SEO Werkt!

Google top guy on localization and internationalization at Google Search, Christopher Semturs, spoke out on one of his pet peeves when it comes to this topic.

He said…

Google top guy on localization and internationalization at Google Search, Christopher Semturs, spoke out on one of his pet peeves when it comes to this topic.

He said, he hates it when web sites give him a language and keep him in that language based on his IP. He said:

I encountered quite a few web pages which forced me to a specific language without giving me an option to change this, e.g. by trying to guess the language from my location (and sadly, sometimes guessing it wrong).

Christopher didn’t just complain, he decided to outline the main things SEOs and webmasters should consider when deploying sites with multiple languages. He wrote:

• Verify that your page always returns content for all users, e.g. does not crash for GoogleBot (no Accept-Language header) or on unexpected user settings.
• Make sure that each language is available under itâs own specific URL (e.g. www.example.com/de/ showing content in German).
• On the main page, provide links to the language-specific URLs, e.g. as a language switcher somewhere on the page. Pro-Tip: Use symbols (flags), or write the language names in their native language.
• For search engines, add the rel-alternate-hreflang annotations.

He ended saying that if you follow these recommendations it will make him personally happy but also “allow search engines to see all language variations of your web page.”

Forum discussion at Google+.

This week our guest posts focus on the latest trends in SEO.

Today: Bringing your SEO efforts up to date by Brad Shorr. 

If your firm is fixated on its search ranking positions, you are dangerously out of date with your approach to SEO.

I stress “dangerously” because, while rankings have been a poor barometer of SEO effectiveness for a while, they have now devolved nearly to the point of being worthless.

Monitoring rankings will no longer get you closer to more traffic.

Why Rankings Don’t Cut It

There was a time when search rankings were a healthy obsession; when getting to page one really meant something.

Long ago in a world far away, everybody saw the same thing: Google SERPs (search engine results pages) displayed a universally consistent set of results for a given search term. Moving from page 10 oblivion to the page one spotlight could make the difference between zero organic traffic and thousands of hits per day.

Today, several factors have obliterated this model.

• Localization. Usually, Google knows where you are and serves results based on your geographic location.
• Personalization. If you are logged into Google, your SERPs take into account your browsing history and social network connections.
• Segmentation. Users have the ability to search for specific types of content, such as video, news stories, social media content, and images.
• Semantic search. Google is getting smarter about understanding the intent of the searcher. Today, multiple variations of a specific keyword page can be matched up to a query, meaning that the SEO value of a specific phrase is less important than its context.

Put all of this together, and what do you have?  An environment where your ranking for a particular keyword phrase tells you very little about your search visibility.

• Local variation. The results I see in Chicago on a search for “good Italian restaurants” will be drastically different than what you see in San Francisco. (If it weren’t, neither of us would be using Google for long!)
• Personalized variation. If you log into Google and do a personalized search, you’ll see different results than when your personalization is turned off, and what other personalized searchers see.
• Segment variation. If I’m looking for a particular style of wallet, I might jump right to image search, bypassing your keyword-optimized text page altogether.
• Semantic variation. Someone searching for “buy trifold wallet” might be served up results from e-commerce web pages optimized for a variety of phrases, because Google knows I’m shopping.

Where to Put the SEO Focus

The rallying cry, “We’re number one!” still works for football, but SEO marketers need a new one. My suggestion: “We have awesome search placement!” relating SEO activities back to the four areas I’ve been talking about.

• For localization, using local optimization best practices is essential for any business that is local or regional in nature. You want to make sure your content is well placed – and not just on standard Google search, but on Google+ local and credible local search directories.
• For personalization, build and engage with relevant social media connections to build influence and visibility. Use rel=author links to achieve broader placement through the Google authorship initiative.
• For segmentation, create and optimize a variety of content forms, most importantly images, infographics, video, news items, and original social media content.
• For semantic variation, put the focus where it belongs, on creating content that is useful, relevant, and authoritative. Content that delivers value to searchers will be better placed than content that only attempts to manipulate Google’s algorithm.

