SEO in Japan: The Definitive Guide to SEO and Inbound Marketing Webinar
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Transcript of SEO in Japan: The Definitive Guide to SEO and Inbound Marketing Webinar
• 10+ years in Digital with 6 focused on Search & Social across Japan and Korea markets
• Born and educated in the US and now enjoys traveling throughout Japan and Asia
Andy RadovicManaging Director, Outrider Japan
• 5+ years in Search & Social planning, execution and management in Japan and Korea
• A native Bostonian who loves Mexican food, oil painting, photography and the Red Sox
Shawn FinnAssociate Director, Outrider Japan
Your Presenters:
SEO SEM
Performance
LPO Analytics
Social
An Experienced Team21 dedicated search marketers in Japan with a thorough command of the search medium and over 10 years of experience globally with industry vertical experience
Proprietary TechnologyDecide DNA is our proprietary double-byte compatible search and ROI technology helping clients manage complex search campaigns across the region/globe
Results Driven ExperienceDelivering strong ROI for our clients is at the heart of what we do as a group, and all the search programs we build focus on delivering these results
Local, Regional, & Global LeverageWith offices in all the major regions of the world, and now in Japan, we can leverage our network experience to provide added value to our clients
Outrider is part of:
Strategy Search Marketing & Consumer Driven Solutions
TODAY’s AGENDA1. Why Japan?
2. Search Landscape in Japan
3. SEO Best Practices: How to Be An SEO Ninja
4. Who is Doing Well
5. Final Thoughts
Why Japan?
#2[current global ranking for internet penetration]
13.2%[estimated growth of `12 search spend]
31%[estimated growth of `12 mobile search spend]
15%[current smartphone penetration rate]
34%[estimated smart phone penetration rate by end of 2012]
307%[total growth in # of Facebook users within 2011]
Still #3 global economy = Massive purchasing power
Population that is very digitally switched on
Strong infrastructure and
very networked
Very concentrated & trend-focused
consumer mindset
HUGEAll this equates to a
Opportunity for those who are in or soon to enter Japan
The search landscape in Japan
+
Similar to other markets, Japan has a proliferation of search engines…
Over 10 billion searches per month in Japan with Google recently overpowering Yahoo as the dominate search engine
…However, 2 search engines control over 92% of the market share
Source: Google Internal - averages based on a sample of available industry-related Google data. Future results may differ from provided. Please use as a directional guide.
And Mobile search is taking over…
Breakdown of Beauty Search Trends (Desktop vs. Mobile)
Mr. Google Mrs. Yahoo
Introducing…
A Recent Goo Research Survey Found that:
› More than 60% of consumers surveyed indicated they had seen a television advertisement that asked them to search for a key word
› More than 32% of those that had seen the ad, had then actually used that keyword in a search.
The majority of both television & train advertisements in Japan have a keyword in a search box as the primary user action, often with no URL
“Call to Search” Concept
Impact of TVCM on Mobile Search Queries…
Mobile Search Query
• We see a shift in client mindset with a skew towards SEO and less reliance on pure media
• There is a realization that the fundamentals of SEO are not currently in place
Where is Search Headed…Survey: What are the top digital channels where you see opportunity in 2012?
• The key challenge is how to make a more local experience, while retain your efficiencies of scale
• We see a more continual shift to mobile SEO and ways to properly address that channel
Source: Japan Marketing and Creativity magazine Jan 2008* Questions directed at marketers across 74 companies
#1: Mobile #2: SEO #3: Social
How to be an SEO Ninja
What it Takes to Succeed in JP
1. Domain & Hosting Considerations
2. To Localize or Not to Localize
3. Keyword Strategy
4. On-Page Fundamentals
5. Content
6. Social
7. Linking
Domain hosting is best served locally1
Domain & Hosting Considerations
Key Takeaways
• Local domains (.jp, .co.jp) see ranking benefits
• IDNs can and do rank well for domain name terms
Format Example Hosted Local Search* Bonus
Roman .com Tenshoku.comOverseas none
Locally minimal
Roman .jp/.co.jp/ .net, etc. Tenshoku.jpOverseas minimal
Locally moderate
Japanese .com 転職 .comOverseas moderate
Locally potentially strong
Japanese .jp/.co.jp/.net , etc. 転職 .co.jpOverseas moderate
Locally potentially strong
*in Google/Yahoo JP from a Japanese IP address
The power of IDNs: ranks 4th for 香港ホテル (Hong Kong hotel)
To localize or not to localize…
2
Let’s Get Emotional
Successful localization in Japan relies on two overarching themes:
Emotion Relevancy
&
Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
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Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
=
Emotion and Relevancy through Collaboration
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Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
=
Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
+
Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
=
Breaking the Mold, and the Template
Key Takeaways
• Localize your templates whenever possible, even if it’s just the top page
• Look to connect with users through emotion and relevancy
Successful localization also involves adapting global templates to Japanese visual aesthetics and UI preferences . . . a site that looks especially “foreign” will likely not do as well as a properly localized site!
