SEO
4 Key Areas Of International SEO Focus For Entering A New Market
It makes sense that businesses successful enough to grow to the enterprise level might one day go international.
For the business owner, it’s an exciting and intimidating prospect. You have the chance to bring your brand, and your offerings, to customers in different countries.
On the one hand, this effort will be about replicating the success you’ve had in your own country.
On the other, marketing yourself in the United States will be different from marketing yourself in France, Germany, or Australia.
Your website will play a huge role in serving your international customers, which means international SEO is required.
On the most basic level, practicing international SEO means targeting specific countries and languages on your website.
But it’s not enough to simply have those pages out there for international users to find. How will you optimize for better placement and greater visibility on Google and other search engines?
Make sure you’re focusing on these 4 foundational areas of international SEO to give your site its best possible chance in new markets.
1. Establish The Right URL Structure For International Pages
Enterprise and large-scale websites will have a ton of pages, likely hundreds or thousands. When you’re in the ecommerce market, those product and category pages add up fast.
One of the primary steps you need to take if you want users in another country to find what they want on your website is to build your international pages for the right audiences using the proper country-coded URL structure.
Take this example.
Say you’re a U.S.-based online consumer electronics retailer, and you’ve done the research to show that you stand to grow your profits if you expand into the U.K. market.
You’ve already done all the SEO for your U.S.-based pages, but now you need to create and optimize pages for a British audience, that is, pages that Google will turn up for users searching from the United Kingdom.
The first and perhaps, most important step is to create British-centric web pages built with URL structures that signify the content is meant for U.K. users.
There are a few ways you can do this. Many international websites choose to country-code their international URLs with a ccTLD, which in this example would be “.uk.”
Other options include creating:
- A country-coded subdomain (uk.websitename.com).
- A subfolder on your original website (websitename.com/uk).
- Another domain entirely (newwebsitename.com, optimized only for British users).
You’ll have to decide for yourself which approach is best.
For instance, you might believe that establishing a separate domain for each new country you expand to is a bad idea. Your organic traffic data will be broken up among your websites, preventing you from seeing everything at a glance.
The subdomain and subfolder routes would allow you to view the international versions of your site separately while still allowing you to collect organic traffic data all in one place.
In any event, telling the search engines the version of your website meant for each country is necessary to rank for the right audiences. Devise a way forward with this before doing anything else.
2. Go All-In On Page Experience For International Users
Country-specific URL structures are good for getting your international pages ranking for the right audiences.
But let’s say you get the “.uk” subdomain version of your site to rank for British users. Those users then go to the site and notice you’re using American English rather than British English.
Maybe that isn’t a huge deal right now, but it’s still a little off-putting.
Then, upon checking out your prices, those British users can only see the costs in the American dollar.
They’ll need to convert dollars to British pounds and figure out what they’ll owe to make a purchase. But why put your potential customers through that?
Just as in traditional SEO, international SEO needs to consider user experience.
Whether you’re serving up web pages to British audiences who share the English language with the United States or to Italian users who speak a completely different language, be sure to translate all your website content for its intended users.
You can use any translation tool to do that but the story doesn’t end there.
You’ll want to lock in whether Google shows that version of your page to the right audience by adding hreflang attributes to your pages.
Hreflang tags are signals that tell Google the language used on the page. Why is that important?
Because then, Google will show that version of the page to users who come from IP addresses that speak that language.
Of course, keep in mind that languages are not necessarily confined within national borders.
If you create German-language versions of all your pages specifically for German-speaking people, remember that German is spoken in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
You don’t want Google to leave those last three countries out in the cold with search results by showing German-language pages only to people in Germany.
To solve that problem, you can add hreflang tags for specific countries.
In this case, you’d have tags for the other countries using their letter abbreviations.
So, German itself would be “hreflang=de,” while you would use “hreflang=de-ch” for German speakers in Switzerland.
Regarding currencies, you should be sure to look into the currency options on Shopify, Woocommerce, or the platform you use to select the currencies you will accept.
Ideally, you’ll be able to accept whatever the national currency is of the target country.
You may also want country-specific resources on each translated page of your website to address user concerns about taxes, customs, and shipping.
3. Be Aware Of International Keyword Differences
When you’re a large enterprise website expanding into different countries, you also need to be acutely aware of the differences in keyword trends among countries.
There’s the issue of keywords appearing in completely different languages in other countries. Still, even in countries that speak the same language, the terms might differ (“elevator” in the United States, “lift” in the United Kingdom).
You can use tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs for keyword research according to search volumes in different countries.
This is where things can get a little tricky. Depending on local elements such as culture, weather, language, and history, your customers might have their own common words for things.
Take the example of U.S. English speakers saying “bike” in casual conversation much more often than they say “bicycle.”