Over to You

Today, anybody focused on rankings is a rank amateur. How are you approaching SEO these days – and how is it working for you?

Brad Shorr is director of content and social media for Straight North, and writes frequently on industry-leading blogs about content marketing and SEO strategy. Follow Brad on Twitter at bradshorr.

futurescope:

sFly Quadrotors Navigate Outdoors All By Themselves

[…] What makes the sFly project, led by ETH Zurich’s Autonomous Systems Lab, different is that the sFly quadrotors don’t rely on motion capture systems. They also don’t rely on GPS, remote control, radio beacons, laser rangefinders, frantically waving undergrads, or anything else. The only thing that sFly has to go on is an IMU and an onboard camera (and an integrated computer), but using just those systems (and a “very efficient onboard inertial-aided visual simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm”), sFly is capable of navigating all by itself. And if you have a fleet of sFly quadrotors, you can use them to make cooperative 3D maps of the environment. […]

[read more] [sFly]

As the days pass, the big moment draws nigh. No, I’m not talking about Disrupt, which is a big moment in its own right, nor am I teasing any other big launch. I’m talking about a party.

A huge party.

We initially called it a mini meet-up — a gathering of New York’s tech startup scene, including investors, entrepreneurs and TechCrunch editorial — but its grown into so much more than that. With over 600 RSVPs, ten sponsors, a badass venue, and more TC staff in attendance than we’d originally expected, our mini meet-up is now massive.

It’ll be at Bar13 on 13th St. between University and Broadway, from 6pm to 10pm on Tuesday, May 8.

What to expect:

• An overflowing source of beer
• Hard liquor, too
• Pizza (there’s a surprise that comes along with the pizza, but I won’t ruin it)
• Karaoke
• A photo booth
• An after party complete with DJ, dancing, and general merriment
• John Biggs, Jordan Crook, Chris Velazco, Matt Burns, Eric Eldon, Peter Ha, Josh Zelman and possibly Alexia Tsotsis
• A lot of: “So, this is what we’re working on…”

If you haven’t gotten the memo yet, you can RSVP on our PlanCast page.

Here’s yet another look at our wonderful sponsors, without whom none of this would be possible:

Yext helps provide amazing local search results with PowerListings, a local information hub that syncs listings across a network of premium sites and mobile apps. With Yext PowerListings, small and large businesses can quickly and easily update their business information, photos and specials from one central location. Today, Yext PowerListings syncs information for over 45,000 locations.

Traducto is a powerful and easy to use translation and localization app.
With Traducto users can leverage human translation to translate documents, emails, newsletters, social postings, marketing materials and more. TraductoPro allows developers to convert iOS or Mac apps, into a multilingual application, making the app available to a wider global audience. By making it simple to localize your application and offering 16 different language translations, TraductoPro is designed to reduce the pain typically associated with localization. Our integrated approach combines automating app localization through direct Xcode integration, with a high quality human translation service all within a single application. TraductoPro offers support for content translations, app store metadata and Xcode projects localization.

WhatRunsWhere is a competitive intelligence service for online media buying. It allows you to look up what advertisers are doing online; where they are running ads, who they are buying their inventory through and what exact ads they are using. WhatRunsWhere allows you to see what is happening on any website; who is advertising there, who’s selling the inventory for them and what ads are they using. With data from multiple countries and actionable insights regarding the data, WhatRunsWhere quickly allows anyone to dissect advertising campaigns resulting in reduced risk and a higher ROI media buying process.

Parlor® is the creator of unique branded communication applications: GroupCall™, TopicTalk™ and MobiCast™. Our goal is to make useful tools to communicate globally, both efficiently and for free. We will be unleashing these three awesome applications on iOS and Android at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC 2012. Follow us at http://Parlor.fm for news and updates.

