One of the most common mistakes that companies make is building a website which is solely in English. If you believe that this is enough for your global business, you are still wandering in an ancient era. More than 70% of the online population of the world does not search in English when using a search engine to find certain products or services. Therefore it is crucial to carry out business in a country in its respective language; otherwise, you might be missing out on a sizable bulk of potential customers. Some agencies will give you the advice to simply add translations and subsides to the English main site. However, this might not only lead to a loss in website traffic, it is also questionable how the potential international customers are going to find your translated website, as it might not appear in their search engines when typing in certain search terms.

The best way would be to built a new site and go for a local domain with a local host location (IP address). In other words, if you are planning to expand to the German market, use a domain which ends in .de, if Spain is the country of your choice, you should go for an .es extension and if you are optimising for France, your domain should end in .fr and so forth. Having said this, it is important to mention, that websites can also be ranked without having a local extension, but using a local domain makes it easier, as the Search Engines are always trying to rank the most relevant indexed web content for search results and with a local domain your site appears more authentic to local language searchers. It is worth knowing is that sometimes it is essential that the company is represented in the respective country, in order to get a local domain, for example in Germany.

Once you have chosen your domain, to the next thing to consider is the content of the page. This is where the next pitfall awaits a lot of businesses. Some companies merely make use of translation software systems or somebody who is not native to that country and is only aware of the fundamentals of that language. The understanding of the nuances that differentiate the language, is of crucial importance to the translation process.

The differences between French and English, for example, are obvious. However the differences between the French spoken in France in comparison with that which is spoken in Switzerland or Belgium, are less obvious. There are specific facets of multilingual SEO that you have to consider carefully when translating your website into other languages, and this is where native multi-linguists come into play. Translating a website is not just about translating each word from e.g. English into German; it is also about understanding the culture and expectations of the targeted country. Multilingual SEO must be undertaken by considering the online behavioural pattern of people in different regions and countries, otherwise an international campaign is likely to fail.

The language clutter begins when choosing the right keywords. You can observe notable disparities in things like writing, terminology, punctuation, sentence structure, colloquial speech and so forth. But even the same language sometimes differs in writing or terminology, for example Spanish from Spain and Spanish from Latin America, or French from France and Canada or German from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Henceforth, it is imperative to carry out more systematic investigation on the content and devise strategies accordingly. With respect to a foreign-language website, you must identify the key search terms that are used regionally by Internet users and you should not just directly translate the keywords from your own language, as this might cause misunderstandings or lead to the optimisation of suboptimal keywords. An excellent example is the English term “mobile phone”, which is a term in English search engines with high rankings. A correct German translation of this would be “Mobiltelefon”. However, a lot of Germans would rather type in “Handy” as a search term, as this is what the majority of Germans call a mobile phone. However for other German speaking countries – the term “Mobiltelefon” would not work without its problems; for example in the German speaking part of Switzerland, people call a mobile phone “Natel” and therefore would rather use this as a search term for search engines.

To make matters even more complicated, points and commas of the numerical representation differ within Europe. In the UK the punctuation of the number would be as follows:1,000,000.00. In Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and some other countries, the notation would be exactly the opposite: 1.000.000,00 and some countries, like France and Finland, never use a thousands separator: 1 000 000.00.

It is clear that your website will be ranking higher when you are using the right keywords; hence, the initial research is worthwhile and necessary. Furthermore, a multilingual marketing and localisation strategy should support any international campaign.You should only hire professionally qualified translators who translate into their native language or dialect and ideally have lived in the respective country. This is important so that they understand and can identify cultural differences, as well as inappropriate styles, bad grammar and terminology that will often lose key messages, and shrink the overall trust in  brand.

The native speakers will also be helpful when planning the right online strategy. There is no denying the fact that nearly two-thirds of web users prefer Google to other search engines. Nevertheless, you should also take the remaining one-third into consideration. It means that you have to present your website to other localised search engines as some countries might focus more on other prominent search engines than Google.Iin some countries link building works slightly differently than in others, e.g. it might be harder to get guest posts published or get in contact with bloggers, due to privacy issues, regulations etc.

