ARTICLES ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MARKETING & SEO ISSUES
by Mathias Levarek, Ph.D.

Articles are updated regularly.

01/16/2012 - 10 good reasons to build your Facebook Fan Pages with MSEO.com

When a friend or a family member asks me for suggestions in regards to the promotion of their website, I basically make all the recommendations according to what I would do if their site was mine: improving content with relevant keywords enriched texts, bettering the link popularity of the site, re-optimization, going multilingual to reach foreign markets efficiently and to get profiled as a “global site” in the eyes of Google technology etc. Read more...

01/15/2012 - Your website is available in several languages:

Promote its translated versions through Optimized Multilingual Facebook Fan Pages:

Has your website been translated? If yes, are you satisfied with your current international rankings on foreign search engines?

In most cases, the translated versions of a website which do not bring the expected traffic, have just been prepared by translators and not optimized by native SEO technicians. Read more...

12/27/2011 - Multilingual Facebook Fan Pages strategy for websites in English only

Classic SEO is not sufficient any longer in itself to deliver optimum traffic. It needs to be complemented through the interaction resulting from language specific Facebook Fan Pages. In fact, developing a serious corporate profile on Facebook is not just an option nowadays, but rather, it has become an obligation for any website seriously committed to their online presence.

If your website is in English only, creating Optimized Multilingual Facebook Fan Pages is by far the most cost efficient approach to generate global qualified traffic. Read more...

12/12/2011 - Automated computer generated translations just won’t do the trick!

When it comes to international SEO or, in other terms, when it comes to promoting foreign language content on multilingual search engines, ranking algorithms are calculated significantly differently from what you are used to in English.

In fact, the multilingual content of a site bears different ranking algorithms according to each language... Think about it this way: Japanese is based on a 64-bit character alphabet, while English is a 32-bit alphabet. Of course, different alphabets and characters influence SEO-related technical issues, but foreign search engines are mainly faced with the challenge of having to differentiate between genuine text versus “faked” translations. Read more...

09/21/2011 - The “Gold Mine” behind Third World online markets

All right, I know... I should not refer to "Third World markets", but rather to "emerging economies" to be more politically correct! Let's establish the fact that being politically correct is not my forté and that when referring to countries such as India or Peru, I do realize that in no way can they be referred to as "Third World" in today's context. However, such countries are still totally similar to true Third World markets, at least from an online perspective.

Now, let's consider these locations not as country-specific, but rather as language-online-market shares. Let's take French as an example. Of course, French involves wealthy internet platforms such as France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, etc. However, French also represents close to half of Africa, featuring countries as poor as Chad, Congo, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, or Gabon! At first, it would not appear that such countries could be viable markets. However, like in most "distressed economic platforms" (isn't that a nice euphemism for being politically correct this time?!?), the middle class is pretty much nonexistent. In other terms, you are either "dirt poor" or “stinky wealthy”. Read more...

09/16/2011 - How to Respond to Online Defamation

Over the last 10 years, I have been confronted numerous times with customers who were victims of online defamation. In an extreme case, one of our customers had gone from a successful company with 82 employees down to having to file bankruptcy within 1 year due to the severity of the online comments which had been erroneously posted to discredit their website.

In light of my experience, when encountering such situation, my first advice is to never respond to fabricated comments. It only enhances the weight of such comments. No exception.

The best way to respond to defamation is by launching a diligent link-building campaign aiming at drowning the defamatory material. Read more...

09/07/2011 - Content Relevancy on Multilingual Platforms

When it comes to international SEO or, in other terms, when it comes to promoting foreign language content on multilingual search engines, ranking algorithms are calculated significantly differently from what you are used to in English.

In fact, the multilingual content of a site bears different ranking algorithms according to each language... Think about it this way: Japanese is based on a 64-bit character alphabet, while English is a 32-bit alphabet. Of course, different alphabets and characters influence SEO-related technical issues, but foreign search engines are mainly faced with the challenge of having to differentiate between genuine text versus “faked” translations. Read more...

