There are many companies selling products across the world, but there are some issues with search engine optimisation when it comes to globally offering the website. Companies need to be aware first and foremost about the local customs and trends before they implement any search engine optimisation.
For those who have ever learned a second language it is easy to know that customs, words, and trends will differ. Furthermore some words or symbols have different meanings in other places. It can also be said that other countries may think of the same thing, but in a different way. For these reasons it is imperative to have a variety of search engine optimisation techniques so that the website can be found by the consumers. One thing to look at as an example would be keywords.
In the US and UK the word for taking a bit of paid time off for work can differ. In the UK most refer to this period of times as a holiday. While in the US holiday typically refers to a special time of year, and any paid time off from work such as two weeks in July would be a vacation. Both words can be used interchangeably on a site, but for a US audience the keyword vacation will be used more often in a search rather than holiday. The opposite is usually true for the UK, where holiday is most often the word to start a search. This is a basic example, but it shows the point. The idea of something can be expressed with different words or even spellings, which means a site must account for these differences.
Another example would be hosts and presenters. The US uses the word hosts for TV shows, where the UK and Australia call these individuals presenters. The syntax though small can have a large impact on the success of a site. A recent study regarding SEO showed that even when you move between US and UK English it can have a damaging effect on the site’s performance when the wrong language is used too often.
For example, if you are trying to capture the US audience but use UK English more often throughout the site you could lose customers. These customers don’t often recognise the differences even between English, which causes them to be put off. The best thing to do is make sure you have the right combination of keywords, customs, and syntax. If it is not possible to combine the websites for global sales then having two different sites is imperative. Often time businesses for SEO reasons as well as increasing consumer base will have an intro page. This page will ask for the language or location of the consumer. Then the link will take the person to the appropriate page. In this way the SEO and content is set for the specific language and customs of that person.
When using this type of set up another concern will be the amount of URL’s used and whether the search engine can crawl through the site without problem.