Notwithstanding, link building is one of the most important parts of SEO and therefore is also very important in multilingual SEO. In order to rank highly in the search engine results, you must try to get as many inbound links from as many local domains as possible. No matter whether blog post, directories, articles, link baits or partner- and sponsorships, it is utterly important to always keep the different culture and writing styles in mind, so that the content and style fits to the target country and hence appears more authentic to local language searchers. Following this strategy also helps search engines to recognise you as a local business and will help to improve your ranking in local search engines, such as the Google.de or Google.co.uk.

In summary there is evidence to say that opting to hire a multilingual SEO company will provide you the chance to successfully and effectively expand into new, international markets. Consequently, think global and act local by embracing this latest concept of targeting multiple languages and making use of native linguists.

So you want to sell a product to Latin America? What is it called? Really? Think again…

You’ve heard it all before: Americans call them pacifiers, you call them dummies. They talk about diapers, we talk about nappies. You find those key words, write them in American English and off you go, ready to translate your website and make sure it is found through search engines.

It can be done that way, true. We also know that Americans will do business in a slightly different way but after so many years of trading between us, we can work it out…

Surely you won’t have that problem translating and maximising your website for search engines when going for Latin American markets, right? Well, you need a website in Brazilian Portuguese – which by now you know is hugely different from the Portugal version… But apart from that, the rest is all Spanish, Latin American Spanish, clearly different from the mainly Spain version, but roughly the same, right?

No. Certainly not. If you are working in Latin America, my first tip is to look at a map. Simple, but not many people do it. Look at a world map first and see how vast the region is compared for example to Europe. Then look at the countries: you will see there are around 20 Spanish-speaking countries. It is not difficult to realise that there must be differences in terms of not only vocabulary but also in the way language is used in all these different cultures.

Let me give you an example. Recently, I have been researching the nursery/early learning sector for three different clients. I quickly learnt five different words for “pram” including cochecito and carrito. You probably remember the famous children’s backpack in The Apprentice. If they were to take this product to Latin America, they would have to deal with words as different as mochila or morral, just to name a couple.

And this is only focusing on the vocabulary, on the product descriptions. Which pictures would you use on the website? Looking at pictures from the North of South America, you will find a completely different type of “model” advertising prams than you will find for example in Uruguay or Argentina. If you produce gifts for baptisms, they are likely to be more popular in certain countries with more traditional religious traditions than the more liberal Latin American countries. Again in this 0-5 sector, products aimed at “baby showers” will be much more popular in Costa Rica, where this celebration is popular than in Argentina or Chile, where they are only just starting.

Apart from vocabulary, images and uses, Latin Americans actually use verbs in different ways, the most known variation being that of River Plate Spanish, which adds a third version of the word “you” (the first two are “tú” and “usted”, the third one being “vos”), which is informal and particularly strong if your target audience is young people.

In other words – don’t assume that one language means one culture. To increase sales, make sure you know who to speak to. A translator will have to know the variations in language for your particular sector/product/market but it is just as important to know about the culture of the markets you are penetrating. What’s more, multilingual SEO will be key, or your website will only be found in certain countries…

This post was kindly provided by our guest blogger Gabriela Castro-Fontoura, an expert in trading in Latin American markets. Gabriela is the owner and Director of Sunny Sky Solutions, based in North Yorkshire. Sunny Sky Solutions provide tailored intelligence and practical support to businesses in the UK that are either considering, or currently tackling expansion into international markets.

A lot of people still see North America as the number one digital market and I would agree with them up to a point, but what we need to look at is the difference between internet users & internet penetration and then we see a very different picture.

Internet users – total volume of internet users in an area.

Internet penetration – percentage of population with internet access in an area.