Exbear – Expedia’s very Japanese mascot – has helped connect the brand with Japanese users in both a relevant and emotional way
Keyword Strategy
輸入車
Yunyuu Kuruma
ゆにゅうくるま
ゆにゅう くるま
ゆにゅう くるま
輸入 車
輸入 車
yunyu kuruma
ユニュウクルマ
ユニュウ クルマ
ユニュウ クルマ ゆにゅう車
輸入くるま
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Keyword Strategy
Keyword Type Searches*
輸入車 kanji, no spaces 480,000
輸入 車 kanji, single byte space 240,000
輸入 車 kanji, double byte space 560,000
ゆにゅうくるま hiragana, no spaces 3,900
ユニュウクルマ katakana, no spaces ~100
輸入くるま mixed kanji/hiragana 47,000
yunyu kuruma romaji 2,200
import car English 15,600
Key Takeaways
• 4 different character sets to optimize for: kanji, hiragana, katakana, romaji
• Watch your spacing – single byte vs. double byte influences Yahoo rankings
• Japanese tend to search in the infinitive, which can be hard to naturally work in to copy
• Kanji: Chinese characters used for everything• Hiragana: phonetic alphabet used for conjugation and
spelling out words• Katakana: phonetic alphabet used to spell loan words
and brands• Romaji: Roman characters
*Combined Google/Yahoo Japan, February 2012
Four Character Sets to Optimize for….
Japanese grammar rarely matches how searches are formatted – the above (literally “car to sell”) sees 40,000 searches a month, but cannot be naturally rolled in to copy.
車 売る
On Page Fundamentals
On-page best practices for Japan do not vary from standard best practices:
On-Page Content
Social
Links On-page HTML Elements
(H1s, Alts, Anchor Text, etc.)
Page Speed / Load Times
Keyword-rich Title Tags
Fresh Content
Quality Copy
Use HTML Content
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Content: more is better5
Above all else, do not just use Google Translate! Users will know. User will disapprove.
Content Best Practices
• More Is Better: Japanese users expect to see lots of information. The Western meme of “less is more” doesn’t work in Japan, so don’t be afraid to load up on text-heavy details
• Write content specifically for the Japanese user, don’t just translate existing English content – it won’t resonate with the user as well, and you’ll miss keyword density opportunities
• Highlight Local Management: Trust is a huge part of the online experience in Japan, and demonstrating commitment to the market by highlighting Japanese management can go a long way in cementing that trust
• Localize Forms: Remember, date formatting, credit card input fields, name fields etc. are all formatted differently in Japan
• About Us Pages ( について ) are often among the most viewed pages on brand sites, especially foreign brands. Put some love in to these pages!
• Stock Images: Avoid the typical multi-racial corporate imagery common in the West – this is Japan, show Japanese people with your brand and products
Social
Tea still on for tomorrow afternoon?
Moved to Sunday, didn’t you see my FB update?
She’s still stuck on mixi…
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Link Building
Social media in Japan is both
highly developed and highly stratified
Key Takeaways
• Facebook, Twitter and mixi should all be part of any brand’s social strategy – but remember that mixi is a closed system and offers zero SEO value
• Yahoo! 知恵袋 (Q&A) is a great place to engage users; create a “brand ambassador” who transparently answers product, service and brand questions – great for backlinking too!
• Social gaming on services like Glee and Mobage are massively popular; if your company can swing it, think about creating a branded social game to drive traffic and build awareness
It’s a stereotype, but: Japanese social media users are a lot more polite than you might be used to – Japanese FB brand Pages tend not to see the negative comments and brand attacks that can be so frustratingly common in other markets
A Nation of Bloggers: With over a million blog entries a month, the Japanese are the world’s most active bloggers
mixi is slowly dying: For almost a decade, mixi had been Japan’s biggest SNS by a wide margin, but the past few years have seen Facebook and Twitter catch up and eclipse the homegrown network:
Social
Linking
#1: Go Native #2: PPP is OK With Me
#3: Don’t Expect Transparency
When looking to build backlinks, remember that engines value links originating from Japanese IP addresses and surrounded by Japanese content – overseas link building is less effective.
Japanese anchor text is essential as well; large volumes of backlinks with English anchor text won’t cut it.
Tip: Place links with JP anchor text in the footers of other PoS sites
Pay Per Post backlinking programs are popular in Japan and can be reasonably effective at boosting rankings for a low investment.
PPP programs also drive solid traffic, especially those that run on top blog networks like Ameblo.
Japanese users are not turned off to sponsored blogging in the way that North Americans tend to be.
Tip: PPP programs work great with limited-time campaigns
A hard pill to swallow for most digital marketers, link building programs in Japan rarely report more than a sample of all sourced backlinks – around 10% is the standard.
Tip: If you want to fully undertake a complete SEO program in Japan, accept that link building providers will not provide the level of transparency you’re likely used to seeing in other markets. Shoganai yo ne.
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Best-in-ClassSEO in Japan
http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp Light and fast loading Editable content Localized domain Great title & header tags Localized site template
http://www.expedia.co.jp Great keyword targeting Localized domain Lengthy content Great title & header tags Localized site template
http://www.cosme.net/ High quality of content Social signal integration Great interlinking Targeted keywords Clean & light pages
Go Local Whenever Possible: whether domain hosting, localizing templates and other assets, researching keywords, developing content or building links, look for a Japanese solution
Final ThoughtsFinal Thoughts
Trust Your Guys on the Ground: who better to help provide a local solution than your Japanese team? We’ve seen many foreign companies fail in their digital endeavors because Global refused to listen to Local
Know Your Audience: you may have a clear idea in your head about your target audience in Japan, but understand that there will be cultural differences in user tendencies and expectations; speak to your Japanese audience
One last time: Do not use Google Translate!