This document provides guidance on launching a global website, including considerations around market readiness, localization of content and products, customer service, shipping and delivery, marketing, and ongoing maintenance. Key points covered include assessing local demand and regulations, adapting products for local markets, handling payments and customer support internationally, and addressing linguistic and cultural differences across markets to ensure the website is appropriately localized.

1. Key Points to Launching
a Global Website
SES New York
March 22, 2011
@BillHunt @MotokoHunt

2. Are you Global Ready?
Is there a need or awareness for you product or service?
Are your products adapted for the local markets?
Do you have the ability to take money from local markets
Are there restrictions on importing or excess tariffs?
How will you handle customer service?
How will you handle shipping and delivery?
How will consumers learn about your products?

3. Building Global Content
– the wrong way
Actual steps from eHow.com

4. Market Trends & Opportunity

5. Why Go GLOBAL?
Source: eCommerce Times

6. New Market Opportunities
New Markets
and Demand for Products
Emerging markets or
advancing technology
opportunities
Source: Grant Thorton Emerging Markets Opportunity Matrix
Source: Grant Thorton Emerging Markets Opportunity Matrix

7. Who’s Visiting Today?
• Demand is already coming to you
• Log file analysis
• Sales and leads

8. Where is the opportunity?
• Market place interests and product categories
Google Export Tool
Google Keyword Tool

9. Missed Opportunity Matrix™
Simple worksheet to demonstrate the delta between the number of searches for a
phrase and the traffic you are currently getting

10. Local Search Engines &
Market Differences

11. It’s not always a Google World
• Google (Global) 62.4%
• Yandex (Russia) – 65%
• Baidu (China) – 83.6%
• Naver (Korea) – 68%
• Yahoo! Japan – 47%

12. Market Trends
• Internet penetration rate and
user profile
• You may have different
products/services that are
popular in each market
• Online transaction vs. Offline
transaction

13. Traffic Sources

14. Search Behavior
• How do people find the website?
– Search, Social Media, Ads, etc.
• Home vs. Work vs. Internet Café
• Mobile vs. PC

15. Seasonal Behavior
• Which product to push, when to push
– Seasons
– Fiscal year
– Holidays / Shopping seasons
Chinese Graduation 3-6 weeks
New Year season in US vacations in
Europe
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Winter in south Holiday
hemisphere shopping
Graduation season
New Year
season in Japan

16. Purchasing Options
• Currencies
• Credit cards
• Third party online transaction
• Offline transactions

17. Regulations on your Products?
• Leverage Export.gov and US Export Trade Desks
• Market regulations and tariff reviews
• Export documentations
• Check with local market government
agencies
• Talk to FedEx, UPS and DHL for
rates and issues and customs
• Document any issues and potential
tariffs on the site and into the pricing

18. Legal / Contracts / Content
特定商取引法に基づく表示
©
® TM

19. Role of Website
Each market should have
different set of keywords
and content, which would
lead site users to the right
conversion point for the
market online or off.

20. Website and Campaign
Mainenance

21. On-going Challenges
How to stay “Competitive” in foreign market

22. Reporting and Other Tools
Location based differences
Different agencies
Different reporting tools / language compatibilities

23. Campaign Maintenance
Not all teams/locations are made equal
- Man power
- Knowledge

24. Staying on the Course
• Roadmap
• Guidelines
• Standards
• Best Practice

25. Customer Services
Thank you Obrigado
ど
う
谢 も
あ
谢 り
が
と
Merci 감사합니다 Gracias う

26. Linguistic & Cultural Challenges

27. How’s your Translation?
www.engrish.com

28. Mistakes With “Word for Word” Translation
Not translated 「ホテル名」
「US$200以上」
「US$40以下」 「US$ｘｘ以上、US$ｘｘ以下」
「全てのホテルを表示する」
「111件中1番目から20番目のホテル」
Wrong character
???
「ホテル名」
This should be on the right side of the currency box.

