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Russia’s government last month announced possible plans to launch a national search engine, their aim being to have tighter control over filtration, and to ensure the ‘safe access of information’. The venture would set them back around $100 million (around £65 million), and it would be a long and lengthy process to overtake the market leader Yandex, who currently hold 62.8% of the market share in Russia. Despite the plans being questionable, the announcement does bring to attention certain aspects of the Russian search market.

Yandex is the world’s fastest growing search engine, with a massive 80% growth between December 09 and 10. Its popularity in Russia is mostly down to its in-depth and through knowledge of the “complexities and nuances of the Russian language”. The semantics of the Russian language differ from those of the English language, such as the notion of the ‘perfective’ and ‘imperfective’ verb. Whilst Google is able to function reasonably in the Russian language, it still has the foundations of a search engine which was built to work for the English language and Latin script, and therefore can have problems understanding the finer details of Russian semantics. Yandex was built and developed for the Russian language, and understands it as well as Google understands English, which is undoubtedly why it’s Russia’s search engine of choice.

So, what does this mean for UK businesses wanting to improve on their SEO in Russia?

Firstly, it important to stress that, as with all multilingual SEO, simply translating a site from English to Russian will not suffice. Research needs to be carried out into the intricacies of Russian search behaviours, such as popular key words and phrases. Oban Multilingual SEO found that Russian searchers often use plural phrases when searching i.e. ‘search engines’ rather than ‘search engine’. Yandex does have its own keyword tool, Wordstat, which provides users with a better insight to Russian search behaviours than the Russian Google keyword tool.

Backlinking is important when it comes to search engine optimisation in Russia, however, carrying out the process effectively can be tricky. Many link directories can be spammy and irrelevant, and although there is the possibility to sign up to lots of them, websites who do will be penalized in Yandex search results. Instead, it’s best to follow the same rules as when backlinking for Google – select quality and industry related links, and essentially with Russian-based sites.

Some examples of relevant business related directories in Russia are http://www.ipag.ru/,  http://navigator.yp.ru/ and http://www.allbusiness.ru/.

Yandex, like other ‘local’ search engines such as China’s Baidu, prefers sites hosted in Russia, with a Russian domain name i.e. .ru. In 2009 the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced its approval for the use of top level domain names i.e.com, .net, .ru, featuring non-Latin characters. This means that Russia’s most popular top level domain name can now be written in Cyrillic (‘.ru’ becomes ‘.рф’, which stands for ‘Rossiyskaya Federatsiya’ – Russian Federation). Yandex haven’t yet made it clear whether they are planning to hold preference to Cyrillic domain names, but if they do, it will have a huge effect on SEO practice in Russia.

Russia holds a promising online market. By looking at the trends of local search, the complexities of the Russian language and by adhering to the principles of Yandex, UK businesses can improve their search rankings, and reap the rewards of what Russia has to offer.

Greig Holbrook

London and Brighton, April 12, 2010. TranslateMedia, the award winning global translation agency, and Oban Multilingual, the Brighton-based consultancy agency specialising in multilingual SEO and international SEM, forge an alliance to offer a complete localisation service.

As both companies are contributing with years of expertise in their respective fields they are able to offer a highly customised service for international businesses wishing to optimise their SEO efforts.  Patrick Eve, Managing Director at TranslateMedia, states, “We saw a need to offer a more digitally focused translation service in addition to our more traditional offering, and we therefore wanted to collaborate with a successful SEO agency that had the necessary technical expertise and track record. Oban Multilingual was therefore a natural choice as they have been offering expert advice in this field for years.”

“There is huge potential for businesses to expand into emerging foreign markets, however, with around 70% of those searching the web not speaking English, companies need an effective multilingual strategy. That’s where Oban and TranslateMedia step in.” says Greig Holbrook, MD of Oban Multilingual. By joining forces, Oban and TranslateMedia will offer businesses the highest standard of multilingual SEO and translation services.

Oban Multilingual is a world leader in multilingual search engine optimisation and marketing, and has been at the forefront of multilingual SEO/SEM for several years. Oban’s core strength lies in its unique ability to be able to produce multilingual SEM services of the highest quality. Their teams of experts, based in over 26 countries across the world, are able to offer clients local solutions to global SEO/SEM campaigns ensuring that the most effective search strategy is developed for each market. Oban have worked with some of the world’s leading businesses in retail, travel, property and technology amongst others, and has a unique and critical understanding of local search vocabulary, behaviours, trends and engines in over 26 different markets.

