Link building is subject to the same linguistic, cultural and localisation challenges as any other aspect of international marketing. Links do not necessarily carry the same value across every market, and a tactic that works well in one country might [...]]]> Link building is subject to the same linguistic, cultural and localisation challenges as any other aspect of international marketing. Links do not necessarily carry the same value across every market, and a tactic that works well in one country might yield poor results in another.

The importance of links, however, is the same everywhere and therefore getting your global link building strategy right is an essential element of any international SEO project. Bastian Grimm will be speaking on international link building at the International Search Summit @ SMX Munich next month, and here he gives an insight into the topic and what delegates can expect in Munich.

What do you see as the major challenges for organisations targeting a multilingual audience?

“You have to get to know them; all of them – individually!” So what does it mean? Having done quite a bit of work within international companies I’d say the biggest issue is, to find out what actually works on a per-market basis. And to do so you really need to understand your audience which, obviously, differs for each country – and language. That being said, I think a successful multilingual SEO campaign needs a heavy preparation. So if you’re not simply replicating your strategy from another country (which you clearly should not do without further validation!) you have to accept that it’ll just take time, money, market-specific knowledge and a lot of work to successfully conquer another country or language.

What area of search do you see as most important for international marketers in 2012?

Usually companies operating in international environments are big brands – and updating / changing their websites does usually take quite a bit of time (not days, but months and sometimes even worse). Since Google continues pushing in new stuff like the hreflang=X property and because I expect them to continue doing so, I’d say one of the really important tasks for international marketers is going to be testing and validating new stuff before it actually goes live; which means you’d have to have multiple domains in multiple languages just for testing. This is quite a bit of work and might cause some headaches, I’d guess.

What are the biggest pitfalls to consider when developing a global link building strategy? Is it possible to have a global link strategy, when each market needs a localised approach?

It’s still the same problem as it used to be for years now: Markets do need their localised approaches; however this will cause problems with administration, handling all those different agencies and link-builders, etc. – it’s an administrative pain

And very generally speaking one needs to consider that almost everything is different on a per-country basis. Link profiles are very, very different. Looking – for example – at the amount of links, difference in deep- / start-page link ratios, types of TLDs linking-in, anchor-text distribution, geo-distribution in terms of IPs linking in, etc. – it all just differs. And that simply means you have to do a competitive analysis for each market you’re planning to build links for and  need to consider the industry as well.

What will delegates gain from your session at ISS?

I’ll try to come up with a cheat-sheet on what to actually consider when you start doing link-building in multiple markets. So the idea is to provide some kind of “what’s really important, where do I get it and what do I need to do with it?” kind of approach based on real-world data from various countries, which – I think – will be quite interesting.

And finally, why attend the International Search Summit?

That’s an easy one! There is only one truly international-dedicated conference – ISS. That being said I do like the broad range of topics but still all being focused on international search. So if you’re in international search marketing, be sure not to miss it! See you in Munich.

International Search Summit Munich will take place on Thursday 29th March, as part of SMX Munich. Full agenda and registration information is available on the website. All sessions at ISS are in English.

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Geo-targeting is a common problem for organizations with an international website, who are targeting multiple languages and regions around the world. Making sure the right user sees the right content at the right time is the goal – but achieving [...]]]> Geo-targeting is a common problem for organizations with an international website, who are targeting multiple languages and regions around the world. Making sure the right user sees the right content at the right time is the goal – but achieving that is not always easy. How do you ensure that all your UK customers aren’t seeing prices in dollars or that your Spanish users aren’t seeing product pages that are only available in Peru?

Well Google has recognised these challenges and has adapted the way website owners can signal the intended recipients of web content. It may appear confusing at first – it did for me at least – and does need careful implementation but Google is offering a helping hand to marketers struggling with geo-targeting and duplication issues.

There are several excellent explanations of what has changed and how it can be implemented on SearchEngineLand and SearchEngineWatch so I won’t replicate that here, but there are two scenarios where this new markup will apply:

• Websites targeting multiple regions with very similar content in the same language (e.g. the US, the UK and Australia in English)
• Websites that have fully translated content, targeting multiple markets (e.g. German, French and Spanish pages)

This change is mainly applicable to international websites hosted on dotcoms, with subdomains for each market rather than those on local domains, which clearly target a specific market. While local domains provide clear signal to both search engines and users that the site is locally relevant, and therefore, are is still a recommended strategy, Google’s changes will improve the targeting for dotcoms.

Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa will be speaking at the International Search Summit at SMX West, where she will be discussing how to implement the rel=”alternate” hreflang markup and sharing examples of when to use it, as well as answering delegate questions.

The International Search Summit will be held on Monday February 27^th, as part of SMX West. It focuses entirely on international and multilingual search and social marketing and sessions will include Global Domain Strategies, Spanish SEO, Global Social Media, and The Other Search Engines.

Early Bird Rates expire on Saturday January 28^th.

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The only conference for international marketers is back in London on 24th November – and for anyone working in the global SEO, PPC and social media space, the International Search Summit is one event not to miss.

And here are [...]]]> The only conference for international marketers is back in London on 24th November – and for anyone working in the global SEO, PPC and social media space, the International Search Summit is one event not to miss.

And here are 5 reasons why you’ll want to be there:

• Unique Content: ISS covers topics you won’t find anywhere else. It goes beyond the basics to explore the complex world of international search marketing and will leave you with a host of ideas and strategies to implement in your own organisation. Check out the International Search Summit London agenda.

• Expert Speakers: ISS is committed to delivering quality content from experts in their fields. Every speaker at the Summit works in the international space and will provide invaluable insights for you to take away and implement.

• Networking: ISS puts you together with other global marketers, working on the same kind of projects as you, and facing the same challenges. The contacts you’ll make and experiences you’ll share will help you view your international projects with fresh eyes and renewed enthusiasm.

• Interactive Sessions: We know you’ll have loads of questions about your international SEO, PPC, social, mobile campaigns and projects – and we want you to get all the answers. There are numerous opportunities for Q&A, as well as dedicated breakout sessions to enable smaller groups to focus on a specific topic that is relevant to them.

• Proven Success: It’s not a coincidence that many attendees attend ISS time and time again or that they’re happy to share the positive experiences they had at the show – check out our testimonials!

The International Search Summit will take place at the British Library in London on Thursday 24th November.

View a full list of sessions and speakers, and book your place at internationalsearchsummit.com/london

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International SEO, Geo-targeting, Global Search Trends, International PPC and Multilingual Video Optimisation are just some of the sessions on offer at the International Search Summit London on November 24th.

Targeted at international marketers, the Summit focuses on the topics, issues [...]]]> International SEO, Geo-targeting, Global Search Trends, International PPC and Multilingual Video Optimisation are just some of the sessions on offer at the International Search Summit London on November 24th.

Targeted at international marketers, the Summit focuses on the topics, issues and challenges involved in creating and managing search and social media campaigns in multiple markets and languages.

The speakers at the Summit are all experienced in the international space and will share tactics, best practice, case studies and strategies for running successful global web marketing campaigns.

A full agenda is online and early bird rates apply until 31st October.

Kristjan Mar Hauksson, a regular speaker at the event,  answers a few quick fire questions on international search marketing:

Kristjan, what is the biggest challenge facing the international search marketer in 2011?
“In my experience it is their mistake of generalizing when approaching foreign markets, that is thinking that their experience in one market works in another”

In your opinion, what are the biggest opportunities available to organisations venturing into overseas markets?
“Realizing the potential!”