29. “FINGER LICKIN’
GOOD”
Chinese Translation
“EAT YOUR FINGERS OFF”

30. “GERBER”
French Translation
“VOMITING”

31. “CLAIROL MIST STICK”
German Translation
CLAIROL MANURE STICK

32. Also Localize
• Currencies
• Metrics
• Address & Phone
• Shipping & Handling
• Local Legal Requirements
– Business & License information
– Hours & Locations
– Return Policies
Local Search Benefit

33. Content: message, promotion, design, etc.

34. Keyword Research & Management

35. Keyword Research
Rule:
Do NOT Translate English
Keywords
35

36. Linguistically Correct vs. Popular
Translated word may not be the most popular search term in different
market
“baby carrier” “USA” “High Definition”
*ベビーキャリア *アメリカ *ハイデフィニショ
ン
*抱っこひも *合衆国 *ハイビジョン
*ベビースリング *米国 *フルハイビジョン
*アメリカ合衆国
36

37. Be Aware of Regional Variations
• Plurals, Accents, Spelling variations, etc.
Fútbol vs. Futbol
Fussball vs. Fußball
Localization vs. Localisation
Mom vs. Mum
Vacation vs. Holiday
Soccer vs. Football
37

38. Who Has The Shortest Long Tail?
Shortest Tails Longest Tails
Dutch / German
English
Scandinavia
Romance
ly
d
n
K
y
al
ce
Fr
d
e
ay
en
ds
n
an
n
ec
i
an
Ita
E
U
g
pa
an
w
la
n
ed
da
tu
da
m
re
nl
la
or
e
S
Fr
w
or
a
Ir
er
G
er
Fi
a
N
an
S
P
an
G
h
C
et
C
N
Source: Andy Atkins-Krüger – WebCertain.com

39. Keyword Research Tools
Use Keyword Tools
(free/subscription) to
create initial list of
related search terms
and search volume
Select location and
language
39

40. Keyword Organization
• Organize your keywords by: • Brand name
– Languages
• Product name
– Locations
• Model numbers, etc.
– Target audiences
– Purchase cycle
– Importance
– Legal requirements
Tip: Translation Management tools for glossary pairs
to get initial cut of words

41. Cross-Market Planning
Spanish Italian German French
Keyword Searches Keyword Searches Keyword Searches Keyword Searches
ordenador 115,826 computer 557,015 notebooks 1,536,826 ordinateur portable 1,201,928
portatil 66,609 notebook 107,758 computer 1,205,954 ordinateur 728,504
ordenador portatil 40,026 pc 87,493 laptop 232,756 portable 254,664
computadora 20,419 portatile notebook 54,516 pc 194,804 pc 127,644
venta de ordenador 17,224 computer portatile 33,212 pc system 39,778 pc portable 59,568
oferta portatil 11,179 pc portatile 24,381 pcs notebooks 35,066 achat pc 18,252
oferta ordenador 9,790 personal computer 14,658 computer hardware 14,952 achat ordinateur 16,836
juego de ordenador 6,969 negozi computer 10,829 computer notebook 14,805 laptop 10,260
oferta ordenador portatil 6,720 notebook offerta 6,528 pc komplettsystem 13,146 vente ordinateur 9,440
notebook 3,609 vendita notebook 4,274 pc hardware 10,458 ordinateur de bureau 9,148
• Don’t just translate the English words
• Add all of the variations to expand keywords
• 20% of keywords in campaign are not popular or wrong translations
• 70% of Google queries are from outside the USA!

42. Align Language Related Content
• Identified top “shared” keywords in each market
• Aligned common words and content to to scale localization efforts
• Saved over $25k USD in translation costs [Content & Ad Creative]

43. Link Building

44. Linking Global Sites
Different ccTLDs
Yourdomain.com
Yourdomain.jp Yourdomain.co.kr
Yourdomain.co.uk Yourdomain.fr
Yourdomain.de

45. Linking Family and Partner Sites
Different brands (domains)
Ace.info – Ariel.co.uk –Bounceeverywhre.com –
Bountytowels.com – Cascadeclean.com …

46. Power of Local Links
Using one language site for multiple market…
www.Yourdomain.com/en/index.html
Links from Links from
Links from
websites in websites in
websites in UK
India USA

47. Linking Local Sites
Have separate folder for each market…
 Geo Setting
www.Yourdomain.com/uk/index.html
www.Yourdomain.com/us/index.html
www.Yourdomain.com/in/index.html
Links from
Links from Links from websites in
websites in UK websites in USA
India

48. Infrastructure & Technical
Challenges

49. Technical Challenges
• CMS settings
• Geo targeting, ccTLDs
– Index problem
– Duplicate content
• Different target engines
• Languages / localization
– Right to Left
– Double byte character set
• Tools (multi-lingual)
• Domain, sub-domain
• Hosting
• Link building

50. Handling Re-direct
Q:
We have ccTLD domains, but
they are 301 redirected to “.com”
site, and there’s no content under
each ccTDL.
Do my pages perform well in all
target markets?