TranslateMedia is one of the fastest growing global translation companies, with offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris, Munich and Brussels. TranslateMedia employs 5,000 specialist translators and covers 80 languages. The company has recently been selected for the Media Momentum Top 50 List of the fastest growing Digital Media Companies in Europe for 2010.The company works primarily with the largest global firms and provides a round the clock service for technical, marketing and legal translations. It is one of a short list of global agencies to be certified the highest quality assurance standard for translation services (EN 15038:2006) and has developed a corporate portal for clients to post jobs from anywhere and at anytime online.

With the popularity of other, China-based search engines set to rise thanks Google’s threat to close down their Google.cn site, in turn freeing up the market, businesses need to optimise their site to suit their search processes. However, simple translation of websites will not suffice. Taking an example from Oban’s area of business, the phrase ‘to Twitter’ translates to ‘织围脖’’ – ‘to knit yourself a scarf’ in English. Localised research needs to be carried out in order to ensure UK businesses can successfully tap into the expanding Chinese market. Here are a few pointers on how to improve SEO in China:

• After recent changes, China’s biggest search engine, Baidu, no longer automatically ranks pages with an overly high keyword density above others. Before this the recommended amount was between 6-12%, it is now 3-4%.

• Baidu may be the major player in search in mainland China, however it is barely used in Hong Kong, so businesses should look at local search behaviours when targeting specific provinces of China.

• Unsurprisingly, Chinese search engines prefer sites hosted in China. Businesses would have more success in terms of SEO by getting hosted in China, or at least adopting a local domain i.e. com.cn.

The popularity of social networking sites in China is also a factor that needs to be addressed when it comes to marketing. One third of the 384 million domestic internet users are also regular SNS users. Again, locality is important. The top SNS sites in China are QQ and RenRen, and businesses are more likely to reach the Chinese demographic if they develop marketing strategies here than on the popular Western sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

A localised approach and a good understanding of search dynamics are essential to the success of websites in overseas markets. By adapting websites to improve SEO and SEM in China, UK businesses can open themselves up to the biggest online market in the world.

Oban Multilingual SEO Director Greig Holbrook

http://econsultancy.com/blog/5686-why-you-should-avoid-twitter-in-china

Britain’s universities are working hard to attract international students. With the government announcing British Universities are to expect a £950 million cut in funding over the next 3 years, higher education institutions need to look elsewhere for financial support. The average non-EU student tuition fees for arts and science undergraduate degrees are around £10,000 per year, and with the potential to reach £20,000 depending on the course and establishment, the financial benefits for cash-strapped UK universities to recruit international students is obvious.

Having a strong online presence is vital. Statistics show that 31.7% of the 338 million Internet users in China are students. It is likely that students already look to the Internet as their primary source of information on UK universities. Here are a few steps universities can take to ensure they target the right market, and that usability is optimised:

• Identify key phrases specific to the target market. Incorporating them into the site will vastly improve SEO. Oban Multilingual SEO/SEM found that in China, for example, great importance is placed on the prestige of the university. Therefore it would be beneficial to feature a section on the university’s ‘ranking’ – a popular search phrase for Chinese students.

• Localised research will give an insight into what students are looking for. A prominent London university points out that whilst business, law, and economics degrees are popular with their Chinese students, performing arts, media and psychology degrees are the chosen topics for Japanese. Marketing the subjects that are more likely to be popular within a nationality is more likely to bring ROI.

• Social network sites are an effective way to market to potential international students. A vast majority of SNS users are young people (aged 16-24). Again, it is important to keep in mind the locality of the market. Although Facebook and Twitter maybe the initial SNS that spring to mind in the UK, in China www.renren.com is popular with the student demographic.

Although Britain is currently second only to the USA in attracting overseas students, the competition is growing. France, Singapore and Germany are just a few of the countries who have employed strategies to attract potential international students, and with recent and upcoming changes to the UK’s student visa policy, it is more important than ever for the UK’s higher education institutions to up their stakes in international marketing. The key to their success is to embrace modern technological advances.

By Anna Pearce

If there’s one area of the high street that has been less affected by 2009’s financial downturn than others it is fashion retail. In fact, some high street giants such as Topshop and Miss Selfridge, both part of the Arcadia Group, reported record profits for last year.

What’s even more evident is the marked, and continuing growth reported by online fashion retailers. The e-commerce industry body IMRG reports that online sales of clothing, shoes and accessories were up by 18% from Dec 2008 – 2009, and that fashion e-tailers were the leaders in the UK online market.

It is generally acknowledged that internet shopping has provided customers with a whole new shopping experience, making it far easier and quicker for us to get our hands on the most recent must-haves, and allowing companies to maximise sales by reaching a market of consumers who might not have easy access to their stores.

By taking the notion of online retailing one step further and going international, the opportunities for growth for the retailer are taken to a whole new level. Cross-border e-commerce has proven to be hugely successful for online fashion retailer ASOS.

