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Chat Session
Conducted for Students and SEM
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Ongoing Access to the Resources of the
Academy of
Web Specialists
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Working with International Engines
February 24, 2003
Conducted by Natalia Kim
Academy of Web Specialists
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Natalia Kim: Well, to begin with, here is the link to
the international engines I have listed: www.promopress.com/buscadores/
Natalia Kim: Are you all pro's???
Shermanhu:
Yes (humbly)
Natalia Kim: So, how about you asking me -and
me asking YOU- for things regarding international!!! :-))) Natalia Kim:
I keep adding to the list (and weeding out dead links as often as
possible).
Natalia Kim: Are any of you working with "strange"
languages, like Chinese/Japanese or something?
Pata: Not me.
Simone: I'm from Italy. Do you consider Italian language as
"strange"? ;-)
Natalia Kim: Here is a nice thing that I'm writing a
press release about. They seem very nice and the idea of mirror hosting is
cool, though remember that SE's like Google might consider 100% mirrors like
spam! In this case, if the mirror is in another language (like German) I
believe there would be no problems.
Natalia Kim:
http://www.germanleads.com/reseller/index.php
Natalia Kim: Any
thoughts from your side???
Shermanhu: Natalia, are you asking
us to read those sites or are you asking us for questions?
Natalia
Kim: No, not at all!!! That's just for reference and ideas!! I'd like to
know your ideas and, if any, problems! (I'll try to solve the ones I can,
obviously!)
Shermanhu: Natalia, maybe I'm closed in here in
North America, and so I figure that I'd only optimize for the English SE's and
directories. Could you share some value to me about optimization for
international SE's, maybe results from your personal experiences?
Katja: I have been optimizing a few websites (tourism related) in 5
languages and they get around 25% of traffic from International search engines.
Natalia Kim: Great, Katja!!!
Natalia Kim: Well,
my experience is that it really is very important to optimize very carefully
for each language you are interested in!!!
Natalia Kim: Did any
of you, by chance, read the article about Spanish search engines that I wrote
for the Academy???
Katja: No.
Shermanhu: Sorry,
no.
Simone: No.
Natalia Kim: I believe it's
good because it's fairly general (this was written some time ago, though) but
the idea is fairly valid for any language in the sense that every language is a
whole new "problem".
Natalia Kim: Here is the article:
www./courses/advanced/spanish.html
Natalia
Kim: Katja, what method did you use for the 5 languages??? Do you know the
5 yourself?
Katja: No, not all 5 - only 2.
Shermanhu: Do you use an online English to German translation tool
or...?
Natalia Kim: So, how did you research for the keywords
in the ones you didn't know???
Katja: I always try to consult
with a native speaker of a certain country.
Katja: I find
Spanish language search engines very challenging. Spanish is a very rich
language in expressions. You get many different expressions for the same thing,
but then they use it differently in different countries.
Natalia
Kim: Do you mind to let us know the URL???
Katja:
www.MiamiHabitat.com and www.MiamiLodgeRealty.com
Natalia Kim:
The biggest "trouble" with Spanish, for me, are the accents. So I try to
optimize with and without!!
Natalia Kim: Katja, remeber that
it's ALWAYS important to include the http:// (¡¡¡specially
important in electronic signatures in the emails, you want everything to be
clickable!!)
Katja: The problem for me is that I don't know how
to charge for optimizing in other languages. Do you treat each language version
as a separate website- for optimization purposes?
Natalia Kim:
I prefer to try to convince the client that he should buy a separate domain
for each language (EVEN if he links to all of them from his main-domain OR has
the languages on that one as well!)
Natalia Kim: Preferably, of
course, he should by his keyword-keyword.com in each language... IF possible.
Natalia Kim: By the way, did I tell you about
www.deleteddomains.com in one of the other sessions? It's good for domain
hunting.
Shermanhu: Thanks for the tip Natalia!
Natalia Kim: Do all of you try to submit to other, foreign search
engines even if the site is in English?
Shermanhu: Haven't had
to do it yet.
Natalia Kim: Tip for Katja: Try to put the
javascript in separate .js files AND try to make the keyword tag without
commas, only space. Lately it seems to give pretty good results.
Katja: No commas? That's a new one- I will try.
Natalia Kim:
Katja, which SE's send the most international traffic to you? And how do
you track it?
Katja: We get most from Latin America - Terra
Lycos and France: Google France, Francite, also Wanadoo.
Katja:
It is amazing- for the real estate website my client just got a call from
France- an investor willing to invest 10 million in Miami real estate. I get so
happy when this happen- the guy doesn't speak any English, he found the site in
a French SE.
Natalia Kim: That's GREAT, Katja! Yes, I had 2
(results)! Calls today from prospects and both where French (but spoke
Spanish).
Natalia Kim: Burgwald, you are very quiet today. How
about your experiences in the international game?
Natalia Kim:
Are all of you native English speakers??? (I'm Swedish, BTW)
Shermanhu: I am.
Shermanhu: Well, actually from
Singapore, but failed mandarin and aced English - go figure.
Alanm:
I'm US English speaking, but speak a couple of other languages (lived in
Europe for a few years as well).
Natalia Kim: So do any of you
have any challenges apart from English SEO like Katja, for example?
Alanm: I was debating if having duplicate web sites in different
languages would be considered spamming? From what you've been saying today it
doesn't appear to be a concern.
Natalia Kim: I don't BELIEVE it
is. However, it wouldn't hurt to make slight changes. Also, another trend I've
seen lately is that some SE's and directories seem to "prefer" that the email
is the one from the domain being submitted. Like as if they are not happy with
hotmail and other "strange" accounts anymore. So I'm having clients set up
"real" emails from the domains we are submitting.
Natalia Kim:
Well, I suppose you don't have any other comments, so I just want to thank
all of you for attending the chat!!! Happy Hits!!!
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