The article below on international URL optimization was just re-posted to FindResolution.com Check out it out at: http://www.findresolution.com/2010/02/international-ranking-factors-url-best.html It’s a good one….if I do say so myself.
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I have a saying that I find holds true a great deal of time: “What ‘should’ happen and ‘does’ happen are usually two different things.” A while ago I posted about International URL best practices, and since then several people have come to me asking for other options because well…..what should and does happen are 2 different things. You know what you are “suppose” to do, but business reason, resources, politics, etc. dictate that you cannot follow the “best” practices. So, what is one to do? Don’t worry….here is plan B & C.
International SEO Options without CC TLD’s: Plan B
CC TLD is the best way to ensure that your company’s content is ranked within the countries’ preferred search engines. However, business needs may not always accommodate this strategy. Whether it is due to company structure, global CMS systems, or simply just cost savings, it is ok if you cannot implement the CC TLD’s. There are two other ways to properly SEO your URLs for international search results.
Basics are Still the Basics
Just because a company cannot purchase and manage a plethora of CC TLD’s does not mean that the best practices of language settings and Directory Taxonomy are not still valid. In fact, the following 2 methods of URL optimization require that a company follows those two rules even closer. The CC TLD’s are considered an automatic default for certain content (i.e. if you send mail to a Chicago address, then you would assume that the mail is going to the US). Given that the presence of the CC TLD is not there, a company has to make sure that it is sending the proper singles to the search engines through proper use of the directory taxonomy and language settings. (See Blog Post: International URL Best Practices for rules on language settings and directory taxonomy)
Country as a Sub-Domain/ Language as Sub-Directory
The first method is to setup each country as a sub-domain.
Brazil’s Primary URL: br.yourcompany.com/pt/
Engines tend to rank the level of importance of content based on how far from the domain directory. As a best practice, it is recommended that content should not reside more than 3 levels (example: yourcompany.com/level-1/ level-2/ level-3/). This method allows you to have used one less sub-directory, thus showing a higher level of importance for company’s content.
The downside to this method is that it tends to be a little harder to explain to international counterparts. It also tends to be more taxing on CMS systems and IT resources (as compared to the last of the two methods).
Country & Language as a Sub-Directory
The second method is to place each country and language in its own sub-directories. See example below.
Brazil’s Primary URL: www.yourcompany.com/br/pt/
This method is simple to understand, explain and implement. The first directory is always the country and the second URL is always the language. Each directory thus signals to the engine the content is specific that country and language. The added bonus is that most engines will consolidate link popularity to the sub-domain. So, if all directories are on one domain, then it is possible that the PR and adverting that a company does in one country can actually help it rank better in another country.
The downside of this method is that you place one more directory in front of the most important content. Again, best practice state that you should not have content more than three levels from the domain (example: yourcompany.com /level-1/ level-2/ level-3/). This method already forces the most important content to the 3rd level.
Region Settings within Webmaster Tools
For Google specifically it is recommended to set region-specific URLs within a standard .com TLD within Google Webmaster Tools. This provides the engines with another signal of international origin and relevance.
Regional Non-Country Specific: Plan C
Business reasons may dictate that a certain country or region has to be lumped into one area. This presents a problem when it comes to giving the proper signals to the search engines as to the nature of the content. For instance, a company is starting to enter the Latin American markets and has deemed a small set of countries as top priorities. However, the company does not want to ignore the other countries because it still has the ability to service those customers. In this case, the company has dedicated its efforts to those high priority countries and needs a stop gap for the rest of the region.
Region Structure & Taxonomy
All rules apply as laid out in previous options (see above Plan B above & “Best Practices” on the other post); however, the directories or sub-domains will be broken out into region instead of country. Because the engines do not recognize regions, it is important to spell out the region by universally accepted names and in the main region’s language (if possible). For instance, the main language of Latin America is Spanish. See example below.
www.yourcompany.com/america-latina/es/
In the cases where a specific language cannot be specified, such as in the EU, it is critical to include as many of the languages as business resources dictate. Like Latin America, the EU is comprised of several countries and thus will not have a TLD recognized by search engines. Each major language should be created in different directories.
EU English: www.yourcompany.com/european-union /en/
EU Spanish: www.yourcompany.com/european-union /es/
EU French: www.yourcompany.com/european-union /fr/
EU German: www.yourcompany.com/european-union /de/
Make sure to include the language html setting mentioned above. The importance of these two steps is critical in making sure that the engines understand that this content is specific to that region and language, making the content seam relevant to the consumer’s query.
