International SEO:The Challenges Facing

International BrandsHannah Smith

About Me Slide Will Go Here...

• Lead SEO at Distilled

• 11 years in marketing• 5 years – retail marketing (POS / Sales Promo)• 3 years – direct response (press / direct mail /

sponsorship)• 3 years online – (SEO, PPC, CRO)

Email: hannah.smith@distilled.co.ukTwitter: @hannah_bo_bannaLinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/hannahsmith

What I’ll Be Covering

• What is the challenge?• TLD / Sub Folder / Sub Domain• Branding considerations • Ranking Factors for International SEO

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/umisef/586964512/sizes/m/

Good rankings in one country don’t

necessarily ‘translate’ - even

if there’s no language barrier...

French Results (France)

French Results (Canada)

UK Results

US Results

Why?

A ‘good’ result for the USA; is not necessarily a ‘good’

result for the UK & vice versa:• BestBuy – top USA result• Don’t ship to the UK• All prices in $

• Play – top UK result• Don’t ship to the USA• All prices in £

This is true of all markets...

So how do you get a site to rank in other countries?

GeotargetingGeo-target via:• Country Code TLD - www.yourdomain.itOr• Generic TLD - www.yourdomain.com

Plus• Sub Folder www.yourdomain.com/uk

Or

• Sub Domainwww.uk.yourdomain.com• You can also geo-target sub-folders / sub domains

and submit country / language specific sitemaps in in Google Webmaster Tools see - http://www.seo-chicks.com/1463/geotargeting-on-the-same-domain-using-xml-sitemaps.html

Brand Recognition

Is your brand internationally recognised?

Brand Comprehension

Does your brand ‘translate’?

Insurance.co.uk

Insurance.ie

Insurance.it

Assicurazione.itImage cedit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtrichardson/4626549119/sizes/z/

Pros & Cons – ccTLD – www.yourdomain.it

Pros• Strongest geo-targeting signal

Cons• New site with no strength so it may not

rank at all• You’ll need to put in some serious link

building effort• Can be difficult to purchase ccTLD

Pros & Cons – Sub Folderwww.yourdomain.com/uk

Pros• Domain strength is passed to sub-

folders• A single site will normally be stronger

than many

Cons• Likely problems with the ‘wrong’

content ranking e.g. yourdomain.com ranking in the UK rather than yourdomain.com/uk

Pros & Cons – Sub Domainwww.uk.yourdomain.com

Pros• There aren’t any...

Cons• Little or no strength passed from the

domain• Likely problems with the ‘wrong’

content ranking e.g. yourdomain.com ranking in the UK rather than uk.yourdomain.com

Which Approach is Right for you?

If your brand ‘translates’ and/or is internationally

recognised either:• ccTLDOr• Sub Folder

If your brand does not ‘translate’ you may be better

off with a new trading name and an associated ccTLD

ccTLD vs Sub Folder

ccTLD• Large brands which will generate links

naturallyAnd... • Brands with local teams / time /

resource etc to build linksSub Folder• Where ccTLDs are unavailable• Where there’s a lack of local teams /

time / resource

Multiple Languages

Don’t forget countries with multiple languages!

ccTLD solution:• www.yourdomain.ca/en• www.yourdomain.ca/fr

Sub folder solution:• www.yourdomain.com/ca/en• www.yourdomain.com/ca/fr

Other Ranking Factors for International SEO

• Local Links • Language• Physical Address / Telephone Numbers /

Currency• Hosting

How to get Local Links...

• If possible, get a local to build links for you

• Find local link targets with commands like ‘business blogs site:co.uk’

• Local directories• Local partnerships• Local customers• Local news• Local sponsorships• Local events

Language

• Beware of cheap translation services• Language usage is different from country

to country e.g. US v UK; Canada v France etc

• Create language specific content for each country – don’t be tempted to replicate

More Local ‘Signals’

Make sure you’re sending the right signals to the

search engines...

Include local:• Addresses • Telephone numbers • Currency

Hosting

• If possible – host in your target countryOr• Cache a copy of your website at a proxy

IP

NB – not likely to make a massive difference, but

it may tip the balance in your favour...

Further reading: http://seogadget.co.uk/proxy-caching-for-seo/

When the Search Engines Get it Wrong...

Unfortunately the search engines won’t always serve

the correct content (you can check this in Analytics)

• You can use an IP redirect to serve the correct content

BUT!• Search engines tend to come via a US IP • So, make sure they can crawl all of your

content in every language

Key Takeaways

To rank internationally you’ll need to:• Geotarget – use ccTLDs or Sub Folders

(NOT Sub Domains)• Split countries into multiple languages

if you need to• Build local links• Highlight other local signals – addresses /

phone / currency• Consider local or proxy local hosting

options