The SEO secret sauce to international success
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This document discusses the importance of localization for international SEO success. It emphasizes understanding local language, culture, and search behaviors. Localization means getting under the hood of what audiences want and how they search. The document provides examples showing how keywords, meanings, and user behaviors vary widely between countries and cultures. It argues that localization, including asking questions, researching local languages and cultures, and applying findings, is the "secret sauce" to effective international SEO.
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The SEO secret sauce to international success
- 1. THE SEO SECRET SAUCE TO INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS Ad-Tech 2014 @ObanDigital @haych_digital October 2014
- 2. Your guides for the tour Hayley “Haych” Phoenix-Stones With more than 18 years experience in digital marketing, Haych is truly passionate about search, international business and cultural marketing. Working alongside brands such as UGG, The Cloud WiFi, Gucci and many of the leading UK Universities. As channel manager she builds lasting client and partner relationships. Emily Mace As Head of SEO at Oban, Emily works on our overall strategy and development of SEO campaigns. She focusses on the development of strategies to help clients achieve the best results and provide meaningful insights into ROI for different campaigns and goals.
- 3. Top two issues for international expansion Language
- 4. Top two issues for international expansion Culture
- 5. Rise of the machines
- 6. You cannot avoid communication
- 7. Trust, authenticity and reputation
- 9. It’s more than words… In Western and Eastern areas pink is considered to be a feminine colour. Often used to symbolise the birth of a girl….except in Japan, where it’s liked equally as a colour for girls and boys…. or Belgium, where this is the colour for baby boys…..light blue for girls in case you were wondering. In South Korea pink symbolises trust ……and for Thai’s it denotes the colour associated with Tuesday.
- 10. Multilingual or multi – multi – lingual? Switzerland, has four official languages and apart from the native Romansh language none were “born” in Switzerland (German, French and Italian). In the case of Indonesia, it has approximately 700 languages spoken at any one time. It’s not just understanding the language your target audience speaks …. but how they search online.
- 11. CULTURE – WHO WE REALLY ARE
- 18. If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart. Nelson Mandela Former President of South Africa
- 19. So what is the secret sauce? Localisation! Getting under the hood of what your audience wants and knowing how they search for it. The easiest way 1. Ask 2. Research 3. Apply
- 20. KEYWORD RESEARCH
- 21. What is search intent? HOT DOG
- 22. What is search intent?
- 23. What is search intent?
- 24. What is search intent?
- 25. The power of linguistics American English and British English Same words different meaning
- 26. Same but different Get it right! Remember tomato vs. tomatoe? Aluminum vs. Aluminium Color vs. Colour
- 27. The benefits of a local approach An example of where localisation in SEO is vital Italian search for ‘Cheap flights’ – understanding how locals actually search is key to maximising performance. Translating directly could have missed the largest opportunity in this market. Phrase Volume Country Language cheap flights 4,400 Italy English Cheap flight 880 Italy English voli economici 33,100 Italy Italian offerte voli 22,200 Italy Italian compagnie low cost 14,800 Italy Italian 27
- 28. Samples of online cultural quirks Disneyland tickets – using the words tickets rather than translated equivalent German Impressions Karten Eintrittskarten Tickets
- 29. Samples of online cultural quirks Hindi news 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 0 Avg monthly searches (Google India) hindi news news in hindi समाचार हिन्दी
- 30. Samples of online cultural quirks Click through rates change from country to country 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% -10% Search Click Through Rate by Ranking Position 0 2 4 6 8 10 Search Click Through Rate Search Ranking Position Indonesia LATAM
- 31. Samples of online cultural quirks 2 Taxi Aereo – Air Taxi for Private Jet in Brazil
- 32. Samples of online cultural quirks 2 Getting Arabic right – “Global news” 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 الأخبار العالمية اخبار عالمية
- 33. Samples of online cultural quirks conversions Sale prices only seen as a cheap deal if in red in Germany
- 34. WE LOVE DATA As much as these ladies love bread!
- 35. What does this analysis allow us to do? Find out what potential customer’s search intentions are and how best to capitalise on them LOCALLY Learn what and how search language is used by people when they’re online Make use of insights to direct search engine optimisation, paid media campaigns, content creation and social media effectively
- 36. Any Questions?
- 37. CONCLUSION
- 38. Conclusion Understanding search intent / behaviour is essential to digital strategy This is marketing – just with a digital way of delivering it! Testing is OK – even the big brands get it wrong sometimes Link language and culture to engage at a local level.