You’re speaking on Global Reputation Management at ISS. What are the biggest mistakes you see organisations making when it comes to managing their brand online?
“Churning out content without a clear strategy, both short and long term”

What do you think are the most effective online channels to use as part of a reputation management strategy?
“For distribution there are as many as there are countries, there are also as many as the audience groups you are targeting so I cannot say that there are any that stand out. But I can say that the strategy needs to be in place before you start and then choose the channels not the other way around”

If you could give just one tip to anyone embarking on a global search campaign, what would it be?
“Give it time and be patient. The ROI will come”

Finally, why attend the International Search Summit?
“Simple: Good speakers, good engagement with the speakers and relevant topics”

To see the full agenda, check out delegate testimonials and book your place, visit www.internationalsearchsummit.com.

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Internet users prefer sharing content than creating it, is a key message to come out of the latest GlobalWebIndex report, which surveys web users in 27 markets around the world.

When asked “Which online activities have you done in the [...]]]> Internet users prefer sharing content than creating it, is a key message to come out of the latest GlobalWebIndex report, which surveys web users in 27 markets around the world.

When asked “Which online activities have you done in the past month”, almost 70% of respondents had watched an online video clip, 50% had managed a social network profile
and 35% had commented on a story, yet only 25% had written a blog post and less than 20% had written an article.

The growth of social media platforms has made it so easy to share and distribute content, which presents huge opportunities for those creating interesting, compelling and attractive content. Create good content and there will be plenty of people willing to share it

Other data in the report supports the importance of social sharing, with social networking growing across all global regions, although significant growth is now being driven by emerging markets rather than mature ones. Microblogging is also growing but, surprisingly it is not the advanced web markets like the USA and EU5 countries (UK, France, Germany, Spain & Italy) that are driving this growth, rather the BRIC markets, where 40% of users have been active on a microblogging site.

In contrast, blog engagement is either stagnating or declining across all markets, however the highest levels of engagement are also by users in the BRIC markets.

Perhaps most interesting to note, is the decline in contributions and interactions on Facebook, despite the social network continuing to grow its global user base. From sharing photos to installing an app to joining a group, there has been a global drop in the number of users active on the site and its different functions, with the most significant drop coming amongst young, college-educated users in the US, who were the early adopters of the network.

Brett Petersen, Senior Strategy Consultant at Trendstream, which produces the GlobalWebIndex, will be speaking at the International Search Summit @ SMX East in New York, on Monday 12th September where he will be sharing many more insights into global web usage and behavior.

Here, Brett answers a few questions about the Global Web Index data and its value to international marketers

What exactly is GlobalWebIndex?

The GlobalWebIndex is the world’s most in-depth, continuous research study into online consumer behaviour. Since 2009, the GlobalWebIndex has surveyed nearly 100,000 internet users across 27 different countries. The data is then provided in an intuitive online tool, as opposed to reports, to allow marketers and brands to customise the data to their needs by building their specific target audiences and analysing their online and social media behaviour.

There are many great sources of data and trends online, what is different and valuable about the GlobalWebIndex reports?

The GlobalWebIndex is unique in the fact that it is the only research study to survey online and social media behaviour across all types of internet capable devices within a single survey. Other research providers often survey mobile, PC, and tablet separately, but researchers cannot cross compare that data because the information is coming from different respondents that are surveyed using different methodologies. The GlobalWebIndex makes these comparisons possible, allowing marketers and researchers to get a much more accurate picture of the online environment. The fact that the exact same survey is asked in 27 markets also makes the data comparable across all GWI markets.

How can and should marketers use the data to improve their global web activity?

Having a detailed understanding of what your target audience is doing online is critical to developing not just a brand’s digital marketing strategy but determining the overall marketing mix to ensure that resources are allocated in the most efficient way possible. The GlobalWebIndex, however, goes beyond illustrating what consumers are doing online to also explain their motivations for doing (or not-doing) specific online activities. It also give brands a chance to add their specific brand to the survey to track how their customers behave online and determine the best ways to engage them and build brand advocates.

What is the most interesting or surprising trend you’ve seen over the past few years?

I think there are two overarching trends that occurring at the moment that are challenging how we’ve traditionally viewed the internet. The first is the localization of the internet. Instead of becoming a global network that drives convergence in online consumer behaviour and culture, the global internet is more a series of local internet, each with its own culture and norms.

The second is the move towards Post-PC era. This is a view that grown out of our research but is often challenged by others on the grounds that PC sales still outweigh mobile devices sales etc. While that is definitely true, the key question for us is where are consumers most likely to be engaged online because higher engagement results in better marketing effectiveness for our brands. Our research indicates a continuing shift towards higher online activity via mobile devices thanks to high-value packaged internet services that are available in real-time, no matter where they are.

Which global markets do you think marketers should be investing in now?

The markets to invest in at the moment depend on the scope of your campaign and brand strategy. Advertising in many newly industrialised and emerging markets is still underdeveloped and there is significant scope for marketing investment in these markets as their middle classes become richer. The bigger emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Russia, and India have escaped the worst of the ongoing economic downturn and consumer spending in these countries must rise to compensate for reduced demand from Western markets in the future. This is not to say that marketers should not devote significant time to Europe and North America because their consumer markets are massive and advertising will be more critical than ever as household budgets are squeezed.

Online marketing in emerging markets is particularly important because they do not have the legacy of developed media markets that exist in Europe and North America. Emerging market consumers are going online for everything in their everyday lives from entertainment to personal well-being, and this presents great opportunities for marketers to begin the long process of brand building in these markets.

Why attend the International Search Summit?

The International Search Summit is a vital resource for search marketers because , as GWI research indicates, the results from a search engine are still some of the most effective purchase drivers out of all advertising communications methods, not just online. Furthermore, the localisation of the internet demands that every online and search advertising campaign be tailored to specific local markets. The International Search Summit gathers the world’s most knowledgeable online and search marketing experts to deliver insights that allow agencies and brands to achieve country tailored campaigns as part of a broader international brand strategy.

Tickets are still available for the International Search Summit @ SMX East. Other speakers include Preston Carey from Yandex,  Jae Choi of NHN USA (Naver), Rishab Aiyer Ghosh from Topsy and WebCertain’s Andy Atkins-Krüger.

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South Korea has long been one of the most advanced web markets, with high internet penetration and fast connectivity.  It is also one of the few markets where Google has failed to make an impact, with local search engine Naver [...]]]> South Korea has long been one of the most advanced web markets, with high internet penetration and fast connectivity.  It is also one of the few markets where Google has failed to make an impact, with local search engine Naver holding over 72% market share.

Jae Choi, CEO at NHN USA, a branch of NHN, the company which owns and developed Naver will be speaking at the International Search Summit New York on 12th September, offering delegates a unique insight into the Korean market.

In advance of the Summit, we spoke to Kyle Choi , SEM Manager at NHN USA, to find out some more about the search engine and the opportunities available to marketers targeting a Korean audience.

Can you share the bit of background to Naver?
Naver was created by six former Samsung SDS search engine developers and the company was first established as ‘Naver Com’ in 1999, later merging with ‘Hangame’ to become the company it is today. NHN Corporation, which operates both Naver and Hangame, currently has 3,500 employees in our headquarters alone. In 2008, NHN become the first Korean internet company to reach one trillion KRW in sales ($900 million +) and has an annual growth rate of 10 to 20%. Naver has also recently solidified our leading position in the mobile search market.

