Is International SEO Easy

As an international web marketer it often appears easier to get good SEO results in a language other than English. Living in France, I notice how easy it can be for French language websites around me to get top search results.

Well, easy may not be the right word.  There appears to be a factor of speed. And it definitely seems to take a lot less effort to get top search engine results for keywords in French than it does to get them in English.

I have also had a few readers comment that a foreign language on their website boosts their overall SEO value. I have not tested this this first hand. But the echos have been steady.  Readers are wondering whether Google has a distinct preference for foreign language content.

This is definitely a trend to watch.  But, let’s have a look at some things we are sure about in international SEO.

Why International SEO Is Easy

Less Competition

• Fewer foreign language websites
• Less foreign language content
• Fewer SEO specialists
• Fewer available SEO tools

How International SEO Can Be More Difficult

Foreign Grammar

• Articles… and their misspellings
• Different article formats… and their misspellings
• Different plural formats… and their misspellings
• Adjective modifiers… and their misspellings
• Common abbreviations… and their misspellings

Different Forms Of Speech

• For the elderly
• For politeness

International SEO Results

For your foreign language keywords, this means that:

• You may find it easier to get in the top search results
• You should find it faster to get in the top search results
• With top results expect fewer search results in a foreign language than in English for the equivalent keyword
• You may need more variants of your keywords… which dilutes your results for one specific keyword even further

The difficulties in getting good international SEO results depend on the language you are targeting.

The success of your keyword results may also be influenced by market differences and finding the keywords that work in the culture you are targeting.

Should You Use International SEO?

This is a business decision.

Are you committed to international business development?

If you are, then foreign language content is probably a good web marketing strategy for you.

Depending on the country and language you are targeting, the ease in which you can get top search results is an added business benefit.

If you compare the investment you need to make to get top search engine results for an English language website, you might find the investment in foreign language content appealing.

You will need to invest in a foreign language website and content.  But this is where good business practices combined with easier SEO results can help you come out ahead of the others.  And more specifically:

• Strategic content creation
• Good SEO practices

You should integrate the challenges with language differences into your international market research strategy.  This is about getting to know your foreign market, how it behaves and how you need to create your online visibility for this particular foreign market.  Whether you gain market exposure with one keyword or a variety of keywords you are still targeting one specific market.

Another important thing to note:

• Good foreign language domain names may be easier to find

Where it is now difficult to find good available domain names in English, there has generally been less competition with foreign language domain names.

Again, different countries are at different levels of web maturity.

This may not be true for every foreign country.  But I am frequently surprised at the web domain names still available in some foreign languages.

More From Cindy

Interested in reading more on my personal opinions and experiences with international web marketing?

CindyKing.biz International Web Marketing

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This is part of the Core Business Guide 3 Design Your International Visibility Be sure to check out the other useful tips to design your international visibility

You should also read the Core Business Guide 4 Build Your International Marketing Strategy Be sure to check out the other elements you need to build your international marketing strategy

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• Instructions on how to use Your International Sales Road Map

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• A complete list of current Core Business Guides & Sub Guides for Your International Sales Road Map.

Still confused? Review your answers in the first Core Business Guide

• Core Business Guide 1 - Discover Your International Business

Simply click on one of the 8 different color coded boxes immediately below to access other core business guides.

Finding Foreign Search Engines

Quick answers to…

Today’s question is:

Where can I find a list of the top foreign search engines for each country I am targeting?

As usual, Google is a good place to start.

When you search for “leading international search engines” you find:

• The Search Engine Colossus

This website gives you all you need to get started.

I think this question actually highlights the barriers we can put up all by ourselves.

The internet is a everyone’s communication tool.  It is easy to find factual information for all cultures online.  And this question is about facts.

International business is different from what we are used to in our domestic markets. The good business skills you already have to operate in your domestic market will help you in your international markets.

Don’t remain stuck…

Both Google and the telephone will get you over just about any hurdle you come across.

Getting back to your question…

Use the Search Engine Colossus to look up the leading search engines for each of the countries you are targeting. Select as many of search engines as you need to cover a large percentage of your market.

Many international search engines actually use Google’s search algorithms. But not all of them. In some countries, the leading search engines have nothing to do with Google.

Now…

Even if the foreign search engines use Google’s search algorithms you will probably still get better results if you actually register your website with the local country search engines.

At least… this definitely used to be the case.

But Google is improving its international searches.  There may be a time in the future when you will not necessarily find any extra benefit from taking the time for foreign submissions.

Even if it is useful to do so today.

If you are actively targeting a specific country, take the time to look up the leading search engines.