You will need to put the time into researching the terms used in your target countries and translate them properly where necessary if you want your pages to rank for the most relevant terms.
With enterprise websites and other large-scale sites, this research can take substantial time. It’s good to know you can do this before committing to expanding internationally.
4. Pursue Backlinks From Country-Specific Domains
The last point to cover is that, as an enterprise website attracting users in many countries, you’ll want backlinks to assist in that effort.
If you have experience in SEO, you already know the benefits of high-quality backlinks.
The caveat to remember in international SEO is that your backlinks should be coming from websites with the same ccTLD as the website version you’re showing people.
So, if you have a version of your site for Japan, it makes sense that most of your backlinks should be from websites with a “.jp.”
This makes sense from a user-experience perspective.
Japanese users who follow those external links and find the Japanese version of your site won’t be jarred by suddenly finding an English page.
Your international link-building strategy will be based on the products you sell and the market sectors where you sell them. Only you will know the best strategy for acquiring links to your pages from the appropriate domains.
Just think: “What kinds of backlinks would Google most associate with trustworthiness for my site?”
International Enterprise SEO Needs All Your Attention
It takes a lot of time and effort to get your international SEO right, but if you’re an enterprise business expanding across national borders, be sure your website is working for you rather than against you.
Put the work into creating awesome experiences for your international customers, and this move could end up paying dividends for you for years to come.
More resources:
Featured Image: Pixels Hunter/Shutterstock
SEO
brightonSEO Live Blog
Hello everyone. It’s April again, so I’m back in Brighton for another two days of Being the introvert I am, my idea of fun isn’t hanging around our booth all day explaining we’ve run out of t-shirts (seriously, you need to be fast if you want swag!). So I decided to do something useful and live-blog the event instead.
Follow below for talk takeaways and (very) mildly humorous commentary. sun, sea, and SEO!
SEO
Google Further Postpones Third-Party Cookie Deprecation In Chrome
Google has again delayed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome web browser. The latest postponement comes after ongoing challenges in reconciling feedback from industry stakeholders and regulators.
The announcement was made in Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) joint quarterly report on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, scheduled for release on April 26.
Chrome’s Third-Party Cookie Phaseout Pushed To 2025
Google states it “will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4” this year as planned.
Instead, the tech giant aims to begin deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome “starting early next year,” assuming an agreement can be reached with the CMA and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
The statement reads:
“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence, including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”
Continued Engagement With Regulators
Google reiterated its commitment to “engaging closely with the CMA and ICO” throughout the process and hopes to conclude discussions this year.
This marks the third delay to Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies, initially aiming for a Q3 2023 phaseout before pushing it back to late 2024.
The postponements reflect the challenges in transitioning away from cross-site user tracking while balancing privacy and advertiser interests.
Transition Period & Impact
In January, Chrome began restricting third-party cookie access for 1% of users globally. This percentage was expected to gradually increase until 100% of users were covered by Q3 2024.
However, the latest delay gives websites and services more time to migrate away from third-party cookie dependencies through Google’s limited “deprecation trials” program.
The trials offer temporary cookie access extensions until December 27, 2024, for non-advertising use cases that can demonstrate direct user impact and functional breakage.
While easing the transition, the trials have strict eligibility rules. Advertising-related services are ineligible, and origins matching known ad-related domains are rejected.
Google states the program aims to address functional issues rather than relieve general data collection inconveniences.
Publisher & Advertiser Implications
The repeated delays highlight the potential disruption for digital publishers and advertisers relying on third-party cookie tracking.
Industry groups have raised concerns that restricting cross-site tracking could push websites toward more opaque privacy-invasive practices.
However, privacy advocates view the phaseout as crucial in preventing covert user profiling across the web.
With the latest postponement, all parties have more time to prepare for the eventual loss of third-party cookies and adopt Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox APIs as replacements.
Featured Image: Novikov Aleksey/Shutterstock
SEO
How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results
ChatGPT is a game changer in the field of SEO. This powerful language model can generate human-like content, making it an invaluable tool for SEO professionals.
However, the prompts you provide largely determine the quality of the output.
To unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and create content that resonates with your audience and search engines, writing effective prompts is crucial.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the art of writing prompts for ChatGPT, covering everything from basic techniques to advanced strategies for layering prompts and generating high-quality, SEO-friendly content.
Writing Prompts For ChatGPT
What Is A ChatGPT Prompt?
A ChatGPT prompt is an instruction or discussion topic a user provides for the ChatGPT AI model to respond to.
The prompt can be a question, statement, or any other stimulus to spark creativity, reflection, or engagement.
Users can use the prompt to generate ideas, share their thoughts, or start a conversation.
ChatGPT prompts are designed to be open-ended and can be customized based on the user’s preferences and interests.
