admin

Keywords and content for global SEO – International Search Summit – London 2019

Two of the fundamentals of international search success are keywords and content localisation. Get these right and you’ll be well on the way to success, get them wrong and all your time and money will most likely be wasted. David will share tips and advice for creating strong keyword and content strategies across multiple markets, using examples to illustrate the horrors that can await if you don’t.

  1. Keywords and content for global SEO
  2. Who am I? I’ve been doing SEO for over 12 years having worked at ebay classified group as SEO Product Manager, director of strategy at BlueGlass, Global SEO Manager for Schibsted Media Group and now Global Search & Traffic Manager for Danone. Follow me on Twitter @Davidiwanow
  3. Retail Media/News Finance Classifieds B2C Travel What brands have I’ve worked on? There have been lots of amazing brands over the years
  4. Session topics Get things wrong and your time and money will be wasted… 1. Translation VS localisation 2. Keywords OR topics? 3. What should be in your toolset? 4. Case Study 1 – Poorly forecasted content “auto verkopen” 5. Case Study 2 – Wrong keyword selected “vehículos”
  5. Translate VS localise? Are you just going to take the easy path?
  6. Which are you doing?
  7. Why not just translate it?
  8. Why not just translate it?
  9. Better localised to 120 countries
  10. Learn from local markets
  11. Go that step further…. Inspiration: Lexiophiles
  12. Think beyond translation… 1. Imperial vs metric a. miles vs kilometers b. centimeters vs inches c. fahrenheit vs celsius d. stone vs kilogram vs ounce vs gram 2. Liquid – milliliters, centiliters, litre, uk pint, us pint, fluid ounce, gallon 3. Currency #,### #.###,## #,###.## #,###.### 4. Currency (EUR) €1.234,56 1.234,56€ 5. Date formats – Day/Month/Year, Month/Day/Year, Year/Month/Day 6. How will text length change? Spanish typically uses more words than English 7. Use of Z & U – specialise vs specialize…. colour vs color 8. Consider layout on RTL (Arabic, Hebrew) 9. Consider layout on TTB (Chinese, Japanese and Korean) Inspiration: Venga global
  13. Consider local perspectives…. Inspiration: Venga global Item Variations Lift, elevator, dumbwaiter Holiday, vacation, time off, respite, break, sabbatical, leave, breathing space, furlough, few days off Pram, caboose, cart, shay, wagon, buggy, stroller, baby buggy, baby carriage, pushchair, Plane, aircraft, airplane, aeroplane, airliner, jet, airbus, airship, bird, craft Television, TV, TV set, telly, tube, idiot box, small screen
  14. What about idioms? Source: Nomads World Phrase/Word Australian meaning Common meaning Cold One Beer/Drink A name for the undead (pale skin) Arvo/S’Arvo Afternoon/This Afternoon ??? Save for ron Save for later on Save for someone named Ron Barbie Barbeque “BBQ” Barbie Doll Bush Countryside A plant Cactus Dead/Broken A plant Devo Devastated Definitely/80s Rock Band Hard yakka Hard work Clothing brand Manchester Sheets/Linen A town in England Rellie/Rello Relatives Relocation? Runners Trainers/Sneakers People who run Servo Service station/Garage/Petrol station Servomotor Skull Down a drink Enclosing the brain Slab carton of beers Concrete base Snag Sausage Hit a snag Swag Like a sleeping bag Free stuff from conferences Tea Dinner A cup of tea (hot drink) Thongs Flip Flops Underwear Tinny Can of beer/small boat Displeasing thin metallic sound Tucker Food A piece of lace or linen worn Woop Woop Middle of nowhere ???
  15. Consider secondary languages Source: Wikipedia Country Foreign languages UK French (23%) German (9%) Spanish (8%) Ireland French (20%) German (7%) Spanish (3.7%) France English (39%) Spanish (13%) German (8%) Italian (5%) Portuguese (3%) Italy English (34%) Spanish (11%) German (8%) French (16%) Spain Catalan (19%) Galician (5%) Basque (2%) Germany English (56%) French (15%) Russian (5%) Portugal English (27%) French (15%) Spanish (10%) Poland English (33%) Russian (26%) German (19%) Denmark English (86%) German (47%) Swedish (13%) Norway English (80%) Finland English (70%) German (18%) French (10%) Sweden English (86%) German (30%) French (11%) Netherlands English (90%) German (71%) French (29%) Spanish (5%)
  16. What can you learn? 1. Don’t refuse to translate it because most of your audience understands it 2. If you are just translating it you are doomed to fail internationally 3. If you are not localising your content you are likely missing the mark 4. Consider using data from internal sources such as Google Analytics 5. Doing local content is hard but worth it 6. Local content typically has a better chance of success 7. Localised content typically has higher engagement and conversion rates
  17. Keywords or topics? Sometimes localising keywords can be tougher…