Nothing! Yep, I said it and it feels so good. Data isn’t worth a single cent. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. However, actions are worth a fortune. RM has been going through a stage which it visits every year to determine what new reporting, if any, should we look into in order to better serve our clients. All of the same arguments come out. We need more data! How do we speed up the process? What can we add to generate more value from our reporting? What are the new tools and what are they looking into. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. Not one bit. It is, however, the insights and actions from them that can be the difference between an extra million in our clients pocket come 2011 or being out a few hundred grand for implementation, consulting, tech, and all of the other costs going into maintaining an online business.
It doesn’t matter if you are using Google Analytics or Omniture. It doesn’t matter if you are displaying the data strait into the analytics interface or in excel. At the end of the day, if the report doesn’t tell you to do something then it wasn’t worth looking at. Here are a few tips to make sure that your data turns into actions…thus turns into something worthwhile.
Segment out Your Audience
Web Analytics is all about segmenting consumer channels and understanding why a particular type of consumer did or did not convert. Why don’t you do the same with the information that comes out of your data? Does your SEO need the same information as your C Level executive? The answer should have been no. What does a CMO care about pages indexed for? Most CMO’s I talk to care about traffic and how it turns into revenue. Most of the time, they do not care where it came from as soon as you can show them how it generated money (The same applies to brand exposure or any other business driving KPI). Segment each report to make sure that the attended audience is receiving the information it needs to take the desired action; don’t include a single thing more. Yes, that means you will probably have several dashboards…but get over it. Just as your website cannot be everything to everybody, your website reporting should not be either. The ones I like to create are:
- C-Level Dashboard
- Traffic by Source: Sourcing being Paid, SEO, Direct, Referring Sources…classified into types of sources if I feel like going crazy (i.e. New vs. Shopping Engine vs. ILS site).
- Revenue by Sources: Revenue/leads/etc. based on the same breakdown
- Those sources trending over time. The level of detail will come from the importance of each source. (i.e. if I know that a client spends a ton of money in PR or on ILS sites)
- A place with long term strategic initiatives (i.e. PR campaign to start on X date.)
- A place with past initiative take away (i.e. Social Media project started on X date and we received $XXXX revenue form it to date).
- Digital Manager Dashboard
- Everything that the C-Level Dashboard
- More details around executable initiatives such as link building efforts for the last month
- Stats (traffic, rankings, revenue, etc) for keywords but broken into thymes (or campaigns or whatever you want to call them).
- Data points that show immerging trends
- SEO Dashboard
- Everything you see above
- Top Keywords of all different kinds
- A more detailed look into link buildings, social media, etc.
- Crawlablity Stats
- Webmaster Tools information
- Anything else that I feel like changes at least weekly that I need to stay on top of but know that my client wouldn’t understand
Define the story
Websites are designed to accomplish a goal. Very few people design their website to latterly do nothing…especially if they are paying you to improve said website. So, the goal of the report is to help determine where and how a particular person should spend their resources. Should they pay you or someone else? Define the story you want to tell. We want you to invest in your website here, here and here because those show the best chance for positive ROI (I would make sure that at least one of those points are you). Often times, that is a simple a stating what information you want a given person to come away with. Limit yourself to a couple high level points.
- The SEO Program is doing well because we are driving 30% more revenue year over year
- This sector is not performing well for us in SEO and we need more Content and Buzz around that product
- This sector is over achieving for our department. We need management to make a decision to prioritize the promotion of those products, raise the price on said product, or discontinue optimizing for it because the product is not a profitable product to sell at high volumes.
Create a Wire Frame
There is a reason why you create one for web design. It is to organize information before you spend hundreds of hours creating content that may be utilized. Wire frames for reports do the same thing. Start with the main idea (or story you want to tell) and then create the different data sets that build that case. Then create a level that starts to talk about the data sources needed to populate the give data set. This will help you understand what information you will need to pull and from what sources.
Example of a Reporting Wire Frame
Understand Your Data Points
Use the right tool for the right purpose. SearchCenter is not SiteCatalyst is not Radian6 is not Google Webmaster Tools. You can use all of those tools in an SEO report (OK…maybe not SearchCenter), but they can all generate great data points for what they were designed to do. Some tools are much more directional than others. Find what will give you the best information and use the right tool for the right job.
Also, I’m sure you have seen a graph or visual that you look at and go, “Um…OK?” Use data points, graph, charts, etc. to tell a story….but keep them simple. If you can’t understand the graph in 15 seconds or less then you have a problem. Understand your data points, how they fit into the story, and how they should be displayed.
Most Importantly, Keep it Actionable
The ultimate task is to keep this report Actionable. Data creep is a real thing…and is very contagious. The more data you have isn’t always better. You need to keep it actionable. After every data set or chart you place in a graph ask yourself these questions:
- This tells me what?
- Because I know that I know that?
- Because of what I know about said graph, I should?