How To Write Prompts For ChatGPT
Start by giving ChatGPT a writing prompt, such as, “Write a short story about a person who discovers they have a superpower.”
ChatGPT will then generate a response based on your prompt. Depending on the prompt’s complexity and the level of detail you requested, the answer may be a few sentences or several paragraphs long.
Use the ChatGPT-generated response as a starting point for your writing. You can take the ideas and concepts presented in the answer and expand upon them, adding your own unique spin to the story.
If you want to generate additional ideas, try asking ChatGPT follow-up questions related to your original prompt.
For example, you could ask, “What challenges might the person face in exploring their newfound superpower?” Or, “How might the person’s relationships with others be affected by their superpower?”
Remember that ChatGPT’s answers are generated by artificial intelligence and may not always be perfect or exactly what you want.
However, they can still be a great source of inspiration and help you start writing.
Must-Have GPTs Assistant
I recommend installing the WebBrowser Assistant created by the OpenAI Team. This tool allows you to add relevant Bing results to your ChatGPT prompts.
This assistant adds the first web results to your ChatGPT prompts for more accurate and up-to-date conversations.
It is very easy to install in only two clicks. (Click on Start Chat.)
For example, if I ask, “Who is Vincent Terrasi?,” ChatGPT has no answer.
With WebBrower Assistant, the assistant creates a new prompt with the first Bing results, and now ChatGPT knows who Vincent Terrasi is.
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023You can test other GPT assistants available in the GPTs search engine if you want to use Google results.
Master Reverse Prompt Engineering
ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for reverse engineering prompts because it generates natural and engaging responses to any given input.
By analyzing the prompts generated by ChatGPT, it is possible to gain insight into the model’s underlying thought processes and decision-making strategies.
One key benefit of using ChatGPT to reverse engineer prompts is that the model is highly transparent in its decision-making.
This means that the reasoning and logic behind each response can be traced, making it easier to understand how the model arrives at its conclusions.
Once you’ve done this a few times for different types of content, you’ll gain insight into crafting more effective prompts.
Prepare Your ChatGPT For Generating Prompts
First, activate the reverse prompt engineering.
- Type the following prompt: “Enable Reverse Prompt Engineering? By Reverse Prompt Engineering I mean creating a prompt from a given text.”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023ChatGPT is now ready to generate your prompt. You can test the product description in a new chatbot session and evaluate the generated prompt.
- Type: “Create a very technical reverse prompt engineering template for a product description about iPhone 11.”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023The result is amazing. You can test with a full text that you want to reproduce. Here is an example of a prompt for selling a Kindle on Amazon.
- Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {product), capture the writing style and the length of the text :
product =”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023I tested it on an SEJ blog post. Enjoy the analysis – it is excellent.
- Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {text}, capture the tone and writing style of the {text} to include in the prompt :
text = all text coming from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bard-training-data/478941/”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023But be careful not to use ChatGPT to generate your texts. It is just a personal assistant.
Go Deeper
Prompts and examples for SEO:
- Keyword research and content ideas prompt: “Provide a list of 20 long-tail keyword ideas related to ‘local SEO strategies’ along with brief content topic descriptions for each keyword.”
- Optimizing content for featured snippets prompt: “Write a 40-50 word paragraph optimized for the query ‘what is the featured snippet in Google search’ that could potentially earn the featured snippet.”
- Creating meta descriptions prompt: “Draft a compelling meta description for the following blog post title: ’10 Technical SEO Factors You Can’t Ignore in 2024′.”
Important Considerations:
- Always Fact-Check: While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool, it’s crucial to remember that it may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. Always verify any facts, statistics, or quotes generated by ChatGPT before incorporating them into your content.
- Maintain Control and Creativity: Use ChatGPT as a tool to assist your writing, not replace it. Don’t rely on it to do your thinking or create content from scratch. Your unique perspective and creativity are essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
- Iteration is Key: Refine and revise the outputs generated by ChatGPT to ensure they align with your voice, style, and intended message.
Additional Prompts for Rewording and SEO:
– Rewrite this sentence to be more concise and impactful.
– Suggest alternative phrasing for this section to improve clarity.
– Identify opportunities to incorporate relevant internal and external links.
– Analyze the keyword density and suggest improvements for better SEO.
Remember, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly and maintain control over your content creation process.
Experiment And Refine Your Prompting Techniques
Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an essential skill for any SEO professional who wants to harness the power of AI-generated content.
Hopefully, the insights and examples shared in this article can inspire you and help guide you to crafting stronger prompts that yield high-quality content.
Remember to experiment with layering prompts, iterating on the output, and continually refining your prompting techniques.
This will help you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing world of SEO.
More resources:
Featured Image: Tapati Rinchumrus/Shutterstock
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