Speak to any business in the world with MyGenie™, a location-based 2-way communication platform that allows iPhone and Android users to speak to businesses in real-time! It’s free, it’s quick, and it’s simple to use. No need to find a manager, an email address, or a telephone # to contact. With MyGenie™ consumers send questions, comments, complaints, feedback, and more (can also upload photos) directly to any business they choose via their smart phones. Businesses can immediately respond (and include special offers) via a business portal. MyGenie™, not just ratings, not just feedback, it’s anything and everything you want it to be! Free on Apple App Store and Android Market.

Return on Change (RoC) connects innovative startups and investors who are looking to change tomorrow’s world today. Entrepreneurs with great ideas need capital funding to jumpstart their businesses, and investors are looking to help fund the next big idea. RoC provides the online medium through which startup companies and entrepreneurs will be able to pool capital through crowdsourcing. For more information about Return on Change, please visit www.returnonchange.com or contact RoC at RoC@returnonchange.com.

PeoplePerHour is Europe’s leading marketplace connecting startups and entrepreneurs to freelance talent worldwide and we’ve just landed in NYC! Project by project we’re awakening an enormous latent workforce, from the stay at home mom and the retiree to the moonlighter and the hobbyist, removing the constraints of the traditional 9-5 office. Be it for a quick logo design, building a website, copywriting or a small translation… we’re helping businesses keep their core lean and to get the job done fast. Our vision is for this to be the defining factor in the future of work.

TouchTunes Interactive Networks is the largest interactive out-of-home entertainment network in North America. TouchTunes provides entertainment and marketing solutions to 52,000 bars and restaurants. Founded in 1998, the network has become the largest of its kind with 54M monthly users who played more than 900 million songs in 2011. The TouchTunes mobile app allows consumers in bars, restaurants, hotels, retail and arenas to play any song from our catalog without having to leave their seat and is socially integrated. TouchTunes network is the largest digital out-of-home advertising network in the US (Nielsen) and includes TouchTunesTV, a unique screen-within-a-screen interactive television experience that provides custom advertising capabilities, venue promotions and social networking opportunities. TouchTunes is a privately held U.S. corporation with offices in New York City, Arlington Heights, Illinois and Montreal, Canada. For further information, please visit us at touchtunes.com.

May is going to be a busy month here in the city. Along with Disrupt and the continuation of our highly successful Office Hours sessions, we’re also hosting an ironically massive “Mini” Meet-Up in NYC on May 8.

Startups, investors, and general dreamers will have the opportunity to speak with each other, as well as parts of the TechCrunch editorial staff to network, pitch, and be merry. There will be a lot of beer.

Along with over 600 of you fine geek-flavored humans, John Biggs, myself, Chris Velazco, Matt Burns, Eric Eldon, Peter Ha, Josh Zelman and possibly Alexia Tsotsis will all be in attendance.

TouchTunes, one of our sponsors, is providing a photo booth machine as well as a little Karaoke hub for anyone who thinks they can top Drew Houston’s rendition of “Rocket Man”.

Past that, we’re also bringing in what I expect will be hundreds of pizzas to feed your cute little pitching mouths, courtesy of MyPizza, a new food sponsor.

We’re currently working on an after party event, to make sure that bass keeps bumpin’, bumpin’ (this beat goes boom, boom).

I personally can’t wait, and I hope you’re even a fraction as excited as I am. So if you’re interested in attending, head on over to our PlanCast page and put your name on the list.

Here’s another look at our sponsors:

Yext helps provide amazing local search results with PowerListings, a local information hub that syncs listings across a network of premium sites and mobile apps. With Yext PowerListings, small and large businesses can quickly and easily update their business information, photos and specials from one central location. Today, Yext PowerListings syncs information for over 45,000 locations.

Traducto is a powerful and easy to use translation and localization app.
With Traducto users can leverage human translation to translate documents, emails, newsletters, social postings, marketing materials and more. TraductoPro allows developers to convert iOS or Mac apps, into a multilingual application, making the app available to a wider global audience. By making it simple to localize your application and offering 16 different language translations, TraductoPro is designed to reduce the pain typically associated with localization. Our integrated approach combines automating app localization through direct Xcode integration, with a high quality human translation service all within a single application. TraductoPro offers support for content translations, app store metadata and Xcode projects localization.