51. Barriers to getting global sites indexed
• Popups can’t be indexed
• Pull-down country maps can’t be
crawled
• Restrictive JavaScript for
language detection
• Restrictive Robots.txt and meta
robots

52. Detection & Serving Challenges
• Spiders typically crawl from few locations & don’t have a
language preference
• Can a spider from the US “find” your other language content?
– Use “Firefox User Agent Switcher
• Does the spider need to accept cookies?
– Use Firefox Webmaster Tool
• Do you have unique county/language URL’s for each page?
• Are you serving differently to spiders and searchers?

53. Domains and Hosting – Simple Answers
• Use ccTLD’s - where possible and practical
• Host in the local country – where possible and practical
• Be careful with proxy serving sites to fool the engines
• Ensure “ALL” variations of your site URL’s are set in GWT

54. Google’s “Local Determination Hierarchy”
Your site is LOCAL to a country when…
• You use a ccTLD – www.mysite.co.uk
– ccTLD can be hosted in ANY country!
– -ccTLD is ALWAYS treated as local content
• You host a .com in a country
– www.mycompany.com hosted in US is a US site
– www.mycompany.com hosted in France is France Site
• Your sub directory is mapped in GWT
– www.mycompany.com/uk is a UK site if mapped
– www.mycompany.com/uk is a global site if NOT mapped

55. Setting Google Webmaster Tools
Sitemap Country setting

56. Scaling Content for
Global Reach

57. Leverage Templates for Scale
• Maximize reach across the organization & globe
• Focus on top level templates
– Optimize the templates when developed
– Ensure the optimal page elements are pulled into the template
correctly
• Leverage Style Guides and Business Rules
– Forces overseas offices to comply with optimized formats
– Give you way to monitor implementation of the program

58. Template and top-level content optimisation
Page Title and Meta Data Correct use of Header tags
recommendations
Fully indexable navigation? Can search engine’s follow all
of the links?
Ensure all parts of the page
Enhancement of cross-links
are indexable
to distribute link equity
Sony.de Sony.fr Etc.

59. Blended L10N & SEO Process
Glossary Content
Localization Translation Page QA
Development
Step
Keyword Algorithm Page
SEO Step Optimization Compliance Updates
Identify, analyze and Use SEO best Ensuring the final page
Scope refine optimal keywords practices to ensure has all the key
translated content is elements needed for
optimal for scoring ranking well.
1. Critical Keyword List
Primary 2. External Demand 1. Keyword Occurrence 1. Ensure complete
Tasks 3. On-site Search 2. Keyword Density translation
4. Current Position 3. Keyword Prominence 2. Ensure proper
5. Content Availability & 4. Descriptive Sentence language tags
User query centric 3. Ensure optimal
placement of keywords

60. Shared SEO &Content Plan
Americas Web
Localization
Translation
Web
Global WW Project Production & Local
Geo/Region Manager Development Validation
EMEA Web Publish
Country Accepts, coor Quality Validates &
Localization content
Content dinates Assurance approves
Translation
authoring requests translation
AP Web
Localization
Translation
Local Authors trained on Global & local glossary
Keyword & Rank & Traffic
writing for SEO validated for demand
Relevance Reports
Search Implications on Roles
 Content Authors – Local content authors ensures the page content is relevant and
incorporated optimal keywords
Localizers – leverages the glossary and keyword research tools to validate keyword
demand and optimal keyword incorporation
QA Specialist - Checks pages against submitted content, standards, and template formats –
ensures there are no spider traps, keyword prominence and flags any URL changes and
ensures URL is in Google site map.
Search Team – Monitors inclusions, ranking and traffic

