Global SEM: A Story in Three Acts

Global SEM: A Story in Three ActsThis article, written by Michael Kriz, was originally published in the American MarketingAssociations MarketingNews in September, 2011.International search engine marketing projects can be on a nearly operatic scale, with multiplelanguages and locations, an often complicated plotline and, seemingly, a cast of thousands.Achieving success means finding a balance between diametrically opposed factors. You’ll need afirm grasp of natural human instinct and artificial machine intelligence, in both the domesticmarket and in each of your individual target cultures. You’ll also need to achieve consistentbranding across cultures, while crafting communications that are meaningful—but not bland—forWeb surfers in each micro-market. Luckily, you don’t have to tackle this kind of large-scalestaging alone. Find the right producer to work with, a skilled language service provider with thecultural and linguistic expertise to guide you through the process, and your path can be muchsmoother.To help you reach your SEM localization goals, we’ve laid out the following approach in threeacts. Read on to find out how you can build these processes into your own website translationproject and present completely integrated, seamless messaging on the stage of internationalsearch.Act 1. Before you localize your website:You’ve defined your international business model and your new markets. It’s time to getstrategic as you make decisions about your new multilingual websites.• First, pick the right domain extension for each locale. Search engines have traditionally given preference to sites with local, top-level domain name extensions such as .cn, .de, .uk, .nl, .eu, .ar, .it, .br, .us and .au. Last year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) policy enabled top-level domain and URL creation in any language or script, not just ASCII (English keyboard norms).To make the smartest domain extension decisions for each of your locales, you’ll want to do yourresearch in partnership with a language vendor. If possible, find a local hosting solution andobtain a local IP address as well, since international search bots have a proven local bias.• Next, examine your English site for global relevance and decide what needs to be translated. This will help save you valuable translation dollars. For instance, should your blog be translated? Are all of your online resources relevant for global markets? Which of your PR communications are worth localizing? Perform a complete site audit and clearly communicate with your language partner what should and should not be localized. • Look for what your competition is doing in each market. What headers, menu item names and descriptions are other companies in your industry using? Check out their source code, pay-per-click campaigns and landing pages to review any available metadata. Take a look at websites in your industry that are top natural-search performers.Act 2. As you localize your site:You’ve done the initial groundwork for search-engine optimized, multilingual versions of your Copyright © Acclaro 2011

website. This next localization phase—working with your language partner to adapt the site toyour target markets—will involve SEO keywords.Keyword creation and seeding is challenging in the domestic market, but it’s both an art andscience when you’re working across cultures and borders. During this step, you’ll provide aglossary of your English keywords to your language partner, who, in conjunction with native, in-country writers for each locale, will use testing through queries, gut reactions and nativeinstincts to adapt your keywords and come up with their most frequently used synonyms. Yourlanguage partner will then create an ontology list with these different options and rank them,providing you with their recommendations for high-performance results in their locale.Once you have keywords and phrases for each target market, you’ll seed them throughout yourforeign-language websites, from titles, headings and URLs to descriptions, and image and videotags.Act 3. After you localize your site:You’ve launched your foreign-language websites, or they’re ready to go. Now begins the phase ofpure international SEM, which happens through advertising, link building and social mediaengagement.Choose the right search engine through which to advertise in each locale, using theinformation you gleaned in the first two phases of your global SEM localization. In China, forexample, you will want to target Baidu, as Google has only a minor user base in comparison.Instead of creating an apples-to-apples translation of your English pay-per-click and banner ads,work with your language partner to rebuild these succinct ad phrases. That way, you preventconcatenation (mismatched or disordered sentences), text that’s too long and culturalinsensitivities. If you provide guidelines to your language partner, its in-country copywriters canadapt your ads culturally and linguistically, taking into account your desired tone and thepartner’s knowledge of local grammatical conventions. Maybe your U.S.-based pay-per-click adsare all calls to action, similar to Virgin America ads that encourage consumers to “Grab yourseat.” But in other cultures, a less direct approach such as “Want to get away?” could be moreeffective Your language partner will weigh in here and guide you through the process of adaptingeach ad in a culturally appropriate way.Incorporate references to local events and holidays in your ads for bigger emotional impact.It’s important to work with an in-country expert when developing your holiday promotioneditorial calendar. Holidays like Father’s Day and Mother’s Day don’t always coincide acrosscountries—or they may not be celebrated at all. Stay informed so you can avoid the faux pas oforienting your seasonal ad campaigns around the American holiday calendar.Select negative keywords for your international pay-per-click campaign the same way youchose your website’s “positive” keywords, with native-speaker instincts and test queries. Includethis facet in your overall strategy up front to save your company precious dollars and achievehigher-quality leads.Make your landing pages visually and linguistically consistent with your referring ads. Carryout a thorough content review to ensure that all graphics and videos are globally neutral. Usethe results of your cultural market research to inform your decisions around payment solutions,legal restrictions and user interface aesthetics. Everything from your copy to visuals tofunctionality must be culturally appropriate and consistent with your ads. That way,international Web browsers can easily follow the trail to the right page on your website.Finally, promote your site through social media channels and with link building. Yourlanguage partner can draft or translate press releases, work with you to select and concentrateon the most popular social media sites in each country or locale, and submit your site to localdirectories. As with SEM in the domestic market, the more inbound links and engagement, the Copyright © Acclaro 2011

better.When you’re ready to begin rolling out your own SEM campaigns on the international stage,follow the playbook here, find the right language partner to help you produce your campaign andyou’ll be well on your way to joining the ranks of today’s star international marketers.About Acclaro: Acclaro is an international translation and localization firm that helps theworld’s leading brands succeed across cultures. We translate websites, marketing campaigns,documents and software to give clients an authentic voice in key language markets. North America: 1-866-468-5106 Worldwide: +1-914-468-0222 www.acclaro.com sales@acclaro.com Copyright © Acclaro 2011

Global SEM: A Story in Three Acts

by Acclaro on Oct 10, 2011

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