Take a moment to reflect on the data in the table below:

We can see that North America is without doubt the most “hooked up” continent in the world in terms of penetration (78%), however in terms of physical users Asia accounts for around 44% of the worlds’ entire users. North America only counts for around 13%.  You don’t have to be a mathematician to see that the volume of people using the internet in Asia is much larger than North America – 650,263,554 more users to be precise.  Just take a step back and think about this for a second – that number is huge – it is about 9 times the population of the UK! Imagine the possibilities of running your successful English campaigns in the same market but increasing your reach 9 times! I’m sure we would see a very sharp rise in wealthy business owners that were smart enough to choose search marketing to help them generate sales!

Sounds too Good to be True?

Well that’s because it is… at the moment.  You see, internet penetration is a very important figure and can almost be used as a rough guide to a countries average disposable income levels per household.

We can see internet penetration by country in the map below:

So the point is that although Asia has around 1 billion internet users, the average internet user does not have the disposable income to buy your products… (yet) – whereas North America & most of Europe do.  That is why these developed markets that may have less physical users are actually the right choice for most businesses to market their products to.

So What’s the Hype about the East?

Well the boffins have been sitting behind their computers and they tell us that both China and India’s economies are growing at such a rate that within a short space of time they will be major superpowers in the world.  In fact by 2025, China is expected to be the largest economy in the world & India the 3^rd largest.  What this means is that the billion+ internet users in Asia will have ever increasing levels of disposable income and will become very attractive prospects to market your products to on the internet.

I’m sure there are a lot of sceptics out there that see countries such as India & China that don’t really have a strong digital infrastructure outside the major cities, so therefore assume that they won’t be able to overtake the much more developed West.  In response to that argument, Oxford Economics explains that one of the key factors that will help these countries grow is the multibillion dollar investment in technology and mobile communication that has been earmarked for the future.  This means much more stable lines, a large increase in reliable digital business, a huge spike in internet penetration and more importantly – a level playing field in the digital environment.

The chart below shows how internet usage is expected to grow over the next few years:

We can see everywhere is increasing but the volume in real terms in Asia is unmatched.

What does this mean for us?

I think businesses should be preparing themselves sooner rather than later for these markets.  If your business can gain a presence now you will be able to adapt to the changes and amend your marketing techniques to keep up with Asia’s massive growth as it happens.  One thing is for sure – in a continent with way over a billion internet users with similar disposable income levels as the US, the competition will be fierce and the knowledge that you will gain about these foreign markets by getting in early will be invaluable.

I am by no means saying that the markets in the West are going to suddenly disappear but what I am saying is that in terms of digital marketing opportunities, the East looks set to be the major player while the West may start to live in its shadow.  Of course it is all relative though; the North American and European markets are strong and will remain strong. The opportunities in these markets will still be there and a well-run marketing campaign will still deliver outstanding results if you can capitalise on the opportunities.  There will probably be more opportunities than is available now because these markets will be expanding also.  However, with a market the size of Asia’s – can your business afford not to at least try to capture a small percentage of it?

I really believe that the growth we are seeing in Asia is set to continue and Baidu will become the first port of call for many businesses to set up their primary marketing campaigns. Mobile is going to become massive in this region and understanding the link between digital growth and economic growth is pivotal if you want to see your business succeed and grow in this exciting new marketplace.

Advertising in multiple languages and using unfamiliar search engines can be daunting for businesses. If you are interested in expanding into Asian markets or advertising on Baidu please feel free to contact us for advice. We can help you decide if that market is right for your business by undertaking thorough in-country research and competitor analysis. If you decide that that market does have potential; we can advise you on the best ways to win business in that country.

You have had a few orders or enquiries from overseas and now you are looking at expanding into other languages.  Here are some common mistakes we have seen people make and some tips to make it more successful:

1.       Don’t Use an English Site
You would not believe the amount of times we are asked to translate a PPC campaign and point it at an English site.  I can understand why certain people think this may be a valid first step into another market.  They have received a growing number of orders from overseas on their English website.  The pricing is favourable, so therefore why not encourage more users into the site through local language PPC.  They will even ‘soften the blow’ for these foreign visitors by landing them at a page that apologises for the fact that the site they are about to enter does not support their language.