61. Team & Organizational Issues

62. Best Practice – Global Center of Excellence
Uniform Education Force Infrastructure
KPI’s Multipliers Enhancement
1 2 3 4
43.3% We treat you as an individual Persona / Desired
• Ensures that claims will be resolved to our satisfaction Insurance Company I Would Proactively
Helpful and
Emotional Reputation Functional Touchpoint Outcome Recommend
42.0% • Has fair prices
Fair
General Claims • Known for open and transparent dealings with customers E1 P1 F1 T1
30.6% Treats me as an Dynamic, fast, Personalized Fast & easy .160
• Has a dedicated relationship leader focused on my company's needs
Partner individual dependable, service, just right claims
• Helps my business move on because they deliver when it really matters
25.2% who efficient for me Emotional E2
We are focused on your
Delivers • Makes me feel like they are there with us every step of the way Benefits Makes me feel reassured
because they deliver
needs, from small questions to • Has tools that help us identify and mitigate risks specific to our business E2 P2 F2 T2 when it really matters .518
Tailored
40.6% large claims/ from small details •
Insight
•
Offers a unique tailored solution that fits the needs of our business
Provides professional guidance that keeps me on top of my business
Makes me feel Understanding, Clear info, fair Personalized .812
valued & there with proactive, claims, sound coverage tool & same
40.5% to the big picture me every step of empathetic advice day assistance
Direct Deep • Has a deep understanding of the unique needs of our business the way Reputation & P2 P1
27.8% We help you be prepared for
Understanding • Uses a thorough understanding of our business to tailor its risk Persona Understanding Dependable & Efficient
management services to us
R1 F3 T3
20.8% life's unexpected changes .839 .333
Known for effective Fair prices & easy / Rapid repairs
& caring upfront information .868
Must Have
• Is a global thought leader known for analytical rigor
but not intermediaries
Discriminating • Dedicated, proactive and dynamic Functional
F3
43.5% Benefits & T1
T2
Touchpoints Responds quickly to Has an easy to use
We are focused on helping
Nice to Have
R2 my changing needs website
Fast claims process
38.1% • Global view of reported and paid claims Known for good
Life life/not
But
you get on with your Discriminating • Helps get my employees back to work quicker claims service &
35.9% helping your family through customer service
43.3% times of need
What do we Which are most How do we Where can we
measure and effective techniques, compliment other intersect with
why? tools and resources? teams for enhanced current activities
outcomes? and
technologies?
IBM, HP, P&G, Cisco and SAP have adopted Global COE’s to manage shared
services, centralize best practices which have been leveraged to scale search globally
resulting in exponential performance improvements.

63. Content Collaboration Matrix
UK DE CH IN BE IE AT PT
Keyword Research Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N
Content Availability 360 360 150 300 8 40 160 0
Business Goals Alignment 300 340 50 250 8 10 160 0
Content Sharing N N N N N N N N
Team Resources Y Y N Y N N Y N
Localization Tools Integrated Y Y Y Y N N Y N
SEO & Localization Integrated Y N N Y N N Y N
Glossary Word Validation N N N N N N N N
Government Restrictions Y Y Y Y N N Y N
Active Campaigns Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N
Analytics Integration Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N
Program Cooperative N N N N N N N N

64. Search Engine Style Guide
•Integrate into development QA process to monitor
•Integrate into contracts and procurement to give teeth

65. Search Knowledgebase
• Collect and share best practices with the wider team
•Send new adopters to view PPT and complete intake checklists
•Add URL to your eMail Signature File

66. Deploy Performance Metrics
• Leverage Scorecards for governance to ensure consistent
global performance goals are achieved.
• Helps prioritize resource allocation
• Forces all business units to make an effort
IBM’s global search performance
increased 500% when BU level
performance metrics implemented

67. Deploy Performance Metrics
Performance by business unit for critical keywords

68. Key steps to a successful global program
• Demonstrate the business opportunity for search
• Ensure translators and localizers understand search
fundamentals
• Research and deploy the optimal keyword strategy
• Integrate search attributes into the development and
localization workflow process
• Research the target markets for
regulations, trends, statistics, popular engines and social
outlets
• Take advice from local experts and local offices, and
make necessary adjustments to your campaign
strategies for each market

69. Q&A
eMail: motoko@ajpr.com eMail: bill@whunt.com
Twitter: motokohunt Twitter: billhunt
Blog: www.ajpr.com/blog Blog: www.whunt.com
Site: www.ajpr.com Site: www.back-azimuth.com