- 39. VISIT US STAND 411 Collect your free whitepaper, ‘A guide for UK businesses entering global online markets’ at stand 411. We are also offering a FREE international search consultancy audit, worth £875, to Ad-Tech visitors. Stop by stand 411 and speak to our team to see if you qualify for this amazing offer.
- 40. Website: www.obandigital.com Telephone: +44 (0) 1273 704 434 Email: info@obandigital.com Twitter: @ObanDigital
Editor's Notes
- Introduce self – Role at Oban. In the age of globalisation, trading in foreign markets has increased significantly. Entering a new market can present many business opportunities and growth but can also be overwhelming. The language barriers and cultural anomalies of trading internationally poses many risks for any company trading overseas and can lead to unexpected gains or losses.
- In the age of globalisation, trading in foreign markets has increased significantly. Entering a new market can present many business opportunities and growth but can also be overwhelming. The language barriers and cultural anomalies of trading internationally poses many risks for any company trading overseas and can lead to unexpected gains or losses. Language for many business is anything from “do I put Google translate on my site” to which languages do I need to have the content translated into, is it all the content, is machine translation OK, etc Lot’s to think about and usually that can create a stuck situation where it is easier to do nothing and take no action that make a wrong choice.
- Culture is more about the nuances, its not just translation its “localisation” that certain something – or as the French say so much better, the J’nais se quoi… Cultural marketing means knowing and understanding what customers care about most in each target market. The who, what, where, when and why of what makes a person choose one business over another. Different countries have different audiences, with unique dialects, languages, cultures and belief systems. Above all, global keyword research should reveal the online search habits of a market – the same cannot be said of directly translated keywords.
- Machine translation is in theory a wonderful tool and different machines have different levels of skill, but we are far from the days of true AI and Skynet is not about to take over just yet. There are many benefits of machine translation but there are a lot of traps and risks as well. Like all tools, use this wisely and not a broad approach to dealing with your entire website.
- Getting things wrong speaks volumes. Do you think a wrong spelling, accent or tone would engender trust in your business with a new client? It’s like not remembering someones name or spelling it wrong in a communication, we take these things personally and we do make snap judgements. First impressions count online and it has an impact.
- If you do not speak the target language then you are at the mercy of whoever is translating the content – machine or human and we can sometimes be convinced by confidence. Add to that not knowing the language ourselves like a native speaker does and it’s easy to be taken in by a convincing patter, if it looks right then we should trust the experts, right?
- If you do not speak the target language then you are at the mercy of whoever is translating the content – machine or human and we can sometimes be convinced by confidence. Add to that not knowing the language ourselves like a native speaker does and it’s easy to be taken in by a convincing patter, if it looks right then we should trust the experts, right?
- Heuristics play a huge part in engagement, it does not mean you have to re-design your website to appeal to international audiences, of course you need to stay true to your brand but just be aware, not all things mean the same to all people and that can sometimes mean adapting or clarifying your message more for some audiences.
- Inuits have xx number of words for snow. There are also a whole host of other words that we don’t have a direct translation for in English…. How do you choose which to translate – based on limited data its nothing short of guess work.
- Inuits have xx number of words for snow. There are also a whole host of other words that we don’t have a direct translation for in English…. How do you choose which to translate – based on limited data its nothing short of guess work.
- We all have them and know them and maybe even apply them to some extent. There are those assumptions that cultures share certain similar traits and behaviours. This is very short sighted but it can impact how we interact with international clients and how we do business and how successful we are.
- We all have them and know them and maybe even apply them to some extent. There are those assumptions that cultures share certain similar traits and behaviours. This is very short sighted but it can impact how we interact with international clients and how we do business and how successful we are.
- We all have them and know them and maybe even apply them to some extent. There are those assumptions that cultures share certain similar traits and behaviours. This is very short sighted but it can impact how we interact with international clients and how we do business and how successful we are.
- We all have them and know them and maybe even apply them to some extent. There are those assumptions that cultures share certain similar traits and behaviours. This is very short sighted but it can impact how we interact with international clients and how we do business and how successful we are.
- We all have them and know them and maybe even apply them to some extent. There are those assumptions that cultures share certain similar traits and behaviours. This is very short sighted but it can impact how we interact with international clients and how we do business and how successful we are.