06/06/2011 - PPC: For you, or not?

In today's internet context, many website operators wonder if advertising via pay-per-click (PPC) is still a viable option. I am not referring just to PPC, but mainly Google AdWords. In fact, when a customer asks an SEO company about PPCs, they are rarely referring to Yahoo Search Marketing and, in most cases, want some feedback pertinent to investing through Google AdWords.

From what we have observed over the last few years, Google AdWords is a risky business. The only guarantee is that you will spend a great amount of money and that you will get traffic accordingly, but the conversion rate has become overly uncertain for most marketers. Read more...

09/03/2010 - SEO agencies rarely publish their own rankings!

When considering working with a new SEO agency, it is obvious that potential customers need to ask for references - just like with any other business, the profile of the clientele reflects on the agency’s credibility and know-how... just like with any other business, you may expect the agency to send you their best work, websites ranking high & a list of satisfied customers (!). It is almost like going to the fish store and ask “Is your fish fresh today?”. Just how often will the person in front of you say “It is not all fresh... here is the fresh one, but we also mix it with was fished last week...” I am sure that like myself, you will agree that clientele’s references are just not enough regardless of how prestigious the portfolio may be. Read more...

01/29/2010 - Link-building Should Be Performed "In-House"

In today’s internet context, link-building should be performed in-house, in most cases.

The problem has always been “Where do I start? Article submissions? How does it work? Social networking? How could my website benefit from that? Directory submissions? What’s that about? Forum postings? What’s the secret? Blogging? What is SEO-relevant? Press releases? What’s the real deal? Link exchange? Does it still really work?” But the big question ends up being “How and where do I start?”

Too often, people feel “unqualified” and/or overwhelmed with such tasks... Link-building is, after all, one of the most important aspects of your online presence. It is like oxygen for your site. Link-building is the primary consideration for Google technology in helping to define how “alive” your website is within targeted online communities. Read more...

11/26/2008 - Keywords Rarely Translate Literally

When considering “going global” - when contemplating publishing multilingual material online – when developing a true presence on foreign search engines, the accuracy of the keyword strategy is crucial and should be viewed as a top priority.

In fact, when targeting multilingual online markets, it takes much more than just localizing the content of your website into a foreign language and blindly translating the source code of your page (meta tags, etc.). Read more...

10/9/2008 - In today's economic challenge, a true international online presence is not an option!

In light of all the catastrophic economy-related news which “The Media” enjoyed so much sharing with us over the past few weeks, I am asking the following question: “Have you noticed in times of recession how some individuals are thriving in abundance... and on the same token, how some others always experience financial distress in times of flourishing economy?”

I decided to write this short article as I just received the most absurd feedback from a potential customer interested in the Multilingual Search Engine Optimization services offered by MSEO.com. Basically, I was speaking to a lady located in the New York area who was interested in promoting her website on foreign search engines in 5 languages (Japanese, French, Spanish, German and Russian). Although she obviously understood that her website would greatly benefit from such international presence, she was hesitant to move forward “due to the recession” according to her wording, which almost sounded like a mantra (she only repeated the word “recession” 8 times during a 15 minute conversation)!! Read more...

10/7/2008 - New websites must try harder!

Having seniority on the web is definitely a great ranking eligibility benefit! In fact, Google seems to love “old websites”.

Back in the late 1990s/early 2000, the Web was not as sophisticated as it is in today’s internet context. Most listings were based on the genuine character of the offer being featured. In other terms, when most information was being manually posted on the web, less “spammy” material was being submitted. Nowadays, over 50% of all new listings are generated automatically, and it takes Google many layers of database filtering through sophisticated ranking algorithms to separate genuine pages versus what would be better archived in the trash! Read more...

9/30/2008 - Buying Links to Increase Your PR: An Obsolete Link Enhancement Approach! Unless...