Like Yandex & Baidu, Naver has developed a search engine specifically for its local market. What has made it so successful there?
Naver was able to achieve success in Korea because it provides search results that have been optimized for Korean users. ‘Comprehensive Search’ Naver’s basic search algorithm, does more than list search results; it pulls together multiple categories of results on one page which are optimized for the user. Naver invests a lot of attention into search modeling, and has invested time in developing ‘collection ranking’ and ‘multi-ranking’, to provide individual and relevant search experiences.  Naver displays daily trends on the top of the page in order to offer information that most accurately meets the users’ search needs.

What are the key characteristics of the Korean search market? What makes it different from other markets?
The Korean search market suffered from a shortage of web documents written in the Korean language. Since search quality depended on the quantity of web documents, securing Korean web documents was vital. This led to the development of UGCs as well as Knowledge Search. Naver’s Knowledge iN, which opened a new chapter in the history of Korea’s search market because not only did Naver’s Knowledge iN Service coin the term “knowledge search”, it created the knowledge search culture and documented knowledge that was locked inside the human mind. Knowledge Search is Naver’s equivalent to Yahoo Answers, which was actually developed based on Naver’s Knowledge iN, after Yahoo! engineers visited the search engine to benchmark their service.

Is knowledge of the Korean language required in order to advertise on Naver? What options are open to non-Korean speaking marketers?
Advertising in Korean language with understanding of Korean culture can bring the most efficient results. However, advertisers don’t need to speak Korean. NHN USA offers not only translation for keywords, titles and descriptions, but also localization consultancy to provide recommendations for localizing for the Korean market and all reports can be delivered in English.

Does Naver have any plans to expand into international markets?
Naver is different from Google because Naver aims at offering services that has been optimized for the region by providing localized search services. Naver launched a search service in Japan, named Naver Japan, which offers new services that aren’t available in Korea’s Naver, such as “Matome”, which was designed to reflect the Japanese culture, where people hold intense discussions while collecting material about a certain subject. NHN plans to expand its search service to regions that have cultural similarities, allowing us to demonstrate our expertise in providing localized search services.

However, as games are not as influenced by the market’s culture in the same way that search is, NHN plans to enter the global market with our game business and has set detailed plans to embark into the European market.

If you had just one tip for organisations targeting a Korean audience, what would it be?
Korean users are used to getting customized search services, so rather than providing a common globalized service, try to appeal to the Korean users by offering a more unique, localized service. It’s difficult to give one tip on how to target a Korean audience, since a country’s culture cannot be easily defined on paper.

Finally, why attend the International Search Summit?
ISS is very unique opportunity to meet professionals in the international search field and to share information about the global search market. For Naver, it is a great opportunity to introduce the search engine and the Korean market to a new audience.

Early Bird Rates for the International Search Summit will expire on Saturday August 2oth.  Other speakers include Yandex, Topsy, Autodesk and WebCertain.

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2011 has been a big year for Russian search engine Yandex. In May it launched an IPO which saw it achieve over $1bn in investment and it has seen its share of the 2nd largest search market in Europe grow [...]]]> 2011 has been a big year for Russian search engine Yandex. In May it launched an IPO which saw it achieve over $1bn in investment and it has seen its share of the 2nd largest search market in Europe grow to 65% -  more, in fact,  if you consider its recent partnership with rival search engine Rambler.

I spoke to Preston Carey of Yandex, ahead of his participation in the International Search Summit New York on September 12th to ask him what we should expect next from Russia’s biggest search engine and how it can help international advertisers succeed in Russia.

Earlier this year Yandex had a very successful IPO, raising over $1 bn in investment. What should we expect to see from the search engine as a result of this?

The proceeds from the IPO will mainly be focused on investing in technology infrastructure that will help to support our dynamic growth.  The Russian internet market and audience are growing quite quickly and Yandex’s investments in our infrastructure will continue to keep us as the leader in the market.

Yandex has recently agreed a deal with local rival search engine Rambler to power its search results. How will the deal benefit advertisers and users?

The recent partnership with Rambler will allow Rambler’s customer to easily expand their reach and efficiency in the market by making it simple and convenient to also place their ads on Yandex.  This partnership makes it simple for Rambler’s existing customers to expand their reach without needing to manage two separate sets of campaigns on each advertising source.  Users will benefit from the increased number of advertisers in the market which will bring more relevant and targeted ads to the users.

The agreement seems to confirm Yandex’s claims that it is focused on growing in its domestic market, rather than expanding into new ones. Should we expect to see much of Yandex outside of Russia in the coming months/years?

The domestic Russian market is obviously an incredible strength for Yandex and Russia is growing and expanding in exciting ways right now.  We spend a lot of our time and energy ensuring that we offer our users and our advertisers the best possible services in the Russian market.  That being said, we always are looking for additional growth opportunities and think that there may be other markets beyond Russia that align well with Yandex’s strengths.  We will also continue to improve our ability to support and build our relationships with large international brands and advertising agencies outside of Russia.

Yandex has also recently released an English language version of its webmaster tools, Yandex.webmaster.   How should advertisers take advantage of this?

Yandex strongly recommends as a first step in thinking about SEO for Yandex that advertisers register and start using the Yandex webmaster tools.  These tools will tell you a wealth of important information not just about how Yandex is crawling your site but also about how search users are interacting with your site.  It will provide details on the top search queries that reach your site (both by impressions and clicks) and it will also tell you about how well your pages are doing in terms of click share, position, CTR, etc.  The tools have been warmly received by many of our top marketers who are using the feedback coming out of the tools to further improve their Russian sites.

What are the characteristics of the Russian market that make it appealing to international businesses?

The most appealing thing that I hear from our international customers is the current and future growth of the online advertising market.  This growth is being driven by the expansion of broadband throughout the country and is really bringing online the mass audience for the first time in Russia.  This expansion coupled with strong trends in consumers ecommerce and online shopping behavior make for very exciting times.  Looking out three to five years, Russia is going to be a major online market and the smart advertisers are getting in now to learn about what can be a complicated and challenging market for westerners.

If you could give just one tip to marketers targeting a Russian audience, what would it be?

The advice would be very similar to approaching any new foreign market – don’t assume that what works at home is going to work in Russia.  Find someone who knows the market who can help you learn and adopt your domestic practices.  That partner can be Yandex’s international account team who can help with translation and optimization or it can be an agency partner who has strong experience in Russia.

Finally, why attend the International Search Summit?

The International Search Summit brings together a unique group of experts in international search marketing whose combined perspective makes for an invaluable day of presentations and networking.

Preston will be speaking at the International Search Summit at SMX East on September 12th. Other speakers include Korean search engine Naver, social search engine Topsy and international search specialists Bill Hunt and Andy Atkins-Krüger.

Early Bird Rates are available until August 20th and passes for the Summit can be bought independently or in combination with SMX East passes.

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International SEO, Geo-Targeting, Indexing International Social Signals and Search Marketing in Russia and Korea are just some of the topics on the agenda at the upcoming International Search Summit @ SMX East.

Taking place on September 12th in New York [...]]]> International SEO, Geo-Targeting, Indexing International Social Signals and Search Marketing in Russia and Korea are just some of the topics on the agenda at the upcoming International Search Summit @ SMX East.

Taking place on September 12th in New York City, the Summit will immerse delegates in a day of insights, debates and discussions on a range of international search and social media topics.

We’ll be welcoming back speakers such as Bill Hunt, a regular Medallion Award winner, and Yandex’s Preston Carey, as well as new faces including Korean search engine Naver and Rishab Aiyer Gosh from Topsy.