Here is what you need to:

• Register your website with the foreign search engine
• Get your website spidered by the foreign search engine
• Get your website associated with your foreign keywords

For each country you are targeting. The submission process may be different.

You need to put in the appropriate information in the forms. Don’t worry, it is not complicated…

But, do not simply have anyone in your company fill out the forms. Be sure to have your web marketing person involved.

It is a good idea to do a preliminary research to note the details required and then think about how you want to fill them in.  For example, to decide who your key contact person should be.

Some countries require you to have at least one page on your website in their foreign language. You will need to do this before filling in the submission form.  So take a few minutes to review the process.

A little time spent registering your website with foreign search engines increases your international visibility.

Read More On Search Engine Submissions

Foreign Search Engine Guide • How easy is it to set up an international website? Read about your international communication platform options.

More To Plan Your International Business Development

Guide 2 - Plan Your International Sales Road Map

Plan Your Foreign Language Content

Culture customized content builds stronger connections in your international markets.

But, what do you do when you want to use culture customized content for stronger international presence, and…

…your international development budget is small?
…your company wants to be cautious?

How do you reconcile this with everything you think you need:

• A full foreign language website
• Complete selection of foreign language marketing materials
• An international sales force

Well, instead of looking at how your current business communicates with your domestic market…

How about starting at the other end?

Let’s look at what happens when you start with your culture customized content.

Plan The Content You Need To Translate

When you plan the content you need to translate, you usually realize that you will need to update your content within a relatively short period of time.

Why is this?

Simply because…

When you first start to communicate with a foreign market, you do not know it well enough to write your most effective communication.

Even if you hire outside companies to tell you what your message should be, you will only really find out what your market needs once you start direct communication yourself.

Now, if you know you will need to change your communication in a short period of time, how do you start?

One Product In One Language

It is standard practice in international business development to start off with one product to one country. This is the easiest way for companies to learn how to adapt to new markets specifically and international business in general.

This also makes it a lot easier for you to plan:

• The content you need to translate
• Time lines and guidelines for future strategy
• Future actions to extend your reach
• Other key parameters you need

Plan For Your Future Content

Your first foreign language content will probably be based on some of your existing content.

You will want to use this to develop culture customized content. This culture customized content creates stronger connections in your new foreign markets. And…

Because you need to have your own market feedback from your new target country, you will need to modify your first translations.

Many companies do not plan for this change in content. After all the translations were an investment, and they want a return on it before sinking more money into translations.

Some companies will change their international message later on. If they realize their message is not effective.

Many larger companies simply let their international sales team pick up the extra responsibility of correcting the “wrong” messages in their written communication.

This mistake is very common in large American companies, eager to keep control on their brand while selling abroad.

There is a very simple solution to getting your message right for your international markets:

• Start small.
• Plan for change.
• Stimulate feedback to learn more about YOUR foreign markets
• Adapt your message to the culture you are communicating with

Planning for your future content right from the start will both save you extra translation costs and give you a foreign sales message with a bang.

Evaluate The Best Marketing Channels

Imagine you know:

• Precisely what you want to communicate now,
• What information you want to get back from your foreign markets,
• And what you want to communicate later?

Well then…

Now you can determine the right international marketing channel to use to communicate this content.

Of course, you will also need to get feedback from your target markets to verify the marketing channels they want you to use to communicate with them.

This means adding a few more criteria for you to get feedback on.

When you get

• The right message,
• Sent to your foreign markets on the right marketing channel,

…you have the base of a good international marketing strategy.

Choose The Communication Platforms You Need

Now you know:

• What you want to communicate.
• How you want to communicate your message.

Your communication platform needs are usually very easy to identify now.

In addition, the content planning you did earlier will tell you what you need to plan for in the future.

Added Bonus

And one of the other questions most companies struggle with:

• Which communication platform should you use for your foreign language content?

• Your domestic website with country-specific sub categories or sub domains
• An international website
• Localized websites

Well, you now have something to go on to answer this question.  Of course, there are other criteria to look at, but this gives you the criteria covering your foreign content needs.

Read the whole story

This is part of the Get International Clients Business Guide 3 Design Your International Visibility Be sure to check out the other useful tips to design your international visibility.

More On Culture Customized Content

Once your initial translations bring in some feedback and you have enough country-specific business intelligence, you will want to create a message adapted to your specific foreign market.

Culture Customized Content Guide • What is the secret to effective international business development?Find out here.

How To Connect With Your International Clients

Are you ready to create stronger relationships with your international audiences? Then maybe you are experiencing a common problem.

