International SEO: Are We Speaking The Same Language

International SEO: Are We Speaking the Same Language? -Cindy Krum

Multi-National Brands Have Web Issues:
Multiple Currencies
Different E-Commerce Laws
Inconsistent Marketing Aesthetics
Multi-National Brands Have SEO Issues:
Multiple Languages
Different Search Engines
Inconsistent Competitive Situations

Things to Consider
Design & Development Cost
Maintenance Cost
Server Configuration & Location
CMS System
Order Fulfillment
E-mail & Direct Marketing
PPC
SEO

SEO and some of the other stuff…

Site Architecture Options
One Site -Subdomains & Sub Directories -Translation Software
Multiple Sites -A Site for Every Country
Blended
-Some Combination of One Site & Multiple Site Solutions

ONE SITE

The ‘One Site’ Approach You are Keeping Everything on One Domain - Usually the ‘.com,’ ‘.net,’ ‘.org’ etc.
Different Languages are Provided on Subdomains, or Rendered with Translation Software.
One Site:

One Site:
Pros
Lower Maintenance Cost
Easy to Control Look & Feel
Links & Traffic All Point to One Domain
Site Updates Are Only Made Once
Can Target Languages or Countries
Cons:
High Start-Up Costs
Very Technically Involved
May Require a Sophisticated CMS
May Require a Sophisticated Order Fulfillment System
One Hosting Location
Harder to Rank in Country-Specific Search Engines

ONE SITE SUBDOMAINS & SUBDIRECTORIES

One Site: Subdomains/Directories
This approach involves putting the most likely language on the on the home page and keeping other languages in optimized subdomains or sub directories.
www.sub DOMAIN .website.com
www.website.com/sub DIRECTORY

One Site: Subdomains/Directories
Cons:
Bad for Targeting Multiple Countries that Speak the Same Language: DUPLICATE
Home Page Only Ranks in One Language
Extra Click for Users/Confusing
Pros:
Easy to Set Up
Same Content in Different Languages is Never DUPLICATE
Put Top Keywords in Your Domain or Url
Page Content & Imagery Targeted By Language
Country Specific Hosting Option

Spell the name of the subdomain or the subdirectory in the appropriate language.
www. Espanol .website.com NOT www. Spanish .website.com
Better: Use your top keyword for each language as the name of the subdomain or directory.
www. Location-de-Voiture .website.com
www. Affitto-di-Automobile .website.com
www. Autovermietung .website.com
One Site: Subdomains/Directories STRATEGY TIPS

Location Detection Software can Suggest or Redirect to the correct Subdomain or Subdirectory.
Buy the Country Specific Domains & Redirect them to the Appropriate Language Subdomain or Subdirectory.
Optimize all Meta Data & On-Page Tags in the Appropriate Language.
Avoid SEO Unfriendly ‘Choose a Language’ Home Pages.
Include Links to Different Languages in the Footer.
One Site: Subdomains/Directories STRATEGY TIPS

ONE SITE SERVER-SIDE TRANSLATION

This solution involves using location detection software to determine where the user is coming from, then serving the user data in the correct language.
Translations can be static or on the fly & are provided all on one Url.
One Site: Server-Side Translation

One Site: Server-Side Translation
Pros:
Homepage Ranks in Multiple Languages
Robust Translation Software=Lower Overhead & More Scalable
Can work with CMS, Back End, XML Feeds & DHTML
Best User Experience
Cons:
Harder to Setup
Risk of Inaccurate Location Detection
Risk of Mistranslation
Risk of Duplicate Content
Natural Inbound Links Could be in Wrong Language

Use ‘IP Sniff & Replace’ to Provide the Appropriate Content.
ALWAYS Check the Work of the Translation Software.
Redirect Country Specific Domains to the Appropriate Translation of the Homepage.
Always Allow Users to Change or Specify Their Location.
Set a Cookie to Remember the Users Language of Choice.
Combine with Single-Language Legacy CMS to Optimize Output Urls, Meta Data and Main Content.
Include Links to Different Languages in the Footer.
Buy the Country Specific Domains, Set a Language Cookie & Redirect them to the Appropriate Translation.
Web-App & On-the-Fly Translation Options Take Longer to Load. Instead, Use Software to Generate Static Pages.
www.WorldLingo.com
One Site: Server-Side Translation STRATEGY TIPS

MULTIPLE SITES

Multiple Sites
In the ‘Multiple Site’ Approach You Purchase & Creating Different Sites on Multiple Country-Specific Domains; ‘.de,’ ‘.fr,’ ‘it,’ ‘.es,’ etc.
The ‘.com’ can be Used as an International Site.

Multiple Sites:
Pros:
Incrementally Low Start-Up Costs
Rank Better in Country Specific Search Engines Faster
More Chances to Rank Better in Search Engines
Potential Link Benefits
Country Specific Hosting Option
Cons:
High Maintenance Cost
Harder to Rank in ‘.com’ Search Engines
Forced to Target Countries Instead of Languages
Must Compete with ‘.com’s’ in
Potential Link & Duplicate Content Risks
Harder To Police

Multiple Sites: STRATEGY TIPS
Specify the Specific Country for Each Site in Webmaster Tools but Don’t Specify a Country in Webmaster Tools for the ‘.com’.
Focus SEO on Country Specific Domains.
Use the ‘.com’ to direct Traffic to the Appropriate Sites.
Inter-Link Different Sites Carefully & Logically.
Use ‘IP Sniff & Suggest’ to Link Users to Other Country Sites .

BLENDED

Blended
The ‘Blended Site’ approach has some languages & country specific sites on the main site, and others on country specific domains.
This can be a transitional approach companies take when they are changing from a ‘Multiple Site’ approach to a ‘Single Site’ approach or vice versa.
This can also be strategic.

Blended
Pros:
Most Realistic for World Wide Presence
Allows Testing
Creates Flexibility
Strategically Segment by Region or Root Language
Cons:
Inconsistent & Confusing
Perceived as Unprofessional

International site on the .com
Choose your Language Landing Pages

Blended STRATEGY TIPS
If multiple country specific domain names are unavailable, make them part of the ‘.com’ rather than compromise branding.
Use country specific domains for highest traffic countries, and group other countries on single sites by language.
Evaluate countries/languages by traffic & conversions.
Put countries/languages with similar aesthetics on the same site.

“ Do Not Disturb signs should be written in the language of the hotel maids. ” Tim Bedore

Thanks!

Cindy Krum
Rank-Mobile
720-231-7277
[email_address]

International SEO: Are We Speaking The Same Language

by Suzzicks on Oct 30, 2008

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