INTERNATIONAL SEO
Annabel Hodges International SEO Director, OMD UK
Martin MacDonaldHead of SEO, OMD Group
INTERNATIONAL SEO
Any Questions?
Tweet: @searchpanda @searchmartin
WHO ARE OMD?
WHO ARE OMD?
OMD CLIENTS
OMD CLIENTS
OMD CLIENTS
OMD CLIENTS
INTERNATIONAL SEO – THE BASICS
ITS NOT ABOUT ONE ALGORITHM
ITS NOT ABOUT ONE ALGORITHM
ITS NOT ABOUT ONE ALGORITHM
This stuff is all US or UK specific, based on an industry questionnaire!
USE THE RIGHT TOOLS
DON’T TAKE SHORTCUTS
DON’T TAKE SHORTCUTS
TRANSLATIONS SHOULD BE MANUAL
THE AGE OLD QUESTION…
THE AGE OLD QUESTION…
Which is best?
Country Specific TLD’s
Subdomains
Subfolders
THE AGE OLD QUESTION…
At last! The Final Answer:
THE AGE OLD QUESTION…
It depends… sorry!
THE AGE OLD QUESTION…
Subfolders
Pros Cons
Easiest implementation on most CMS platforms
All links will enhance the domain authority metric
Least likely to convert
Loses any SERP Geo-Preference
Ugly, un-memorable URL
Hardest to build links to
THE AGE OLD QUESTION…
Subdomains
Pros Cons
Backlinks can improve overall site profile
Easier to maintain server requirements
Local IP address potential
Less likely to convert (eComm)
Loses any SERP Geo-Preference
Ugly, un-memorable URL
THE AGE OLD QUESTION…
ccTLD’s
Pros Cons
Increased Confidence
More likely to attract links
Geo Preference in the Algorithm
Most expensive to maintain
Increases required SEO work
Multiple instances of CMS’ software
Over to Annabel…• Linguist & former translator
• Working in search and SEO for 5 years
• SEO Associate Director here:
• With this guy:
• Specialises in international clients
• Writes about SEO here:
• And here:
Annabel Hodges
@searchpanda
As Martin said, it’s still all about those age-old issues
Subdomain vs Sub Folder
Localise, don’t translate
Understand local search engines
Understand local cultures
Localised link building
Sitelinks FTW
Before
20% saving on PPC budget
After
What would Steve Jobs do?
Check the competition
Sometimes ccTLDs might not be the answer
My link building experience: understand your market
• Blogs• Personal touch• Need to build relationships
over time• Many poor quality
directories
• More decent directories• Advertorials• More commercial• Greater awareness of value
of links
Duplicate content & Hreflang
<linkrel="alternate“ hreflang="en“ href="http://example.co.uk"/>
<linkrel="alternate“ hreflang="en“ href="http://example.com"/>
Google Advice:
1) If template (i.e. side navigation, footer) is machine-translated into various languages
2) If main content remains unchanged, creating largely duplicate pages.
Are you tracking separate countries correctly?
AND NOW FOR THE UGLY..
When redirects go bad
Temporarily gone here
.com
.com/en/en-gb/index.jsp
Accept-Language: */*
Temporarily gone here
.com
.com/en/en-us/index.jsp
Accept-Language: en-us
US visitor Googlebot
How does this impact the US SERPs?
UK site page title
UK site description
Links directly into the UK site
GOOGLE TREATS UK SITE AS AUTHORITATIVE
How about local markets?
as opposed to...
Thank You!
GET IN TOUCH. ITS EASY!
Any further questions: @searchpanda@searchmartin
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