WhatRunsWhere is a competitive intelligence service for online media buying. It allows you to look up what advertisers are doing online; where they are running ads, who they are buying their inventory through and what exact ads they are using. WhatRunsWhere allows you to see what is happening on any website; who is advertising there, who’s selling the inventory for them and what ads are they using. With data from multiple countries and actionable insights regarding the data, WhatRunsWhere quickly allows anyone to dissect advertising campaigns resulting in reduced risk and a higher ROI media buying process.

Parlor® is the creator of unique branded communication applications: GroupCall™, TopicTalk™ and MobiCast™. Our goal is to make useful tools to communicate globally, both efficiently and for free. We will be unleashing these three awesome applications on iOS and Android at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC 2012. Follow us at http://Parlor.fm for news and updates.

Speak to any business in the world with MyGenie™, a location-based 2-way communication platform that allows iPhone and Android users to speak to businesses in real-time! It’s free, it’s quick, and it’s simple to use. No need to find a manager, an email address, or a telephone # to contact. With MyGenie™ consumers send questions, comments, complaints, feedback, and more (can also upload photos) directly to any business they choose via their smart phones. Businesses can immediately respond (and include special offers) via a business portal. MyGenie™, not just ratings, not just feedback, it’s anything and everything you want it to be! Free on Apple App Store and Android Market.

Return on Change (RoC) connects innovative startups and investors who are looking to change tomorrow’s world today. Entrepreneurs with great ideas need capital funding to jumpstart their businesses, and investors are looking to help fund the next big idea. RoC provides the online medium through which startup companies and entrepreneurs will be able to pool capital through crowdsourcing. For more information about Return on Change, please visit www.returnonchange.com or contact RoC at RoC@returnonchange.com.

PeoplePerHour is Europe’s leading marketplace connecting startups and entrepreneurs to freelance talent worldwide and we’ve just landed in NYC! Project by project we’re awakening an enormous latent workforce, from the stay at home mom and the retiree to the moonlighter and the hobbyist, removing the constraints of the traditional 9-5 office. Be it for a quick logo design, building a website, copywriting or a small translation… we’re helping businesses keep their core lean and to get the job done fast. Our vision is for this to be the defining factor in the future of work.

TouchTunes Interactive Networks is the largest interactive out-of-home entertainment network in North America. TouchTunes provides entertainment and marketing solutions to 52,000 bars and restaurants. Founded in 1998, the network has become the largest of its kind with 54M monthly users who played more than 900 million songs in 2011. The TouchTunes mobile app allows consumers in bars, restaurants, hotels, retail and arenas to play any song from our catalog without having to leave their seat and is socially integrated. TouchTunes network is the largest digital out-of-home advertising network in the US (Nielsen) and includes TouchTunesTV, a unique screen-within-a-screen interactive television experience that provides custom advertising capabilities, venue promotions and social networking opportunities. TouchTunes is a privately held U.S. corporation with offices in New York City, Arlington Heights, Illinois and Montreal, Canada. For further information, please visit us at touchtunes.com.

ComTranslations, the leading international supplier of translation and localization solutions, has announced the addition of new monthly plans in response to its client’s demands for a more flexible service line to meet their globalization needs. Five different options have been unveiled; basic, pro and premier packages are designed to address the needs of small businesses; [...]

Windows: Rainmeter, our favorite system monitor and desktop customizer for Windows, just released a new version that contains many bug fixes, performance improvements, and localization support for 35 different languages. More »

Part 15 in an ongoing series that serves as the prequel to my new book, The End of Business as Usual…

The world is becoming a much smaller place. But even with social media contributing to a globally connected society, businesses that continue to take a global approach to social content and engagement may be missing opportunities for greater resonance and relevance. While a global presence is necessary for any organization hoping to connect with customers around the world, placing reliance on one prevailing strategy is just the beginning. In any web strategy, including social and also mobile media,   localization is king.