I will start this article by explaining in a nutshell the concept of buying links for those who are not familiar with such methodology. Basically, companies such as Text Link Ads have been selling one-way-links from websites featuring pages with a high PR. In other terms, “link brokers” syndicate a whole network of websites willing to accept links pointing to your site. The purpose of such links is not to generate traffic, but rather to “simulate artificially” a strong link popularity factor by having links pointing to your site from web pages featuring a high PR.

The higher the PR, the more expensive for link space. Furthermore, these link brokering services specialize in not only giving you the possibility to pay for a link coming from a quality page, but also you can target the industry of the website from where such links will be posted. Read more...

9/19/2008 - Adding Keyword-enriched content, a.k.a. “Kissing Up to Google”!!

Allow me to start this article by mentioning emphatically that NO pejorative connotation was meant by the title of this article. I am just proudly (!) quoting what my son once said when he was 10 ... As I was trying to explain my profession, his feedback had the straightforwardness and purity that young children can deliver: “So, you are kissing up to Google...Is that what you do, Dad?” There it was in black and white! “Google kisser-upper” from my son’s perspective, “international SEO expert” from a professional aspect! Regardless of terminology, this incident didn’t fail to amuse me and inspired me for the kickoff of this article related to adding content “just to please Google”!

Anyway, last week, I was in Amsterdam on business. I just love Amsterdam – a city called by some as “world capital of freedom” - a city where everything works – a city with unbelievable bandwidth - and, aside from being a European cultural treasure, Amsterdam is a nest of talented SEO professionals. I just love Amsterdam (did I just repeat myself?)! Read more...

8/28/2008 - Arabic Online Markets: Open Sesame!!

As you might know from having visited MSEO.com, we have a fully staffed office in Hazmieh (Beirut), Lebanon. Our Lebanese team is in charge of the development for all of our Arabic SEO campaigns. Over the years of working with such a talented team of multilingual professionals (most of them speak English/French fluently as well), I have learned a lot about the “Arabic online world”.

Our Arabic SEO branch is extremely active within the Arabic IT communities. They exhibit this year at the GITEX 08 in Dubai, promoting our World Tour Seminars (I happen to be the speaker at those events/SEO workshops). Our next four events, in November 2008 and January 2009, will be held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Bahrain. I am not writing this in an effort to promote our SEO Seminars, but rather wishing to bring your attention to our targeted destinations: Gulf countries only. What’s going on with such geo-targeted marketing effort? Read more...

8/25/2008 - Forecasting Results for a Multilingual SEO Campaign is Impossible

When considering promoting a website on multilingual search engines, most people wish they could forecast the results: “How about if I add Chinese? How much traffic can I expect? How about Chinese and Japanese? How about 10 languages?...Come on! You are the multilingual SEO pros! You should know!”... regrettably, such “crystal ball” is not available to us. There is no technical way to assess such factor without guesstimating.... and even then, such projection would be extremely arbitrary and not professional from our perspective.... Of course, there are lots of unscrupulous companies in our line of industry using such “predictions” as a marketing leverage/sales tool. We do not. In fact, as the CEO of MSEO.com, Inc., a.k.a. MSEO.com, I have clearly instructed my staff to refrain from making such unreasonable traffic estimation.  The protrusion of these forecasts simply dishonors SEO professionals: once again, there is no technical/algorithmic way to guess traffic regardless of the amount of languages combined in any given campaign. Read more...

8/19/2008 - Your website has been optimized.... Now WHAT???

Last week, as I was having lunch in a restaurant, a young man sat next to me wearing a T-shirt stating “ The road to success is always under construction!” I thought right away about how much this applied to all websites!

As I came back  to my office shortly thereafter, I spoke to a customer whose website had just been re-optimized a couple weeks earlier. This individual asked me to  forecast as per when he should expect to see ranking improvements. I was somehow surprised to be asked  that question such a short time after we had updated his site... regrettably, to my customer’s frustration, I had to respond “it depends...” as I realized that I would have to cover several variables involved in all SEO campaigns. This is why I decided to write the following article in order to emphasize the fact that re-optimizing your site is only part of the overall strategy that every single website marketer should implement. Read more...

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