Check out the full agenda

The Summit is designed for anybody working on online marketing campaigns across more than one market or language. It focuses on issues specific to running international campaigns and provides a forum for delegates to share their challenges and find solutions.

Still unsure if ISS is for you? Here are five reasons to attend:

* Unique Content: ISS covers topics you won’t find anywhere else. It goes beyond the basics to explore the complex world of international search marketing and will leave you with a host of ideas and strategies to implement in your own organisation.

* Expert Speakers: ISS is committed to delivering quality content from experts in their fields. Every speaker works in the international space and will provide invaluable insights.

* Networking: ISS puts you together with other global marketers, working on the same kind of projects as you, and facing the same challenges. The contacts you’ll make and experiences you’ll share will help you view your international projects with fresh eyes and renewed enthusiasm.

* Interactive Sessions: We know you’ll have loads of questions about your international SEO, PPC, social, mobile campaigns and projects – and we want you to get all the answers. There are numerous opportunities for Q&A, as well as dedicated breakout sessions to enable smaller groups to focus on a specific topic that is relevant to them.

* Proven Success: It’s not a coincidence that many attendees attend ISS time and time again or that they’re happy to share the positive experiences they had at the show – check out our testimonials!

Super Early Bird Rates are only available until July 16th, so register now to secure the best rates.

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There were many great sessions and speakers at the International Search Summit Seattle earlier this month, but the standout speaker for many of the delegates was Bill Hunt, and he was nominated the Medallion Speaker on the day. [...]]]> There were many great sessions and speakers at the International Search Summit Seattle earlier this month, but the standout speaker for many of the delegates was Bill Hunt, and he was nominated the Medallion Speaker on the day. And not for the first time, as he also received the accolade at International Search Summit in San Jose earlier in the year.

Throughout his search marketing career Bill has worked with a vast range of leading global brands and understands the challenges and processes involved in achieving streamlined and efficient global campaigns better than most.

In Seattle, Bill’s session “Operationalizing Global Search” looked at how organisations can use their existing content and data more effectively to dramatically improve performance and lower costs.  Following the show, Bill answered a few questions to share some of his key tips.

Bill, What are the most common mistakes you see organisations making when it comes to managing global search activity?

The big mistakes I commonly see are:

1. Thinking that search is the same anywhere in the world.  They will often mandate change globally that won’t work or where there are not resources in the local markets to facilitate it.  This leads to a lack of communication and collaboration allowing countries to work on different paths but with the same content, which can lead to problems.
2.  Not integrating SEO best practices at the infrastructure level. They use Content Management System (CMS) templates but don’t look at the global implications.   Andy always reminds people about word length and direction and people are aware of it but they don’t apply that to search.  They don’t apply the same business rules to ensure key places are populated with the most popular, linguistically correct term.
3.  Not sharing their PPC keywords and performance trends.

How can localization processes be streamlined in order to utilize valuable content effectively?

Companies should map their localization process and find the intersections with search.  In my presentation I gave an example of a company that compared its German speaking markets.  They looked for words that were the same across all of them.  Of their top 20 keywords, 12 were the same.  They were able to share that content, keyword research and prioritized that content and pages to be edited since they would all benefit.  Just sharing the audit reports across markets cut down on costs allowing them to focus on the 8 keywords that were different.  This approach saved them $25k in potentially redundant localization costs alone.

In your session at ISS, you talked about the importance of centralized keyword management in global search campaigns. How can search teams use keyword data to maximize performance?

This is growing as an approach.  First it gives corporate a lens into the performance of the country and business unit level where they have not typically had it before.  We are not necessarily talking budget control or some power shift but the organization of data.   While all the words should be localized and not translated or used only in English, these can be used to inspire words not considered in the local language.  Also, trending words in one market might be a insight for another.   For example, in Japan we saw searches related to a new application of a product.  We started adding wider set of words to the campaign in Japan.  We then added them to other markets and this resulted in significant sales in multiple other markets.  We may not have seen this trend had we not shared data.

In addition, the global manager can see opportunities and budget needs by understanding local share of voice and opportunity, that may lead to additional budget and better alignment with global and regional activities.

When operating in multiple markets using local teams/agencies, what steps can organizations take to ensure consistency across all markets? And how can they benchmark performance?

Great question and it follows your first question.  I recommend a center of excellence.  This is where you standardize many of these issues and share the knowledge.

Communication and Guidelines – this is critical – the agency needs to follow similar process around the world.   Too many times companies use multiple agencies that don’t share templates or follow guidelines that are in place because either they don’t care or they are unaware of them.
Web and SEO Standards should be uniform and communicated globally.

As far as benchmarking – always start with a current state analysis.   The usual suspects can and should be evaluated:

1. Share of traffic from paid and organic (this is a great global benchmark to average against all countries)
2. Page Inclusion – too many times the problems start with no or few pages indexed
3. Click and Conversion metrics – paid and organic – this is a great diagnostic tool

While I like ranking reports for diagnostics they are a challenge in local markets if not generated there, since they won’t be accurate.  KPI’s and metrics should be the same for every market and use the same template.

Bill will be speaking at the next International Search Summit, at SMX East in New York on September 12th, where he’ll be on course for a hat trick of Medallion Awards.

The agenda for International Search Summit New York has just been released and other speakers include Preston Carey from Yandex, Maura Ginty from Autodesk and WebCertain’s Andy Atkins-Krüger. Check out the full agenda, and register at the Super Early Bird price, available until July 16th.

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Microsoft Advertising is a brand that takes customer engagement seriously and values building relationships with its audience. However,  as a global brand this engagement needs to be tailored to each market and each audience – no mean feat!

Jenny Leahy, [...]]]> Microsoft Advertising is a brand that takes customer engagement seriously and values building relationships with its audience. However,  as a global brand this engagement needs to be tailored to each market and each audience – no mean feat!

Jenny Leahy, who leads the Web Marketing and Evangelism team at Microsoft Advertising, will be speaking at the International Search Summit @ SMX Advanced on June 9th, where she will share Microsoft Advertising’s experience of running multinational social media campaigns.

Here she shares a few insights into Microsoft’s successful strategy, as well as the challenges they’ve faced.

Jenny, what are the major challenges of developing a social media presence in multiple countries/languages?
The social media tools landscape is different in each country – there are some more “universal tools” but you really need to evaluate your strategy in each region and market before establishing your social channels. I find that marketers in the local markets, especially the smaller markets are often the most dynamic and creative marketers – but they are often running all of the marketing channels for the country. Social needs to go beyond the amplification of a message to the daily engagement with customers in a local language – I see the challenge in having an already over taxed marketer take on an additional channel.

How does Microsoft use social media to engage global users and build lasting relationships?
Microsoft Advertising focuses on a few social channels to drive engagement with marketers. We focus on our blog, twitter, Facebook and youtube.

What have you found to be the most successful tactics for growing a social media presence around the world?
Our event coverage in multiple regions has been our strongest tactic in growing our global audience. We use the major advertising festivals to drive traction in this area.

If you had just one tip for organisations trying to develop an international social media presence, what would it be?
Cheating…I have two:
1) Create a global framework (i.e. look and feel of social channels, structure of your handles etc.)
2) Build global, social communications cascades that focus on amplification that can be easily localized, allowing local markets more time to focus on 1:1 conversations.

And finally, why attend the International Search Summit?
Content is global, we have to learn how to build marketing campaigns and online experiences that don’t alienate individuals, but bring people together and into an experience regardless of their location.