If you can’t answer those questions, then you missed making it actionable. Each section of the website should scream a take away of some sort. Think of it this way, “I know this so I should do that.” I won’t tell you what that is because it is completely defined by your goals and objective. However, I will close with this action is what makes all of the above worth something. All the time spent installing your web analytics platform, the money spent on it (if you are not using GA), effort into SEO or anything else is all a waste if you cannot answer the one question that matter, “Because I know this I know I can move my business forward by doing what?”
Remember the old parable: It is what the repairman knows, not his tools, which make him worth his fee. The same goes with data. Data itself isn’t worth anything; it is the actions that come out of analyzing the data that is worth millions.
Lies, Damned Lies has a blog post on the WAA changing its name. While the concept is intresting, I think it is a mistake. Take a look at Ian’s post see my comments (re-posted below because….well they are MY comments).
After a long fought battle trying to tell people what it is I do, I have personally reverted back to just “Digital Marketing”. I presently work as an SEO & Web Analytics consulting, but I reserve the WA or SEO Titles for anyone that isn’t either at the C-Level or within the Marketing industry. Anyone familiar with Digital Marketing will at least know what WA or SEO is (if you don’t…then how do you call yourself anything having to do with Digital Marketing).
The WAA should NOT take the same approach. The goal is to promote the practice of Web Analytics as a whole (even if that is the your long lost kindergarten teacher). Let’s face it…branding is everything. Ok, maybe not everything, but it is a majority portion of the battle. Keep the name because it alone starts off the best conversation a organization can have with someone new, “so…what is that?”
Really, a micro-media site that gives updates on your purchases? I can see this being just a horrible idea. Hey, look Nathan just purchased a one way ticket to Las Vegas….I wonder what he is up too!?!?!? So, this site Blippy is like Facebook meets twitter…but for purchase.
Blippy is a fun and easy way to see and discuss the things people are buying.
Automatically share your favorite purchases from iTunes, Amazon, Zappos, Visa, MasterCard, and more.
I mean, really? People will share everything now days won’t they? No that I’m thinking about it, I wonder if we can make it law that all politicians and special interest groups have to sign up with public viewing rights. That would be awesome especially if there was a way to cross reference which special interest group spent what with each politician (on the fly of course….paper work is so easily editable).
Some ideas should never come to life…but I guess if every idea was a winner, we wouldn’t know the diffrence between a good idea and a bad idea.
Lance Neuhause, a founder of Resolution Media and presently a Digital Marketing Director at PhD, was in the news the other day (just now stumbled across the video via Facebook no less) talking about what social media is and why large companies are haveing a hard time being successfull in the space. Great little piece…check it out.
Check out my Friend Dave over at Eaten By Giants for some great SEO insight. He has been around SEO since, and I quote, “when SEO was just called stuff we did to show up on Google.” It’s good stuff.
Remember the old scam where some foreign evil warlord or dictator has millions of dollars and needs to smuggle it out of the country? Well, I just received my first version of that classic scam on Facebook!!!
Kelvin Dan November 3 at 7:22am
Dear Nathan Janitz,
This is an official legal notice of an unclaimed fund left by Mr. Richard D. Janitz, who died as a result of an industrial accident in his energy & gas exploration company on the 17/12/2006.As the former official/personal attorney of the deceased and witness of fact of this subject matter, I hereby solicit for your immediate response and positive committed efforts to facilitate the fund remittal of total sum $12.5 million into your bank account in your country.
Contact me directly to (kelvin100c@yahoo.com ) for more details.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr.Kelvin Daniel,
Attorney at Law.
I mean isn’t anything off limits? Does anyone actually fall for this anymore? Well I guess you can always find someone new to the online world. It’s sad really. Just to be sure, DO NOT GIVE THIS GUY ANY INFORMATION.
Ok, question for the general public. Do you know of a way to spam the spammers? Now that would be cool.
This is a great interview from Resolution Media’s PHd’s digital marketing guru. I’ve worked with Lance when he was part of the RM family, and he is a smart guy.
Lance hit the head on the nail. Consumers use multiple channels at once, and we as marketers need to adjust to that mentality if we are going to presuade consumers. Good job Lance.
I do have a problem with what’s his face saying that search isn’t “creative.” No, we don’t make pretty pictures or funny commercials that no one can remember. However, try writing an ad that sells in 95 Charters or less without pictures. Ya…that’s creative. Kind of with Lance would have hammered him on that…but way to stay classy.
Ever since my wedding (OK, even before the wedding), I have been neglecting Intellect Interactive. Sorry. Rest assured that I am working on the time for a couple more postings. However, I have been producing some good stuff on Resolution Media’s blog: Find Resolution