This is very unlikely to work.  The problem is, the orders they have received so far are unlikely to have come via search.  If they truly are foreign language speakers in other countries that are ordering from the site, the referral is more likely to be a recommendation, a forum or similar.  In these instances, the user knows what to expect and is entering into the site to get a good deal, knowing that the site will be in English.

This is not the case with search.  On PPC, you are competing with local suppliers for clicks and, despite your cheap prices, your vastly reduced conversion rate due to the language issue will mean that you can’t compete.

If you are a B2B organisation looking for enquiries, then read on to point 4.

2.       Don’t Translate the PPC Keywords and Ads
Never give your keywords and ads to a translation company.  The creation of a campaign in other languages is not a translation job.

For your English campaign, you thought of multiple ways a certain concept could be searched.  You expanded out the keyword list with idiosyncrasies and colloquialisms in order to catch everyone that could possibly need your product or service.  To suggest that a translation process will reveal all the suitable terms in other languages is nonsense.  This article on translating Google campaigns explains this issue in some detail

3.       Don’t underestimate the Internationalisation Process
Internationalisation is the process of getting a site ready for translation.  Translating a website is not as easy as translating a Word document.  Your site is probably database driven, has text in images, contains programming logic and if you sell online has all sorts of complexities around product catalogues.

If you are doing this for the first time then get some expert help.  Have a look at this introduction to internationalising a website as it contains some things you should consider.

4.       If you sell B2B then do run PPC using a localised landing page first.  Marketers that are selling B2B are in luck.  It is actually quite easy to capitalise on foreign markets using a well localised landing page and PPC.  Use a reputable PPC multilingual agency that employs mother-tongue linguists to create (not translate) the campaigns.  You can be up and running in other languages in a matter of weeks.  Plus, you can easily evaluate whether or not you should translate the entire site (a significantly larger undertaking).

5.       Do ensure that your landing page is culturally sensitive.  Images that are clearly US-centric may not work in France for example, so ensure you have the pre-localised pages checked for their suitability in the target markets before you get them translated.

This is equally true of the phraseology used on the landing page.  A translator will translate what is in front of them, and a phrase like ‘Did you know …’ can be insulting in certain contexts in other languages.

6.       When translating your site do engage with a professional translation company that specialises in web site translation.  Ensure they use specialist software to protect your site code from the translation process, and translation memory tools to ensure the costs are kept to a minimum.    Make sure they have plenty of case studies of translating sites like yours and get references from the companies involved.   Some companies say they can do this but simply pass web files through a normal translation process.  This is not efficient and will cost you more in time to fix the files.  I used to work in this market so contact me if you would like a list of companies for your shortlist.

7.       Do retain your SEO/keyword densities during the translation process.  This is easy to do as long as you build some keyword research into the process in advance.  Language equivalents of English keywords can be stored in electronic glossaries used by the translators so that they do not stray from the SEO-friendly terminology.

8.       Do engage with a translation company that partners with a specialist multilingual search company, or choose your own multilingual search company to work with your chosen translation agency.  Don’t simply accept the translation company’s promise that they will ‘do SEO’ as part of the translation.

9.       Don’t get a friend, colleague, or any other non-experienced person to translate either the site or the PPC campaigns for you.  This is a very common approach and always works out more expensive while missing opportunities.  Translation companies can localise your content at speed without breaking the code structures because they have automatic tools to do this.  They will also use translation memories for speed, quality and cost reduction.  Multilingual search specialists will build campaigns and optimise them quickly without wasting half your budget on a rogue keyword translation that crosses into another market.  It is a false-economy so don’t do it.

10.   Do consider the wider implications.  If you translate your site or landing page, plus search campaigns, you will then open yourself up for customer service calls and emails in other languages.  Make sure you have a process for dealing with these.

Finally, if you are considering taking your offering abroad, do it.  We have seen so many companies open up markets that drive incremental revenue when other channels may be exhausted.  It is not as hard as you might think as long as you plan properly and engage with the right partners.

