Taking your International SEO to the next level at #SMXParis

#internationalseo at #SMXPARIS 2014 by @aleyda from @orainti
taking your international seo to the next level
succeeding abroad in competitive industries

SALUT PARIS

ALEYDA SOLIS
!
INTERNATIONAL SEO CONSULTANT
!
+7 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN EUROPEAN,
AMERICAN AND LATAM SEO PROJECTS
!
FOUNDER OF ORAINTI
INTERNATIONAL SEO CONSULTANCY

LET’S DO INTERNATIONAL SEO

the formula is 50% of your current seo + 25% new web structure + 25% new language, right?
easy! it’s just about extrapolating
what you have, but in another cctld

what? one does not simply extrapolate & “succeed” at international seo!
don’t fool yourself!

international seo is a bit like football

you can’t compete internationally by relying on just one star player tactic
we duplicated the content and
placed it in different cctlds, but it
didn’t worked!

you can’t compete internationally by relying on just one star player tactic
we duplicated the content and
placed it in different cctlds, but it
didn’t worked!
zalando.fr
google.be
COUNTRY
MISALIGNMENT
ISSUES
take a look at this example

succeeding in football international seo requires  
a full & multidisciplinary team effort, ESPECIALLY IN COMPETITIVE MARKETS
i’m the international link
builder
i optimized the international
web structure
i localized all the content

succeeding in football international seo requires  
a full & multidisciplinary team effort
i’m the international link
builder
i optimized the international
web structure
i localized all the content
PIXMANIA.es
MEDIAMARKT.es
google.es
LOCALIZED,
ALIGNED &
POPULAR
AMAZON.es
here’s how to do it

to win in competitive international markets you need a FULL strategic approach

FROM an OPTIMIZED defense international web structure

to a proactive FORWARD INTERNATIONAL LINK BUILDING CAMPAIGN

PASSING BY AN EFFECTIVE midfield LOCALIZED & RELEVANT CONTENT

develop your
international web
popularity
3create & optimize
localized content
searched by your
international
audience
2
optimize your
international Web
structure
1
let’s go through the process

optimize your international web structure
1

identify & validate your international web targeting: language vs. country
country targeting
chile
mexico
english
english
language targeting

here’s a country targeted website

and here’s a language targeted one

which criteria you should use to select your international targeting?

take also into consideration your resources restrictions & requirements
TECHNICAL
FEASIBILITY &
SUPPORT FOR MULTI
COUNTRY / LANGUAGE
SETTING
MULTILINGUAL
CONTENT
DEVELOPMENT &
UPDATE
ONGOING NATIVE
SUPPORT BUDGET &
AVAILABILITY
INTERNATIONAL
PRODUCT / SERVICE
DELIVERY
INTERNATIONAL
PRICING &
CURRENCY
INTERNATIONAL
LEGAL & OPERATION
CONSTRAINTS

select the best web structure based on your international targeting
VS

country target: cctlds vs. sub-directories vs. sub-domains
BEST TO GEOLOCATE. HARDER TO BUILD POPULARITY
SUITABLE WITH GTLDS. BEST TO LEVERAGE MAIN
DOMAIN POPULARITY. CAN BE GEOLOCATED.
SUITABLE WITH GTLDS. BEST FOR SITE WITH A HIGH
VOLUME OF PAGES. CAN BE GEOLOCATED.

LANGUAGE target: sub-directories vs. sub-domains
BEST IF YOUR CONTENT VOLUME IS NOT HIGH AND NOT SO MANY
LINK BUILDING RESOURCES
BEST TO INDEX MORE CONTENT, AVOID ADDING MORE DEPTH TO
YOUR WEB STRUCTURE AND HAVE RESOURCES FOR LINK BUILDING

AVOID SHOWING YOUR INTERNATIONAL CONTENT IN THE SAME URL, USING SCRIPTS

or using urls with parameters, leaving the urls in the initial language

optimize all of your web experience with the right language & terms

and remember to translate the urls

detect & recommend the appropriate version based on ip or browser language

always test interstitials & automatic redirects, to avoid crawling issues

and potentially assuming too much about the visitor

use screaming frog, deep crawl, strucr crawlers to check this
http://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/