- Many stereotypes may have some small foundation in truth but good research and local knowledge will prevent you being accidentally offensive, we all have perceptions or preconceptions about cultures, behaviours or races,, this can colour our interaction. Beliefs are not reality….that’s where research is essential.
- We have a strong research back bone at Oban and believe that search data should be at the heart of all activity. Asking questions of our local offices to inform processes and strategies for each of our markets is key.
- If you do not speak the target language then you are at the mercy of whoever is translating the content – machine or human and we can sometimes be convinced by confidence. Add to that not knowing the language ourselves like a native speaker does and it’s easy to be taken in by a convincing patter, if it looks right then we should trust the experts, right?
- Let’s look at what search intent is quickly. If I say the word “Hot Dog” what do you think I would be searching for? In the first instance the majority of people will be searching for a hot dog. Maybe a recipe for a hotdog as a result for “how to cook a hot dog” Maybe this? Oh hey – It’s the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website. They could definitely be looking for this Or…maybe not this but we needed some cute factor didn’t we. There are many different inferences that can be made by a single term – our method of analysis seeks to find the most common association so that as a business we can be ready to answer that query and give something actionable for the searcher if appropriate.
- Let’s look at what search intent is quickly. If I say the word “Hot Dog” what do you think I would be searching for? In the first instance the majority of people will be searching for a hot dog. Maybe a recipe for a hotdog as a result for “how to cook a hot dog” Maybe this? Oh hey – It’s the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website. They could definitely be looking for this Or…maybe not this but we needed some cute factor didn’t we. There are many different inferences that can be made by a single term – our method of analysis seeks to find the most common association so that as a business we can be ready to answer that query and give something actionable for the searcher if appropriate.
- Let’s look at what search intent is quickly. If I say the word “Hot Dog” what do you think I would be searching for? In the first instance the majority of people will be searching for a hot dog. Maybe a recipe for a hotdog as a result for “how to cook a hot dog” Maybe this? Oh hey – It’s the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website. They could definitely be looking for this Or…maybe not this but we needed some cute factor didn’t we. There are many different inferences that can be made by a single term – our method of analysis seeks to find the most common association so that as a business we can be ready to answer that query and give something actionable for the searcher if appropriate.
- Let’s look at what search intent is quickly. If I say the word “Hot Dog” what do you think I would be searching for? In the first instance the majority of people will be searching for a hot dog. Maybe a recipe for a hotdog as a result for “how to cook a hot dog” Maybe this? Oh hey – It’s the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website. They could definitely be looking for this Or…maybe not this but we needed some cute factor didn’t we. There are many different inferences that can be made by a single term – our method of analysis seeks to find the most common association so that as a business we can be ready to answer that query and give something actionable for the searcher if appropriate.
- Keywords are diverse even in your native language, this is the same and compounded for different languages. By the way, going back to cultural stereotypes, I am slightly overweight, I drink coffee, I dislike tea and I don’t discuss the weather unless made to – that seems to indicate I am not actually English but an American – that taught me!
- Russian terms written as latin text spelling a russian word
- Tiny change in the spelling but huge difference in Egyptian search volume.
- Looking at calls to actions we found differences in the words which work when getting people to sign up for a quote. In china, where it’s more formal we found that “request quote” performs the best, but in the US “Get Quote” worked best. In Australia however “Free Quote” worked best.
- What does this analysis allow us to do? Find out what your potential customer’s search intentions are and how best to capitalise on them Learn what and how search language is used by people when they’re online Make use of insights to direct your search engine optimisation, paid media campaigns, content creation and social media effectively When can a search intent analysis be carried out? Anytime is good but in particular: Launching into a new territory/country Expanding your site offering If running short of content ideas or discussion points with your audiences Your paid campaigns are a bit stale and need some reorganisation/reinvigoration You haven’t considered a different site architecture in different markets You would like to link up channel strategies for social, SEO, paid and content marketing
- What does this analysis allow us to do? Find out what your potential customer’s search intentions are and how best to capitalise on them Learn what and how search language is used by people when they’re online Make use of insights to direct your search engine optimisation, paid media campaigns, content creation and social media effectively When can a search intent analysis be carried out? Anytime is good but in particular: Launching into a new territory/country Expanding your site offering If running short of content ideas or discussion points with your audiences Your paid campaigns are a bit stale and need some reorganisation/reinvigoration You haven’t considered a different site architecture in different markets You would like to link up channel strategies for social, SEO, paid and content marketing
- Search terms are more
- Search terms are more