In my work and research over the years, I’ve observed a significant number of businesses that employ English-driven initiatives across the Web. As customers grow increasingly depended on social networks, paying particular attention to Facebook, a “one size fits all” program may make assumptions that miss the opportunity to engage people their way in the last mile. Data shows that customizing or localizing content for specific markets and cultures dramatically multiplies desired effect. In the great race to win the hearts and minds of customers, localization also helps customers feel better about the resulting clicks they make following each engagement.

Social CMS and SMMS systems such as Buddy Media, Vitrue, Wildfire, Spredfast, Involver, Expion, among many others, enable brands to publish once to many pages across social networks. Whether it’s Facebook, Youtube, Google+, Twitter, all of the above or a combination there-of, English-centric strategies can not only be centrally managed by the global brand team, but also further localized for important countries by the local country manager or their local team.

A brief study of average customer engagement on Facebook Fan pages around the world in 2010 helps illustrate the point of why localized strategies are important. In the review, Starbucks and Blackberry country pages that featured localized content in addition to the global initiatives fostered interaction as much as 10 – 15x than those which featured English-only content. And now with F-commerce and social and mobile commerce becoming pivotal in defining and activating customer relationships within their channels of preference, localized initiatives will only grow your opportunity.

To that point, Translated.net recently published its T-Index report, which projects the top countries global businesses should examine to increase online commerce and engagement. According to the report, the Top 10 countries for selling online through 2015 are as follows…

1. China
2. Unites States
3. Japan
4. Brazil
5. Germany
6. Russia
7. France
8. United Kingdom
9. South Korea
10. Mexico

Translated.net projects China to earn a market share of 18.8%, compared to 11.5% in 2011. According to these numbers, China is estimated to overtake the Unites States, which may see its aggregate online sales decline from 24.4% in 2011 to 16.8% by 2015. It’s estimated that Japan will remain third overall despite a market share reduction of -25.7% compared to 2011.With an estimated market share change of +43.3%, Brazil will jump into fourth place. Russia too will leap two positions to sixth overall with a change of +27.5%.

As you plan you global content and commerce strategy, it’s also important to review the languages that offer the highest potential. According to the T-Index report, English will continue as the top language with an estimated 25.4% through 2015 with Chinese Simplified growing to 18.9%. Spanish follows in third with 8.5%. As you can see, many other languages will play a role in your strategies, which is why it’s vital to employ a syndicated and localized content, commerce, and engagement strategy across all media.

Yes, the world is becoming a much smaller place. And, yes, global strategies establish a unified brand. In 2012 and over the next few years, going local will only improve engagement, resonance, and ultimately commerce in the last mile.  To make the most out of the oppotunity

1. Employ a Global Strategy, but also focus on Localized Initiatives for content, commerce, and engagement within in important market.

2. Empower Country Managers to extend the global vision, mission, and purpose for essential languages and cultures.

3. Create a centralized Global Directory that points customers around the world to their specific country page

4. Design a Syndicated Content, Commerce, and Engagement program that connects with customers their way in their channel of preference (the recipe of mobile, social, digital, and emerging media will vary from market to market)

5. Explore the data shared in the T-Index report to prioritize your Global Initiatives

Think global. Act local.

Order The End of Business as Usual today…

Part 1 – Digital Darwinism, Who’s Next
Part 2 – Social Media’s Impending Flood of Customer Unlikes and Unfollows
Part 3 – Social Media Customer Service is a Failure!
Part 4 – I think we need some time apart, it’s not me, it’s you
Part 5 – We are the 5th P: People
Part 6 – The State of Social Media 2011: Social is the new normal
Part 7 – I like you, but not in that way
Part 8 – Are You Building a Social Brand or a Social Business?
Part 9 – CMO’s are at the Crossroads of Customer Transactions and Engagement
Part 10 – From Social Commerce to Syndicated Commerce
Part 11 – You can’t go back to create a new beginning, but you can begin to change the ending
Part 12 – How to Make Customer Service Matter Again Part 1
Part 13 – How to Make Customer Service Matter Again Part 2
Part 14 – Long Live Blogs! The State of the Blogosphere 2011

Image Credit: Shutterstock

At the heart of retail success is localization — from product assortment to in-store marketing. However, when it comes to digital advertising, few retailers are thinking local. National advertising campaigns continue to push a corporate message without localizing it for each store.  In addition, new research surprisingly shows that few retailers are using digital to create local campaigns that drive people into their stores.

