International SEO

[JoshuaMackens]

I've been getting a lot of requests for different countries for Local SEO.

Is SEO in States that much different than SEO say in France?

 

[Colan Nielsen]

@JoshuaMackens I would think the biggest difference would be the language. But as far as I can tell the general SEO principles are going to be the same.

 

[JoshuaMackens]

Thank you sir!

 

[Rich Owings]

Claiming listings can be a bit more of a pain. For example, scheduling phone verifications across time zones, countries with no reliable mail delivery or street address standards, etc.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

I've found that basic best practices are the same, but implementation is often more difficult for many of the reasons @Rich Owings mentioned. Directory updates can be a real pain. Some countries use black hat methods more than others, so you may end up with a lot of backlink cleanup (for example). You also have different laws as far as content depending on the country and the service, biases for some industries (chiropractors aren't real doctors, for example), unique local vernaculars and ways users search, etc (which can be especially difficult if you don;t know the language). Some areas are more difficult to target neighborhoods and suburbs, but ranking in the city is SO competitive....

You just need to really do your research on the location to pick out these quirks, and if you choose to work for someone where the language is something you're unfamiliar with then you'll want to work closely with someone who can help translate for you.

 

[JoshuaMackens]

Excellent advice everyone! Thank you!