Ellie's talk on International SEO at the CIM 10th Cambridge Digital Marketing Conference - 7th July 2016

1. International SEO FAQs
Ellie Morgan-Head of DigitalMarketing

2. About Studio 24
• Full service dedicated digital agency
• Web design,development& search
specialists
• In houseCambridge based team
• Foundedin 1999
• We are a team of 20

3. Why InternationalSEO?

4. What is InternationalSEO?
By ‘international SEO’ we are referring to the
process of optimising your website to rank
better for your users in other countries on
other search engines, or who are viewing
your website in another language.

5. Definitions
Multilingual
Multi-regional
GeoTargeting

6. A multilingual- website is any website that
offers content in more than one language.
Examples of multilingual websites might
include a Canadian business with an English
and a French version of its site, or a blog on
Latin American soccer available in both
Spanish and Portuguese.

7. A multi-regional- website is one that
explicitly targets users in different countries.
Some sites are both multi-regional and
multilingual (for example, a site might have
different versions for the USA and for
Canada, and both French and English
versions of the Canadian content).

8. GeoTargeting-in geomarketing and
internet marketing is the method of
determining the geolocation of a website
visitor and delivering different content to
that visitor based on his or her location, such
as country, region/state, city, metro code/zip
code, organization, IP address, ISP or other
criteria.

9. You are a global restaurant chain wanting to
target your local French speaking users in
Quebec, Canada.
Your head offices are in Texas, US. How do
you ensure you are targeting the correct
users in the best way you can?

11. 3 main areas
Section 1- Geotargeting
Section 2- Language
Section 3- Search engine proofing

12. Section1- Geotargeting
Geotargeting,generallyspeaking is delivering
content to a user based on their geographic
location.
Example: Head office is in London and we are
looking to deliver contentto Spanishusers in
Spain.

13. Is server locationimportantfor
Geotargeting?

14. Yes and No
Server location won’t be a factor as long as
you provide search engines with information
as to who your content is directed at.

15. Specify a geographic target in Google
Search Console/ Webmaster Tools (if
targeting one location)
OR
Use appropriate URL structure or ccTLD

16. What kind of URL structure is
best to use?

17. example.fr ccTLD
fr.site.com Subdomain
example.com/fr Subdirectory
site.com?loc=de, ?country=france Not recommended

18. Pros Cons
ccTLDs (countryspecific)
e.g. example.de,example.fr
•cleargeo-targeting
•serverlocationisirrelevant
•easyseparationof sites
•legal requirements(sometimes)
•expensive +availability
•more infrastructure
•ccTLD requirements(sometimes)
Subdomains withgTLDs
e.g. de.site.com,fr.site.com
•easyto setup
•can use webmastertoolsgeo-
targeting
•allowsdifferentserverlocations
•easyseparationof sites
•usersmightnot recognise geo-
targeting from the URLalone (“de”
language or country)
SubdirectorieswithgTLDs
e.g. site.com/de/,site.com/fr/
•easyto setup
•can userwebmastertoolsgeo-
targeting
•lowmaintenance (same host)
•usersmightnot recognise geo-
targeting from the URLalone (“de”
language or country)
•single serverlocation
•separationof sitesharder
URL Parameters
e.g. site.com?loc=de,
?country=france
•not recommended •segmentationbasedon the URL
isdifficult
•usersmightnot recognise geo-
targeting from the URLalone
•geo-targetingin webmastertools
isnot possible

19. Apart from URL structure, search console
and server location what else can play a role
in geotargeting?

20. Local SEO checklist:
•Accurate location information-Name, Addressand
Phone
•Keep NAP consistentacross social media platforms
•Use Google +
•Use local currency
•Appropriate languageor dialect
•Use popular social media for the location
•Build local links

21. I want to deliver content to my users quickly
and efficiently,
how can I achieve this?

22. AMP-Locally hosted sites
What is AMP?
•The AMP project- the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project
•AMP is a way to build web pages for static content that
render fast
•Serving locally based ‘copies’ of your website
•Validated AMP pages are cached in Google's AMP cache
•Simplified version of your website
•Very simple page, currently quite restrictive