Recently, Retail Systems Research (RSR) completed an evaluation of how well national brick-and-mortar retailers are using digital experiences to drive traffic to stores. Among the 20 retailers, analysts discovered two approaches: a broad-brush approach to all kinds of digital channels and a more specialized goal to make localization a priority. While there are a few examples of retailers who are starting to “get it” (e.g., Macy’s, Kohl’s), for the most part, national retailers are missing an enormous opportunity by not taking advantage of localized advertising.

Going local this holiday season
According to the National Retail Federation, holiday sales can represent anywhere between 25 and 40 percent of retailers’ annual sales. Furthermore, U.S. Census data indicate that approximately 75 percent of all consumer spending occurs at retail locations within 15 miles of home. Together, the holidays and local customers represent huge numbers. As they plan their holiday media campaigns, retailers and brands (and the agencies that represent them) should evaluate their local digital advertising strategy in order to determine new ways to drive foot traffic and sales at physical store locations.

Here are a few tips:

Localize national campaign assets
In a recent report, RSR recommends that  retailers rethink their video strategies. Retailers, and the brands they carry, can run campaigns in a locally relevant way by seamlessly changing creative — in this case, video — based on location, promotion, time of day, and more. For example, a retailer can extend existing TV campaigns and user engagement with dynamic online video ads.

Use local to move excess inventory in the final 72 hours to avoid post-holiday markdowns
Retailers are often focused on selling excess inventory ordered for the holidays before the New Year. Otherwise, they are forced to heavily discount items or return them to the manufacturer. By conducting local campaigns that leverage a wide range of datasets — including demographic, interest, and purchase data — to pinpoint neighborhoods where the qualified audience lives, retailers and brands can create highly customized advertising campaigns that reach a very specific audience, This can help them drive in-store sales of products that would have become excess inventory. This approach also helps to reach the last-minute shoppers who have run out of time to purchase gifts online in the final 72 hours of the holiday shopping season.

Create “just in time” demand
Most advertising programs require brands and retailers to create campaigns weeks or months in advance of when they’d like to drive traffic to stores. By creating a highly localized digital campaign, brands, retailers, and restaurants of any size can easily create and execute a campaign to drive “just in time” demand for their products or services. For instance, if in-store sales are slow, organizations can create campaigns that incentivize local consumers to come in and make purchases. In the case of local restaurants, their goal is to drive traffic into their establishment each day of the week. By creating highly targeted campaigns that reach a different demographic every day of the week, restaurants can create event-based promotions that drive traffic and build a diverse customer base. For instance, restaurants can attract a primarily male audience with Monday Night Football specials or families with Wednesday night “kids eat free” deals. 

Use social to create local communities that encourage store visits
Walmart recently made headlines when it announced the launch of a Facebook app that customizes marketing messages for each of its nearly 3,600 U.S. stores; smart move, right?  Now, Walmart is able to offer tailored marketing messages about deals and events at the nearest store location, thereby creating a more personal connection with its shoppers.

Retailers and brands are just starting to learn the basics of localized digital advertising, and there is certainly a lot of opportunity. By developing a highly targeted neighborhood-level digital advertising strategy to mirror local in-store marketing, retailers and brands can effectively drive store traffic that helps to increase revenue and create a more personal relationship with customers –  all while developing a more sustainable pattern of business.

Cate Carley is VP of agency sales at MaxPoint Interactive.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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