There are still places available at the International Search Summit. Other speakers include search engines Yandex and Baidu, global brands Dell and Logitech and international search specialists Bill Hunt, Andy Atkins-Krüger and Shari Thurow.

Register now to secure your place!

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The International Search Summit Munich on April 4th covered a wide range of search topics – from in-house international PPC, to video optimisation, from display advertising to international SEO fundamentals, from search in Russia to international link building.

There were a [...]]]> The International Search Summit Munich on April 4th covered a wide range of search topics – from in-house international PPC, to video optimisation, from display advertising to international SEO fundamentals, from search in Russia to international link building.

There were a lot of tips and tricks to come out of the day and I’ve summarised some of the key takeaways below:

#1 Research your markets. This might sound obvious but it’s essential to conduct thorough research into your potential target markets to identify any possible obstacles and avoid wasting money. And don’t try to crack every market at once, start with one or two markets and then build your international presence from there.

#2 Just because an agency is well-known and has a presence in many markets, doesn’t mean that each local office has the same level of competency and knowledge. Test your agency in advance and verify that it has the relevant expertise to do your campaign justice in each target market.

#3 The best sources for links will vary from country to country. In the US for example, Social Media sites provide great link opportunities however these have much less value in other markets such as Germany.  In France, article directories work well for building links, but these just don’t exist in Poland.

#4  Interlinking your sites is a great way of driving more links – however don’t simply link just to the root domain but connect equivalent pages on your different country sites to develop deep links on the site, as well as a more relevant user experience.

#5 Display is on the rise. In the Middle East, for example, many users spend a lot of time on news sites/portals/ special interest sites where display has a great impact, yet search volumes in many countries in the region can be quite low. Different audiences use the web in different ways.

#6 Russia is a huge country – with 83 federal regions and180 ethnic groups. At the moment the majority of Russian web users are in the major cities – so target your marketing efforts at cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg,  at least to begin with.

#7 Ecommerce in Russia is still very different to in  Western markets. Although more Russians are using the web to research purchases and buying online using a credit card is becoming more common, the majority of Russian users still prefer to buy offline, or at least make an offline payment for goods ordered online.  It’s essential to be aware of the purchase preferences of your target market and offer the facilities to accommodate them.

#8 User Generated Content is an excellent way to create unique content in multiple languages. It generates regular updates which will assist search engine rankings, as well as increasing the number of local links, as they come from local users. However – be aware of spam and cloned content.

#9 By their nature, videos are able to tap into the emotional side of the brain which enables brands to engage with their audiences on an emotional level. Brands should be innovative and creative with video marketing  in order to maximise this potential.

#10 Plan video production carefully, to make it as easy as possible to adapt it for multiple markets – e.g. don’t have talking heads in shot as it just won’t work if you want to dub the video in other languages.

#11 ” Be Local”. This point was reiterated in almost every presentation. You need to understand the local market you are targeting and tailor all of your communications to be relevant to users/customers in that market.

The next International Search Summits will take place at SMX Advanced in London on May 18th and SMX Advanced Seattle on June 9th.  Registration is open for both events and full details can be found at http://www.internationalsearchsummit.com

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A fantastic presentation about leveraging global content earned international search marketing expert Bill Hunt the Medallion Speaker award at last week’s International Search Summit in San Jose.

In his session, Bill discussed different ways organisations can use content to [...]]]> A fantastic presentation about leveraging global content earned international search marketing expert Bill Hunt the Medallion Speaker award at last week’s International Search Summit in San Jose.

In his session, Bill discussed different ways organisations can use content to increase search traffic and conversions. Some of his key tips included:

• Develop a shared language content strategy. Identify the top keywords in each market and align common words and content from different country sites, which use the same language, to gather scale

• Map searcher intent. Breakdown searches on a keyword into categories e.g. searches for diabetes can be seperated into understand, diagnose, treat, live with and use that information to match keywords to the most relevant landing pages.

• Structure your management system to integrate global strategy with local country implementation and localise global content to make it relevant for each market.

• Make the most of all content – including template and top-level content optimisation – e.g. make sure all content on the page fully indexable, including navigations, ensure that all page titles and meta data are optimised, check that search engines are able to follow all links on the page.

• Organsations with global websites can enhance the value of their content through interlinking between sites – however should link each page to a similar/relevant page on the other country sites, rather than just including home page links.

• Develop content to satisfy a user need e.g. how to guides or product usage information.

• Compare glossary in translation memory tools to keyword lists to make sure they match up

Other speakers at the one day event, which was held as part of SMX West, included Maura Ginty of Autodesk, Andy Atkins-Krueger from WebCertain, Philippe Pieri from Cisco and LinkedIn Co-Founder Konstantin Guericke. Watch out for further posts around the International Search Summit sessions.

The next International Search Summit will take place in Munich on April 4th, followed by London on May 18th. The next US Summit will be in Seattle as part of SMX Advanced, and the agenda for that event will be released later this week.

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Eastern Europe, The Middle East and Africa are all regions that are rapidly developing when it comes to web use and becoming increasingly popular targets for global organisations.

We speak to Google’s Steffen Ehrhardt ahead of the [...]]]> Eastern Europe, The Middle East and Africa are all regions that are rapidly developing when it comes to web use and becoming increasingly popular targets for global organisations.

We speak to Google’s Steffen Ehrhardt ahead of the International Search Summit Munich to find out more about targeting these  emerging markets, display advertising and global search in general.

As an Emerging Market Specialist, you focus particularly on Central & Eastern Europe, The Middle East and North Africa. What are the main online trends you are seeing in these markets at the moment?

More and more people are going online but the big difference to Western Europe is that in Emerging Markets more people go online via mobile devices.  Especially in countries where there is a poor landline infrastructure mobile devices are key for online access and with all the new high-end devices a lot more people have  the opportunity to go online for the first time. So one interesting development that is happening because of this are a lot of innovations around mobile e.g. m-banking. Another interesting trend is for example the creation of content in non-English languages – Arabic is currently the fastest growing language on the web.

How do these markets differ from more developed online markets say in Western Europe? What do marketers targeting countries in these regions need to be aware of?

Generally you can say that Western European markets are a lot more developed in direct online transactions, so have also a lot more direct response online campaigns, mainly because conversion rates are easier to track.  Emerging markets often lack a standardized, trusted form of payment, clearly defined ICT regulations etc. so direct transactions are less often made online. Also competition and user  interests and behaviour can heavily vary from market to market.

You’re also part of the Google’s display team – how does display compare to other online advertising mediums in EMEA in terms of usage? Has there been an increase? Does it vary much by region/country?

Display is currently getting a lot of attention and more and more people realise the potential display advertising has. Growth rates in display are really impressive globally and in a lot of markets it is growing even faster than for example search advertising. I think advertisers are realizing the effect of having a holistic view on online advertising so aligning search with display and other online advertising activities. Display offers a lot of different solutions today like Video, Dynamic Ads or Remarketing that combined with creativity can deliver great results. Usage of display in general varies a lot from market to market e.g. in some Middle Eastern countries display is more important in the whole advertising mix than in some Western European markets.

In your opinion, how should organisations be using display as part of their international online strategy? How does it integrate with other online tools & techniques?

First of all you have to define  a clear strategy of what you want to achieve with the internationalisation of your products or services and if you have an offline business you have to make sure activities are aligned cross channel. Online definitely makes it easier to internationalise but I still see a lot of companies totally underestimating the work that is required when you want to go into other markets. You can not just copy a successful campaign, translate it and hope it will work in another countries – you need to know market specifics, what are established forms of payment, regulations that may affect your business etc. With regards to tools – there is a wide range of great tools in the market, from Google I’d like to specifically highlight: AdPlanner, Remarketing, Global Market Finder Tool, Insights for Search and of course Analytics.