When small companies set out to create stronger relationships within their foreign markets they feel confronted with two conflicting challenges:

* One of the challenges is how to keep foreign content creation manageable and affordable.
* The other challenge is to create a multichannel marketing to leverage more.

There is no easy answer to this.

You Need Communication

You will always need to initiate contact with your foreign prospects if you want to develop these markets.

You cannot sit back, do nothing and hope foreign clients find your products. If you want to make sales in different cultures you need to communicate with these cultures.

* The better you connect with a specific foreign culture the deeper relationships you create.
* The more you understand your foreign markets, the better your offer will be for that particular culture.
* The more relevant your international offer, the more international sales you will make.

So, how can you get the most value out of your foreign language content?

You Need The Right Communication

First, you must carefully select the ways you touch and make contact with your foreign markets.

Is this the content you need to connect with this particular foreign market?

It is not always easy to find the right communication format for each of the countries you are selling to.

You Need Telephone Marketing

In todays world, you need to get the most out of internet based communication. But before looking into web marketing, remember :

• Do not forget telephone marketing!

Telephone marketing is not expensive today. There is no excuse not to include some telephone marketing in your international marketing strategy. Telephone marketing is the ideal way to keep your finger on the live wire of how your international marketing needs to be focused.

The most valuable information you will get from your international markets will probably come from your telephone contacts.

Telephone marketing does not need to take up much of your time.

• One phone call every couple of days, consistently over time can move your business into an international business.
• If you have a slow month where you are able to be on the phone for an hour every day, this time can put your international business development on the right track.

What is important is to keep a regularly in touch with your foreign markets over the phone.

Start with using the phone for your international market research. This will get you in the habit of grabbing for the phone.

Continue to grab for the phone as often as you can throughout all of your international marketing.

You Need Value Communication

Your international communication is easy to deliver over the web. But you still need to create targeted communication.

Creating communication targeted to a specific culture requires a little effort. This is complicated by the fact that when you first start, you will not know how you need to target your communication.

If you are making the effort to create targeted communication and want to learn more about your international markets, it makes good sense to use the best web marketing tools to help you.

• Choose your communication strategically.
• Use your communication strategically within a multichannel strategy
• Use web statistics to help you monitor results and give you the information you need to adapt your aim to improve your communication.

This is how you will learn to create valuable communication for each of your international markets

You Need To Get More Out Of Your Communication

If you are just beginning to develop your international markets, you will need to test which communication methods work best in your foreign markets. Different cultures respond differently.

• Do not make any assumptions.
• Take things one step at a time.
• Test different communication formats on a small scale.
• Adjust and adapt your international communication to your foreign markets.

Connecting with foreign markets through targeted foreign content is information marketing. One of the fundamental principals of information marketing is to re-purpose your content.

You can easily use the basics of re-purposing your foreign language content to leverage your investment and test different communication formats.

Example With A Culture Customized 2 Page Newsletter

For example, one of the easiest ways is to start with creating a short 2 page newsletter, with 4 short articles, targeted to one country.

• The 4 short articles can easily be re-purposed into 4 emails, 4 blog posts and 4 articles on your website under a country sub domain.
• The 2 page newsletter can easily be printed on one piece of paper and mailed or handed out at an event.
• You can include a different call to action on each communication format, and track results. For example, surveys, games or special report download.
• You can include links to your other marketing activities to integrate your international prospects into a wider sphere if this is appropriate, a general product information event for example.

Of course you should aim to write your culture customized content in the appropriate foreign language.

But do not let this stop or delay your international marketing for months.

The feedback you can get is often worth it and delays do not bring you anything of value.

If most of your foreign prospects usually speak English well enough to read in English, start your newsletter in English. Be proactive in cultivating feedback.  Begin the process of learning about your foreign markets.  Then you will know how to create a foreign language newsletter much better when you are ready to do it.

Your Other Options

The benefits of writing a monthly newsletter targeted to one country audience are important in cross-cultural communication:

• A monthly newsletter provides consistency, essential in building trust across cultures.

It also provides a good multichannel marketing element.

As you can see from the example above:

• A little thought and strategy into your foreign content creation can give you real international marketing tools.
• A little monitoring and analysis helps you to find the right communication for your markets.

A culture customized 2 page newsletter is not the only option for beginners. A country targeted blog is also a good starting point for some businesses.

How you integrate your first culture customized communication tool into your international marketing strategy is more important than your first choice. Where you start is simply your starting point.

Yes, it is better to identify your best communication tool right from the start, but not if this means you delay starting your communication for months or never get started.

Remember: your first priority is to stimulate foreign market feedback so you can learn more about your market and adapt your communication for more effective results.

The right communication will connect you with your international clients.