… Paul C would have likely smashed the record if it wasn’t for his cumbersome rat suit!

Team ‘Management’ achieved this year’s winning average time at 50mins 23secs.

Overall the company average was 54mins and 28secs.

WELL DONE EVERYONE!

Photo: Lab Rats and Actual Rat

They claim that we have an unfair advantage when it comes to managing pay per click campaigns.

Bidlab Ruffles Feathers

If you want to find out what all the fuss is about contact us online or call 0113 2121211.

Baidu is China's No1 Search Engine

Here is a guide to opening a ppc acount on Baidu. However, it’s not easy to open a Baidu PPC account. Before you can even begin to start building a campaign, you will need the following things:

• A Chinese website
• Business license
• Certificate of Authorization
• Proof of website ownership
• Contract between agency & Baidu
• ICP License (maybe)
• 5600 RMB deposit

Some of these steps are simple, others not so much. Going through them one-by-one, we have:

1) A properly translated Chinese website or landing page

Baidu require that you send them your landing page URL in advance, so they can assess the page’s suitability.

2) Essential documents for opening a new account

They are as follows:

a) A scanned copy of the Business License / Company Registration Document of the company whose name the account will be registered under. If you are agency advertising on behalf of a client, you may be able to get away with using your own.

ie . I would use the business license of Search Laboratory Ltd. If your business has ever changed name, then they will require both the original document of registration, and any updated versions.

b) Certificate of Authorization / Authority Document – basically a contract between client and agency, giving you authorization to advertise on their behalf. This needs to be signed by both client and agency. A blank form is available on request from Baidu. Details required on this form are as follows:

Consigner: Client name

Address: Client’s registered address

Legal Representative: Does not actually need to be someone from the legal department; any representative of the company will do, such as the Director

Contact: the primary contact

Consignee: Your company name

Address: your address

Legal Representative: a representative of the company

Contact: the primary contact at your agency

The form also instructs you to attach a “Consigner’s certificate of ownership of the website” as Baidu require proof that the website you’re advertising is really owned by your client. Luckily, a link to the WHOIS online registration details page will satisfy them. (eg. http://whois.domaintools.com/searchlaboratory.com).

c) A fairly straightforward contract regarding between you and Baidu. The twists are:

i) there is a Chinese and an English copy which must both be signed;

ii) It is the common practice in China for all official documents to be stamped in red ink with a company chop (ie. seal, or stamp). If this option is not available, a ‘paging signature’ will do. This means that the pages of the documents must be overlapped, and the signature written across the pages (ie. partly on one page, and partly on the next).

3. An ICP license

They may ask for an ICP license, which is where many will become unstuck. This a permit issued by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology authorising companies to operate inside China. A prerequisite for this seems to be an office or branch of the company in China. I say they ‘may’ ask for this – for my clients, sometimes they’ve asked, and sometimes they haven’t, so you may get lucky.

4. Deposit of 5600 RMB

A minimum opening deposit of 5600 RMB (approx. £500 or $820 as of January 2010) which includes 600 RMB account service fee. You will need to send a scanned copy of the transfer slip to prove payment.

After all that, there’s the simply the matter of writing your Chinese keywords and ad texts, and attempting to navigate the Chinese-only user interface. Alternatively, find an agency with experience managing Chinese PPC campaigns to handle it all for you!

The ability to easily test PPC in foreign markets is almost here!

Search Laboratory in partnership with Applied Language Solutions and UK Trade and Industry have created a packaged solution to help companies take the first steps towards exporting.  Consisting of a localised landing page, a localised PPC campaign and followed up with language support for communication with new potential customers, this neat solution allows companies to test new markets properly without massive expense.

Search Laboratory and Applied Language Solutions have many years of experience helping companies export, but this is the first time they have come together to provide an end-to-end exporting offering.

The catalyst for this collaboration has been the weak pound, making the UK a great place for a bargain for customers overseas.

Details of Export Box and how to take advantage will be coming shortly.

Watch this space!!