  18. Translation context is important English (Build) Synonyms Spanish Arabic Classificatio n frame, physique, body, conformation, constitution, figure, habit, habitus, shape contextura {f} complexión {f} construcción {f} generación {f} compilación {f} ‫ية‬ْ‫ن‬ُ‫ب‬[binya] ‫[قامة‬qāma] ‫وام‬َ‫ق‬[qawām] Noun assemble, erect, evolve, form, make, manufacture, produce, raise, reconstruct, set up, carpenter, cast, compile, compose, contrive, engineer, fabricate, fashion, forge, frame, model, prefabricate, rear, sculpture, synthesize, bring about, fit together, jerry-build, knock together, put together, put up superstruct, throw together, throw up, base, begin, establish, set up, start, constitute, formulate, inaugurate, institute, originate, boost, develop, enlarge, expand, improve, strengthen, aggrandize, amplify, augment, compound, escalate, extend, heighten, intensify, magnify, mount, multiply, swell, wax construir [construyendo|construido] edificar [edificando|edificado] fincar confeccionar [confeccionando|confeccionado] erigir [erigiendo|erigido; erecto] ََ‫أ‬َ‫ش‬ْ‫ن‬َ‫أ‬[ʼanšaʼa] ‫َنى‬‫ت‬ْ‫ب‬‫[ا‬ibtanā] ََ‫د‬‫[شا‬šāda] َ‫َق‬‫ش‬[šaqqa] ََ‫ع‬‫ن‬َ‫ص‬[ṣannaʻa] ََ‫[ر‬ʻamara] ََ‫ر‬‫م‬َ‫ع‬[ʻammara] َ‫[د‬madda] Verb
  19. Keyword translation is complex Classification Variations of “Child” How many? Synonyms bairn, bambino, bud, chap, chick, cub, juvenile, kid, kiddie, kiddy, kiddo, moppet, sprat, sprout, squirt, whelp, youngling, youngster, youth, babe, baby, infant, neonate, newborn 24 Related adolescent, minor, kindergartner, kindergartener, preschooler, rug rat, schoolboy, schoolchild, schoolgirl, schoolkid, babe, baby, bantling, infant, neonate, nestling, newborn, toddler, tot, tyke, tike, weanling, brat, devil, hellion, imp, jackanapes, mischief, monkey, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, urchin, whippersnapper, cherub, preteen, preteen-ager, subteen, teen, teenager, teener, teenybopper, tween, lad, nipper, shaver, stripling, tad, bobby-soxer, hoyden, tomboy, foundling, nursling, suckling, preemie, premie, bantling, kid, kiddie, kiddy, kiddo, moppet, toddler, tot, tyke, tike, boy, nipper, tad, juvenile, minor, youngling, youngster, youth, brat, imp, squirt, urchin, whippersnapper, girl, hoyden, tomboy 81
  20. Topics are easier than keywords Topic Spanish Portuguese French Chinese Thai German Baby Toddler Child Parent Bebé Niñito Niño Padre bebê Criança pequena Criança Pai Bébé Bambin Enfant Parent 宝宝 幼儿 儿童 亲 ทารก คนเดินเตาะแตะ เด็ก ผู้ปกครอง Baby Kleinkind Kind Elternteil
  21. What can you learn? 1. Localised keyword research can be expensive 2. Badly done local keyword research can be underwhelming 3. Badly done local keyword research can fail 4. Badly done local keyword research can damage your brand/image 5. Poorly executed translation of keywords can be taken out of context 6. Words in some languages have a gender (Spanish) and some don’t (Finnish) 7. Context is often very important for translation
  22. Case study 1What happens with you build content on a inflated traffic forecasts?
  23. Let’s look at the keyword
  24. Let’s look at potential traffic 1. Estimated 13,804 clicks 2. Estimated 227,105 impressions 3. Estimated spend €67,000
  25. How might organic perform? Source: Advanced Web Ranking Ranking Estimated clicks Money saved 1 80,395 €520,155 2 39,856 €257,868 3 24,731 €160,000 4 16,533 €106,968 5 11,582 €74,935 *Avg CPC €6.47
  26. The numbers seem inflated…
  27. Avg monthly searches is 27,100 Source: Google Ads – Keyword historical metrics
  28. Avg monthly searches is 18,100 Source: Google Ads – Keyword historical metrics
  29. Avg monthly searches is 22,200 Source: SEMRush
  30. How might organic perform? Source: Advanced Web Ranking Ranking Estimated clicks Money saved 1 7,636 €49,404 2 3,842 €24,857 3 2,339 €15,133 4 1,569 €10,151 5 1,105 €7,149 *Avg CPC €6.47
  31. What can you learn? 1. Still could save a lot of money capturing traffic organically vs Google Ads 2. Don’t always trust the first forecast of data 3. Question the source of the data & forecast methodology 4. Always better to under promise on traffic forecasts 5. Use more than one tool/source for traffic forecasts if you can 6. Use your own GSC insights where possible (CTR) 7. Use your own Google Ads insights were possible
  32. Case study 2What happens when you optimise for the wrong keyword?
  33. Keyword was selected….
  34. Then we launched it…
  35. After 1 month no sign of life
  36. Let’s do some keyword research
  37. Then we relaunched it…
  38. How did the page perform?
  39. What happened over time?
  40. What can you learn? 1. Do your keyword research properly first 2. Use as much data as possible to decide on target phrase 3. Measure the results in GSC & GA 4. If things are not working as expected be open to change it 5. Question the source of the data & forecast methodology 6. Use your own GSC insights where possible (CTR) 7. Use your own Google Ads insights were possible
  41. Toolset? What software tools should you be using?
  42. Google Ads 1. Use their planning tools 2. Check historical trends on keyword 3. Buy keywords and validate traffic
  43. Buzzsumo
  44. SEMrush
  45. Summary of points? What are the main takeaways you need to think about….
  46. What are my learnings? 1. Don’t always trust the first forecast of data 2. Question the source of the data & forecast methodology 3. Use more than one tool/source for traffic forecasts if you can 4. Use your own GSC insights where possible (CTR) 5. Use your own Google Ads insights were possible 6. Do your keyword research properly first 7. Use as much data as possible to decide on target phrase 8. Measure the results in GSC & GA 9. Always better to under promise on traffic forecasts 10. If things are not working as expected be open to change it
  47. Question time….Ask me anything on international seo….
  48. Thank You!

Related