If you could give one prediction for what we should expect in 2011 – either in search and/or display – what would it be?

The biggest growth in 2011 that I see is in the following areas: Mobile, Local, Social and Video & Dynamic Advertising. So my one prediction is that the combination of all these areas opens up an incredible potential for advertisers where the user will also see a lot of benefits.

Finally, why should people attend the International Search Summit?

There are a lot of great online events but most of them are focused on what is happening in a specific markets or in a specific region. International Search Summit is for me personally a key event you have to attend when you want to be be successful in online marketing across several markets globally, at the same time. There are a lot of roadblocks you need to be aware of – campaigns can be successful in one market but not in another one and the International Search Summit sessions will help you to minimise risks and to understand what is required to be successful in all markets.

Steffen will be speaking on the Impact of Display on Search at the International Search Summit Munich on April 4th. Also speaking at the event are Evgeny Lomize, Yandex; Cedric Chambaz, Microsoft; Florian Reisinger, BMW; Andy Atkins-Krüger, WebCertain and Thomas de Buhr, YouTube.

Tickets for the Summit, which will take place alongside SMX Munich, are still available.

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The Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is finally coming to fruition with marketers and advertisers in Europe beginning to feel the effects of the partnership in early 2010.

In advance of his session at the International Search Summit Munich on [...]]]> The Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is finally coming to fruition with marketers and advertisers in Europe beginning to feel the effects of the partnership in early 2010.

In advance of his session at the International Search Summit Munich on April 4th, Microsoft’s Cedric Chambaz, gives an insight into the development of the alliance and what it means for search marketers around the world.

Can you just give us a brief overview of what the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is?

First it is critical to understand that the Yahoo! and Microsoft partnership is, as it says on the tin, a “Search Alliance”. Not a fusion, not an acquisition… An alliance, limited to search.

As a result of the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance, Microsoft’s technology will power Yahoo!’s search and search advertising infrastructure, meaning that the search alliance covers algorithmic search (web, image and video through Bing algorithm) and search advertising. Microsoft and Yahoo! will unify their paid search marketplaces, and Microsoft’s search advertising platform, Microsoft Advertising adCenter, will be used for paid search advertising.

The search alliance however does not include any aspects of display advertising, vertical searches or Yahoo! site searches, such as queries on Flickr or Yahoo! News. In these fields, our two companies will continue to compete.

The search alliance offers brands and search agencies a new competitive alternative as the two best converting search engines consolidate their high quality audiences. Practically spoken, advertisers can now promote their business to a larger, highly converting audience of Bing and Yahoo! users, in less time and efforts. This improves productivity and budget efficiencies, especially for resource-constrained advertisers, by allowing them to manage their search campaigns at both search engines from a single platform.

What stage is the roll out at in North America? And what about Europe?

After the natural search algorithm was successfully  implemented in Yahoo!’s Search in Northern America in late-August, at end of October we completed another major milestone for the search alliance transition in the U.S. and Canada: Microsoft Advertising adCenter now powers all of the paid search advertisements on Yahoo!’s owned and operated properties and its publisher network. Advertisers operate a single account on adCenter that powers search advertising campaigns across the combined audience of Bing and Yahoo! currently reaching 164 million in the U.S. and 15 million in Canada.[1]

For Europe, we anticipate the organic search transitions for the UK, France, Ireland, Germany, Spain and Italy to begin in the first quarter of 2011, with other European markets following in mid-2011. We expect to begin the paid search transition in the UK, France and Ireland in the second quarter of 2011, with other European markets to start in late 2011 and early 2012. Our goal is to provide a quality transition experience for advertisers in Europe. If we feel that it would improve the overall experience, we may adjust the timing of the organic and paid search transitions.

Is the plan to eventually rollout in all markets? And what are the timescales for reaching Eastern Europe, and Asia?

In addition to the roll-out in Europe early 2011, we expect to start transitioning in further international markets also in early 2011 for selected markets in Asia as well as Latin America, with all global customers and partners expected to be transitioned by early 2012.

What does it mean for organisations that are currently advertising on Yahoo! and/or Bing in Europe? And how will it impact organic rankings in both search engines?

Search advertisers will need to transition their account to the Microsoft Advertising adCenter platform in order to continue showing their adverts on the Yahoo! sites and their partners. In case advertisers don’t have an adCenter account we’ll support them in creating one allowing them to reach Yahoo! traffic once the Yahoo! Search ad serving transition is completed. With a single platform with superior targeting capabilities, they will then save time and effort by managing only one global account for their search marketing campaigns across both search engines.

Once the algorithm for natural search is completed, the organic results displayed on both Yahoo! Search and Bing will be the same with the single difference that each company will continue to own and enrich its individual consumer experience. However, the current organic ranking in Yahoo’s search engine might possibly change once results are powered by Bing as the website ranking will be 100% based on how the Bing algorithm indexes and ranks the relevance of your site for a particular search query. Therefore, we recommend that webmasters ensure that their sites are properly referenced and indexed by the Bing algorithm by them time the transition will be completed. Webmasters can register their websites and sitemaps in the Bing Webmaster tool.

What about those not currently using Yahoo!/Bing – what does the alliance offer them? What benefits will it bring?

Firstly, advertisers will gain access to more highly converting customers in several markets through the combined traffic of Yahoo! Search and Bing. In the UK for instance, the combined Yahoo! Search and Bing audience is 36% more likely to buy online than the average user[2].  Additionally, the Search Alliance reaches users that advertisers won’t be able to reach elsewhere: 5 million unique users use Microsoft and Yahoo! Sites (including Yahoo! Search, Bing, and partners) that don’t use Google in the UK[3].

Secondly, the campaign setup and management will be easier and more time- and therefore cost-efficient as advertisers will have one sales force supporting them as well as a one set of campaigns and keyword structures on a single platform.

Third and primarily what we hear from advertisers: The Search Alliance offers a competitive choice in search, providing advertisers with greater value and efficiency by delivering a higher quality audience and a better conversation rate driving a greater ROI.

And finally, why should people attend the International Search Summit?

The International Search Summit, combined with SMX Munich, is a great opportunity for advertisers and publishers to get their head around the up and coming trends in global  search. The global deployment of the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is obviously a major evolution in the advertising industry and it is important to get a good understanding of its impact and associated opportunities for your business.

Other speakers at the International Search Summit include Steffen Ehrhardt, Google; Evgeny Lomize, Yandex; Andy Atkins-Krüger, WebCertain; Florian Reisinger, BMW and Thomas de Buhr, YouTube.

View the full agenda and register for the Summit

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Overcoming language barriers is one of the greatest challenges for any business targeting an international audience, particularly in the social space where multiple conversations are happening on multiple platforms in multiple languages all the time.

Here we talk to Jani Penttinen, [...]]]> Overcoming language barriers is one of the greatest challenges for any business targeting an international audience, particularly in the social space where multiple conversations are happening on multiple platforms in multiple languages all the time.

Here we talk to Jani Penttinen, founder of multilingual community Xiha about how he has developed a platform to facilitate multilingual communications and the role it can play in helping organisations to develop their  international visibility.

Jani will be speaking at the International Search Summit Munich on April 4th.

For those who don’t know, can you tell us a bit about Xiha?