AVOID RESULTS MISALIGNMENTS BY SpecifyING the language and country  
OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL WEB VERSIONS using hreflang annotations

but make sure to include the right language & country code to hreflang tags
http://nerdydata.com/

*OUCH* careful there!

refer to google’s specification when implementing the hreflang tags
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en

use the hreflang tag generator tool and validator to verify them
http://www.internationalseomap.com/
hreflang-tags-generator/
http://flang.dejanseo.com.au/

OR USE SEO CRAWLERS TO CHECK ITS USAGE TOO
http://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/

YOU CAN ALSO INCLUDE THE HREFLANG ANNOTATIONS IN XML SITEMAPS  
& USE THE MEDIA FLOW TOOL TO GENERATE THEM
http://www.themediaflow.com/tool_hreflang.php

use the html lang, content language meta tags & http headers to specify  
your language too… making sure you’re featuring the right code
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_language_codes.asp

IF YOU’RE NOT USING A CCTLD FOR COUNTRY TARGETING, YOU SHOULD GEOLOCATE EACH OF
YOUR INTERNATIONAL WEB VERSIONS WITH THE SEARCH ENGINE WEBMASTER TOOLS

use a proxy software or a google search international switcher TO VALIDATE
THAT EACH OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL WEB VERSIONS ARE CORRECTLY SHOWN IN SERPS
http://isearchfrom.com/
https://www.hidemyass.com/

BY FOLLOWING THE PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS YOU will minimize  
international search results alignment issues
http://semrush.com/

create localized, optimized content
2

remember that your international audience,  
although speaking the same language might not use the same terms

it’s fundamental that you develop a keyword research for each one of your
international web audiences, even if they speak the same language
search
volume,
seasonality &
competition
current
rankings &
content
existence
industry
keyword
suggestions
competitors
keywords
performance
current
keywords &
content
performance
business
goals, volume &
profitability
your
prioritized
keywords and
topics
relevance &
intent

you can start by identifying the queries already giving you visibility  
from these international markets with your webmaster tools

expand and validate each of the keywords ideas, search volume  
and trend using keywords tools supporting international search
http://keywordtool.io/ http://semrush.com/

you should use the specifically relevant & popular terms in each  
international market to optimize your content otherwise you won’t be found

make sure that all of your content is also always aligned  
with the right international audience

and avoid the temptation to automatically translate the content or use
google’s keyword market finder, as THESE ARE not completely accurate

otherwise you might end up alienating your  
international audience with basic language mistakes

you’ll need native language support to succeed IN international seo
were you looking for a football
player or it was a soccer one?

develop your international web popularity
3

you should build links for your foreign markets and the best way to do it  
is by connecting, promoting and earning from your audience

identify who are your new competitors in each of your international  
markets, their behavior, current rankings & content offering
http://www.similarweb.com/

use similarweb and semrush to identify this data
http://www.semrush.com/

research the link popularity & sources of your international search
competitors by using open site explorer and majesticseo
http://opensiteexplorer.org/
https://www.majesticseo.com/

validate the level of authority of your competitors, the  
volume & quality of links they have needed to rank where they are
http://explorer.cognitiveseo.com/

verify which has been the most shared content from  
your competitors in social networks and who have shared them
https://socialcrawlytics.com/

check the overall most popular content about those topics in social networks
to get additional ideas of what your international audience likes
http://buzzsumo.com/

identify the most important influencers within your community and  
connect with them, as they can amplify and distribute your content
http://tribalytics.com/
http://www.twtrland.com/

with this information you’ll know the volume and quality of links you need,
which are the topics to create content and who you should promote it to
send it, I will share it with my
followers and publish about it
in my blog

start creating content (text, videos, offers) based on the identified patterns
and promote it consistently with your influencers & community
http://www.socialseeder.com/

it’s about connecting with your audience!  
making the most out of their cultural characteristics & situation

now you’re ready to do international seo in competitive markets!  
But before going, take a look at these tools that will surely help you
just one more thing…

with these additional resources you’ll have extra support to advance faster
http://moz.com/blog/40-plus-tools-to-
advance-your-international-seo-process

it’s now your time to become a star in football  
your international search markets
allons-y!

merci! avez vous des questions?

!
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Taking your International SEO to the next level at #SMXParis

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