23. Section1- Summary
• Server location only mattersif no effortsto reach
your target audienceare made
• ccTLD and Subdomainsare best, use
subdirectoriesif you have to
• Target usersusinglocal SEOchecklist
• Consider usingAMP pages

24. Section2- Language for
internationalSEO

25. Can I use Google translate?

26. Google translate is never going to be as
good as a professional translation.
Proper translation will resonate better with
your target audience
Search engines can detect automated
translations and sees them as auto-
generated content- and therefore spam

27. Should I use the chosen language in all of
my other site content (meta details, header,
footer etc)?

28. Yes, using the same language continuously
is not only important for your users, it allows
Google to understand the page better.

29. If I have the same content on 3 separate
pages of my site translated into 3 different
languages, will this be classed as duplicate
content?

30. The same content in English translated into
French is different, unlike the same content
appearing twice in English.

31. Section2- summary
• Use proper translations
• Is there a local dialect?
• Be continuous- headers, footers, meta
data, linking, product information etc.
• Duplicated content shouldn’t matter (be
careful with automated translations)

32. Section3- Search engine proof
What are the other search engines & social
media channels that I need to consider in my
international SEO strategy?

33. http://webcertain.com/WebCertain-Search-and-Social-Report-2011.pdf

34. China- Baidu 73%

35. Russia- 62% Yandex

36. Japan- 51% Yahoo

37. What does this mean for
internationalstrategy?

38. • Research your users & which engines they
use
• Research search engine guidelines
• Research popular social media channels
and popular content

39. It is not enough to simply have a version of
your website in another language, if you
want to be successful you need to find out
more about your users and their habits.

40. Are there any restrictions on search engines
and the web that might hinder international
SEO efforts?

41. • In China you will need to obtain an Internet
Content Provider’s licence
• Check for words and phrases that might be
blacklisted
• Check for any other regulations for each
search engine that you might have to
optimise for

42. Page optimisationguidelines
may differ:
Example- Yandex

43. • Heading tags – very important
• Title tags – very important
• Regional domains – important
• Keywords in URLs – very important
• Internal links – somewhat important
• Importance of single pages – somewhat important
• Importance of whole domain – very important
• Length of content – somewhat important
• Anchor text optimization – not important
• Domain age – very important
• Domain trust – very important
• Importance in link diversity – very important
• Side-wide inbound links – not important

44. How do I go about keyword research and
keyword optimisation in another language?

45. • Get someone who is a native speaker
involved
• Have your keywords translated properly
• Some search engines have their own
keyword tools eg: Yandex keyword
statistics, Baidu keyword tool
• Check search volumes and continue to
measure

46. How can I check my rankings for
my keywords?

47. • Use google advanced search:
https://www.google.com/advanced_search
• Advanced Web ranking
• MOZ
• SEMrush
• Yandex keyword statistics
• Baidu keyword tool
• Search engines own keyword tool

49. Summary of section3
• Research the most popular search enginesand
social media channelsfor the countryyou are
targeting,findout more about your users
• Check to see if thereare any restrictions/
regulationsyou need to adhere to
• Research and measure keyword rankingsusing
available tools

50. Beginning question
You are a global restaurant chain wanting to
target your local French speaking users in
Quebec, Canada.
Your head offices are in Texas, US. How do
you ensure you are targeting the correct
users in the best way you can?

51. How would we go about
targetingour users in Quebec?

52. • Use an appropriate URL structurelike:
fr.example.ca
• Use Geotargetingin Google Console
• Optimiselocally
• Make surewe have humantranslations
• Ensurelanguageis consistentthroughoutthe
page (meta, header,footer, buttonsetc.)
• Could we use a Google AMP page?

53. • Research local search engines and top
social media channels
• Check for restrictions on local search
engines (and social media)
• Research keywords with a tool and
continually measure progress

55. Find us on Twitter
@studio24