international seo best practices 2014

International SEOOptimizing for Websites with Locations Across the World

Agenda

• Overview of International SEO• Choosing a Domain• Hosting• On-Page Optimization• Off-Page Optimization• Resources

Overview

International SEO aims to improve organic search visibility for websites that are targeting multiple countries.

This includes important things like:• Choosing the proper ccTLD (country code top level domain)

• Hosting• On-page and off-page optimization strategies

Overview

Choosing a Domain

Choosing a Domain

An important part of an international SEO strategy is choosing the top level domain based on your target country.

IANA - The institution that runs TLDs (Top-Level Domains) and deals with the assignment of IP addresses, ranges, ports, and related attributes.

Hosting

Hosting

Website Speed

– Your server’s proximity to your visitors affects its

speed

Local Search Engine Visibility

– Hosting your client’s site on a local IP can help

improve your visibility in that country’s search

engines.

On-Page Optimization

On-Page Optimization

• Hreflang Tag• XML Sitemap

On-Page Optimization

Hreflang tags may not help you increase traffic; instead, the goal of using them is to serve the right

content to the right users.

Hreflang Tag

*Note: Google uses the hreflang tag, while Bing uses language meta tags.

On-Page Optimization

XML Sitemap

Create a sitemap listing out the alternative versions of each web page in the languages you have available.

On-Page Optimization

Off-Page Optimization

Off-Page Optimization

Link Building

The Value of a link is based on…• Popularity• Content Quality of the Site• Anchor Text• Number of Domains Linking

Off-Page Optimization

Off-Page Optimization

Ways to Build Country-Specific Links

• Local Directories

– Add your clients’ business to directories used in the

target country

Off-Page Optimization

Ways to Build Country-Specific Links

• Links from Local News Outlets & Bloggers

– Pay attention to citations of your business from local

newspapers and anyone sharing news or comments

about your clients’ products or services.

Resources

RESOURCES

Helpful Websites:IANA www.internetassignednumbersauthority.org/MOZ – Intl Learning Content Learning > International SEOMOZ – Intl SEO Checklist Intl SEO ChecklistGoogle WMThttps://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en

RESOURCESInternational SEO Thought Leaders:

Ann F. Kennedy - @annekennedy

Michael Kahn – Performics

Bill Hunt – @billhunt