Xiha is a three year old technology startup focused on solving issues around languages and translation and providing speakers of different languages ways to communicate with each other. We operate our own social network www.xihalife.com, and at the start of 2011 we started selling the platform as a service to other businesses under the brand PremiumFanPage. With PFP, we provide a service where a business can operate their website in a number of languages without extra effort

All content, from static text to blogs and Twitter feeds, is translated by human professionals in near real time, so a customer in Japan will see a fully Japanese website while someone in America might be looking at an English language website. We also embed Google Translate to all content, so it is easy to communicate with visitors. This is based on what we have been doing with the Xiha community for the past three years now, and we are very happy to be able to provide the same tools for everyone.

Why did you decide develop the site?

I was living in China at the time, and there was no website that worked in Chinese and English and provided ways to mingle with the locals. I couldn’t use the local websites as they were in Chinese and the locals didn’t want to use the foreign websites, which were all in English. My wife, who is Chinese, had the same problem as she was interested in learning more about other countries. She had the idea of a community where everyone could use their own language for browsing but still make friends in other countries, so together we started building the site and later started a company around it.

You’ve created a large global community. What has it taught you about the way users from different countries/cultures interact online? What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned?

First of all, people from different cultural backgrounds certainly behave different way in the online community. Members from the Nordic countries are quiet and kind of shy, while Asians are not afraid to talk to anyone and ask for help to improve their English. People from Latin America and southern Europe are very talkative and colourful.

For the most part, the Xiha community works really well. People are there because they are interested in other cultures, so they’re quite tolerant of the differences in behaviour. I’ve also noticed that people are really OK with broken language, so nobody needs to be afraid to write even if they don’t know the language very well. And as we provide the machine translation for all of the content, so we often see lively discussions where everyone is writing in their own language!

It’s been a pleasant surprise to notice that people can interact even if there is no common language. Machine translation is not perfect, but then again it’s usually a better option than not being able to communicate at all. Google is also doing an excellent job improving the quality of translations all the time. We get most of our traffic from international searches, from outside of the English speaking world, mostly because we have a large website with a lot of public content in dozens of languages. We’ve learned this to be a competitive edge – the market is way less saturated when you go outside of the English speaking countries, and the smaller the language group, the better we perform.

In your opinion, how can organisations leverage social sites like Xiha to engage with customers and boost brand awareness?

The tools we provide, both in the Xiha community and as a platform, help organizations speak with the customer despite the language barriers. The Xiha community is quite unique because it is so widely spread – one million people in over 200 countries, with no country representing over 5% of the total!

Quite often a company only has customer service in one or two languages, while they may have customers around the world. As I said before, people from different cultural backgrounds behave differently so it is very important to get a direct contact with the customers in different markets. Even if you have local sales offices, the headquarters should keep some level of contact with the customers to better understand the needs. A lot of companies already have a Facebook fan page, which is a good idea, but they are completely missing out on other languages.

At the International Search Summit, you will be talking about the role multilingual SEO played in growing Xiha around the world. If you could give just one tip to marketers running international search campaigns, what would it be?

Work with real humans, native speakers, when coming up with keywords, search phrases and content. Never attempt to shortcut by using a machine translator. It works well with human to human interactions but it will fail with search engines, for a number of reasons.

And finally, why should people attend the International Search Summit?

It has never been more important to focus on international markets. There is so much new research coming out, and the market is exploding rapidly. Performing well in this space can be a real competitive edge for any startup.
The International Search Summit is a conference series focusing exclusively on international and multilingual search and social media topics.  In 2011 the event is being held alongside the Search Marketing Expo conference (SMX) in San Jose, Munich, London, Seattle and New York.

For more details on speakers, sessions and registration visit www.internationalsearchsummit.com

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The early bird rates for the International Search Summit @ SMX West will expire on Saturday February 5th – so register now to join us in San Jose.

The Summit will follow SMX West on March 11th,  with a [...]]]> The early bird rates for the International Search Summit @ SMX West will expire on Saturday February 5th – so register now to join us in San Jose.

The Summit will follow SMX West on March 11th,  with a full day of sessions focusing on the issues and challenges of running search and social campaigns across multiple countries and languages.

You should attend the Summit if you want to:

-    Identify the best international opportunities for your business
-    Learn new techniques for improving existing international campaigns
-    Avoid wasting money on poorly planned and executed international activity
-    Discover language and cultural factors which could affect your success
-    Understand user behavior in different regions
-    Network with fellow global marketers, as well as experienced international specialists

All of the speakers at the Summit are there because of their experience in international and multilingual online marketing. Here’s our speaker line-up:

Andy Atkins-Krüger – CEO of International Search agency WebCertain and regular speaker and columnist on all things global. Also, the Chair of the International Search Summit events.

Konstantin Guericke – CO-Founder of LinkedIn and a driving force behind the network’s global expansion.

Philippe Pieri – Global Web Strategy Manager at Cisco, and responsible for its 85 websites around the world.

Bill Hunt – Renowned global marketer, former Director of Global Search Strategy for Ogilvy and CEO of Global Strategies International and now President of Back Azimuth Consulting.

Maura Ginty – Search and Social Manager at Autodesk and responsible for establishing the first centralized SEO, web content and social media programs for the global software company.

Michael Bonfils – CEO of WebCertain’s US division, Michael has worked on multilingual search campaigns for many years, with particular expertise in the Asian markets.

Motoko Hunt – Owner of AJPR, a Japanese search agency and Chairman of SEMPO’s Asia Committee, Motoko has been working in global search for over a decade.

Jay Webster – Jay comes from an advertising and technology background, and  is the Divisional Vice President for Quova – a leader in IP Geo-location and geo-targeting.

There are also a couple of speakers yet to announce! View the full agenda.

There will be Q&A opportunities with all of our speakers, as well as an “Everything you wanted to know about International Search” Panel, giving delegates an open forum to ask anything they want to know about search and social marketing around the world.

Tickets can be booked as part of an SMX combi-pass or just for the International Search Summit. Register before Saturday February 5th to secure the best rates

The International Search Summit has been running since 2008 covering a range of international seo, ppc and social media topics, with speakers from around the world.

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I’d hazard a guess that at least 99% of people reading this post will have a LinkedIn profile and I’d put money on the likelihood that your connections will not be limited to people in your own organisation, your [...]]]> I’d hazard a guess that at least 99% of people reading this post will have a LinkedIn profile and I’d put money on the likelihood that your connections will not be limited to people in your own organisation, your own city or even your own country.

With over 90 million users across 200 countries, LinkedIn has not only become an integral part of working life, but also a huge opportunity for marketers to reach a relevant, targeted audience anywhere in the world.

Here, we talk to Konstantin Guericke, one of LinkedIn’s co-founders to ask him how the business network became an international success and how organisations can leverage its global reach.

Konstantin, LinkedIn has transcended language/culture and become a truly global network – how has it achieved that, and what has made it so successful?

We have done some things in the product that go above and beyond typical localization, but it is also a testament to the fact that world is flat. More and more professionals have international business contacts, so as they connect their network into LinkedIn to access people and information more effectively, they automatically spread and strengthen LinkedIn in countries across the globe.

Our global leadership role is also a result of that fact that trust and relationships are key for effective business across cultures. I think in many places, trust is even more important than in the US: Middle East, Japan, China, etc…

When you first started in 2003, did you ever envisage it being such a success?

We consciously worked on a very large opportunity and sought the right investment partners to support us in that, but we were also acutely aware of at least half a dozen major reasons why LinkedIn might never take off.

As VP of Marketing, you played a major role in the international growth of LinkedIn. What were the major challenges you faced?