Launched ten years ago, ASOS (As Seen On Screen) currently sells to 150 countries. From France to Fiji and from Ireland to Iran, ASOS reports having 2.9 million registered users worldwide. These days, an image of a British celebrity wearing the latest trend can be published instantly around the world on the net, potentially creating a huge demand for the exact look. By grabbing this opportunity with both hands, ASOS managed to up their international sales by 102 % last year alone. In fact, the site has done so well in the USA that the company plan to start up a US-specific site later this year, a project fellow retail giant Topshop has already taken on, and is currently reaping the rewards of.

ASOS states that it increases its multicultural usability by sticking to the guidelines set out in the Plain English Campaign by keeping the English language on the site clear and concise. It also features a currency converter for all of the countries it markets to. By making the website as culturally ‘friendly’ as possible, ASOS broadens it potential customer base.

Ensuring a website’s usability maximises its full potential provides companies with the ability to gather far more detailed consumer data. By using the information gathered from cross-border purchases and subscriptions to e-newsletters etc, companies can target popular trends, age groups and sizes, and ensure that their sites reach a global market in the best possible way.

With such a globalised fashion and celebrity culture, now is the time for online fashion retailers to take full advantage of international e-commerce. Statistics show that shoppers are gradually becoming more and more confident buying products from abroad, with cross-border purchasing having more than doubled since 2003. And while both businesses and customers have expressed concerns over fraud, payment problems, and logistics when it comes to overseas online purchasing, with today’s advanced security software, safe payment options such as PayPal, and with the benefits of selling internationally being so evident, surely now is the time to reach out to the global fashion community.

Source http://www.imrg.org/8025741F0065E9B8/%28httpPressReleases%29/546442736834C8CE802576B200597E8A?OpenDocument

By Anna Pearce

Oban delivered another International SEO training course for E-Consultancy and its clients last week (October 8th) in London. Businesses from a range of industries were in attendance: Recruitment, Finance, Technology and Online Retail. Even internet marketing author, Dave Chaffey, was present to brush up on his International SEM skills.

The variety of companies who attended the course reflects a growing trend whereby UK companies are actively seeking overseas business via the web. Though many of the companies had been using multivariate testing, albeit in English; they got insights on Cultural Multivariate testing which was highly relevant for them!

The dreaded translation debate rearing its head once again and in many of the cases there were some real doubts on how to approach International SEO. At the end of the day, I believe the message of Do Not Translate and the reasons to justify this came across loud and clear.

I’m looking forward to the next course in 2010.

Greig

Oban Multilingual, Greig Holbrook, lead a session on key tools and tactics to achieving global online success. Hosted at the Ad-Tech conference in London – 22nd September, Greig discussed how to combine Multilingual SEO/PPC with Cultural Multivariate Testing.

As an expert in providing local solutions to global online campaigns, he highlighted best practices for conducting research and adapting one’s site to respective audiences. In this session, Greig also covered the critical issues pertaining to how to design and test websites and pages for various cultures.

These critical elements, if ignored, risk leading new entrants to peril and so… Greig’s talk offered great insight to: key factors to going global online, how-to tips on converting web templates and designs per culture, and ways to generate optimum traffic and conversions to your international websites.

We delighted to announce that Oban Multilingual Strategy Ltd. have been short-listed in the Equality and Diversity in the Workplace category for the Brighton and Hove Business Awards 2009 to be held on 9th Oct 2009

Fingers and toes crossed.

Greig Holbrook, MD of Oban Multilingual, will be making a presentation to a seminar exploring the cultural diversity of web usage at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). The seminar to be held on April 30th at Oxford University, will be attended by sponsors of the Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS) the OII’s major study of internet usage in Britain. The OII is recognized as a leading authority on Internet use in the UK, and internationally-recognised through its work on the World Internet Project.

Greig will highlight the findings from Oban’s recent multivariate testing on the Visit Jordan website. The testing software allows a website to automatically serve up variations in content, and then track user reactions to the changes, giving insight into web design elements in a live environment. The results are revealing of unique cultural responses to variations on websites, and initial results suggest the importance of designing sites for different cultures for maximum conversions and sales.

Oban Multilingual, Gomez Travel Benchmark and EyeforTravel Research have teamed up to produce an industry white paper on the online European travel industry. Entitled Maximising your online performance in the European travel market, the paper describes the growth of European online travel distribution, and provides a practical guide to maximising online performance in this market in terms of SEO and website performance.

Language is a key differentiator online and is a major consideration for companies looking to target the mix of cultures located within Europe. The paper looks at some of Europe’s leading travel websites in terms of language, and identifies a range of SEO practices to take advantage of search differences between users of different languages.

To read the full white paper, click here