As we spent no money on advertising, our focus was on supporting our members as they spread the word, helping our users get the most out of LinkedIn and PR. One of the challenges we faced was that we were quickly copied in other countries, did not have localized versions right away and it took time for us to build up the network in other countries.  So local competitors  thrived for a while, but because the world is so interconnected, there is a huge incentive for professionals to have access to investors, experts, partners, etc. outside of their home country.

LinkedIn’s huge membership level, along with its global reach makes it an appealing channel for marketers targeting a global audience. How can organisations use it effectively as a marketing tool?

For global reach, I would highlight advertising, polls, groups and company pages. These four work best if used in a coordinated fashion and integrated into your website and other online marketing programs. All except advertising are free, and companies can get going with advertising via DirectAds for as little as $10 per day. For groups, for example, you can set up sub-groups in languages other than English, where people can provide feedback on your product and initiatives or discuss a topic related to your market.

For B2B segments with high average selling prices, targeted searches are usually the best way to identify the most promising customers and partners, and while InMail is an excellent option, in many cases it’s hard to beat getting a warm introduction from someone your prospect already knows and trusts.

Finally, why should people attend the International Search Summit?

Having lived, worked and studied not only in the US, but also in Europe and Asia, I think it is important to remember that most significant corporations derive over 50% of their revenue from outside of the US. Companies succeed when they adapt not only to the local culture, but also market conditions. It is a challenge to be global and local at the same time, but there are many examples of how US companies have succeeded, so you can learn a lot from both failures and successes.

Konstantin will be speaking at the International Search Summit in San Jose on March 11th. The Summit is a one day event, being held alongside SMX West.  Early Bird registration is still open.

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The sixth International Search Summit London has been and gone. And it was a very international event, with over half of the speakers coming from non-English speaking countries, and only 3 speakers from the UK.

As is now customary at [...]]]> The sixth International Search Summit London has been and gone. And it was a very international event, with over half of the speakers coming from non-English speaking countries, and only 3 speakers from the UK.

As is now customary at International Search Summit events, the delegates voted at the end of the day for their favourite speaker of the day,  who receives the Medallion Speaker award, and this time the vote went to Inway Ni, VP of Chinese gaming site 4399.com.

4399.com is one of the most popular sites in China, with over 100 million users and 30 million unique visitors each day and Inway explained how the site has become so successful and gave his key tips for anyone attempting to target a Chinese audience online.

Delegates had a further insight into the Chinese market when Cui Min from Baidu spoke about the products and services offered by the country’s leading search engine and helped delegates understand the opportunities available to them.

There were also lively sessions on social media, in particular Facebook, from Massimo Burgio and Mary Weintraub, an introduction to the Semantic Web from Professor Martin Hepp and case studies from The British Council and Autodesk on how they manage SEO across global websites.

If you want to learn more about some of the topics covered at the Summit, Louis Venter blogposts at State of Search cover many of the sessions from the day.

The International Search Summit is now done for 2010, but will back for events across North America and Europe in 2011 – so watch this space for updates on speakers, sessions and locations!

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Everyone is talking about social media, and many companies are actively participating in it. But with so many channels, tools and techniques available are global brands making the most of it and is it an effective marketing tool. We’ve asked [...]]]> Everyone is talking about social media, and many companies are actively participating in it. But with so many channels, tools and techniques available are global brands making the most of it and is it an effective marketing tool. We’ve asked Massimo Burgio, a global search and social expert where companies are going wrong with social – and what they should be doing to engage users and build their brand using social media.

What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in global social media at the moment?

Not much, really… maybe the NewTwitter as a better tool, or platforms like SocialCast or Jive for managing social media marketing project on a team scale. Social media is growing fast on the consumer side, while the brands look like they spent all their creative efforts in offline media, as I don’t see big commitment on the social media side. The most exciting news this year is probably the decision of Pepsi not to invest $20M on a Superbowl ad, and to invest it in social media instead– but not on Facebook and the likes. They threw a contest for social business ideas, and gave the money to support sustainable businesses. However, there is nothing new even here, Google does it all the time…

What are the biggest mistakes being made by organisations in their international social media strategies?

Waiting for social media success to happen because of the users’ activity, rather than stimulating conversation and proposing new ways of engagement. This is a global mistake but not necessarily a mistake in global strategies. It just happens over and over all around the world, and marketers keep doing the same mistakes in every country.

How important is it for organisations to plan their social media activity? Should social media activity be planned – or is it more spontaneous, and reactive?

Social media marketing is not black magic, it’s just another channel for marketing fellas to engage in. And like any other marketing channel, it needs serious planning of content, resources, commitment. The reactive part (replying to a comment or a thread) is nothing more than any other community management process – always on. But companies cannot allow their presence on social networks to be determined by users in terms of content – they need to focus on how, what and when to communicate, with some decent planning.

There are so many social media tools, platforms and channels – how can marketers determine which tools will be most effective in their chosen target markets?

It’s all about strategic and competitive analysis. Marketers should market where their target audience is, and not just jump on the first option only because it is fancy. Sometimes social media means also being active on “boring” networks such as LinkedIn or Yahoo! Answers, but those can sometimes be more effective than “shining happy networks” such as Facebook, twitter or (remember that?) Second Life. I suggest looking at the Conversation Prism designed by Brian Solis, I will talk about it at the International Search Summit London.

What role do you think SEO plays in achieving success in social media campaigns?

SEO plays a pivotal role in everything internet. Even if it’s not possible to implement SEO coding on many social networks profiles, knowledge from SEO should always drive in the choice of vanity URLs, profile names, tags and categories when allowed, and so on. On the digital media side, meaning the optimisation of all media we distribute on social networks (text, links, images, videos, maps), SEO is definitely the main reference for all social media optimisation techniques.

If you could give just one tip to marketers running global search/social campaigns, what would it be?

One tip? Only one? It won’t be enough… So I’ll go with: “You’re putting your brand in the front line. Be prepared and know what you are doing.”

And one final one, why attend the International Search Summit?

Because it has a very particular take on search, from the global perspective. And because it’s fun, of course!

The International Search Summit London will take place on 28th October at The British Library. Visit www.internationalsearchsummit.com/london for the full agenda and to register!

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China’s leading search engine Baidu will be joining Russian market leader Yandex and Middle Eastern search engine Ayna at the International Search Summit London on 28th October.

Senior Product Manager for Baidu, Min Cui, will be speaking on the Chinese [...]]]> China’s leading search engine Baidu will be joining Russian market leader Yandex and Middle Eastern search engine Ayna at the International Search Summit London on 28th October.

Senior Product Manager for Baidu, Min Cui, will be speaking on the Chinese search market and giving delegates insights into how marketers can use Baidu to reach a Chinese audience.

Min Cui manages the Product team that looks after the Phoenix Nest Platform, Baidu’s own ad management and ad serving system.

China, Russia and The Middle East are 3 of the fastest growing global internet markets, and a recent study has shown that web users in China and The Middle East spend more time online than in any other markets.

All three search engines will be presenting at the event, as well as participating in a Q & A session.

Also speaking at the Summit is Inway Ni, the VP of 4399.com – the largest gaming site in China. He will be discussing how he has achieved such success with his website and giving tips and advice on effective SEO and SEM strategies for the Chinese market.

The Summit will also feature case studies from global organisations Autodesk and The British Council, and sessions from leading global search experts including Mikkel deMib Svendsen, Marty Weintraub and Massimo Burgio.

Tickets for the Summit are still available.

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