The Importance of Prepping Your Site for Foreign Traffic

Posted on December 8th, 2011. Written by Jamie Northrup.

The internet is as diverse as the world is. If you are a site owner, your traffic may also be just as diverse. There are pros and cons to owning a site that attracts visitors from all nations, however, the pros outweigh the cons.  If you have decided to take your site international, a little prep work may be required. Below are a few things to look at before shipping your site overseas.

Content:

What interests people in different countries, is as diverse as their cuisine. What we may think is humorous in the US may not be funny to those in Russia. What we consider to be every day and mundane may be considered taboo in Israel.  Be sure to take a close look at your existing content and remove anything that may be questionable or might offend your targeted foreign traffic.

Colors:

Colors have always had an impact in marketing. Using colors to spark a reaction or action, is the main reason we code our sites in the colors we choose. When you are launching your site into a new culture, you must also take your colors used into consideration.

In some countries, colors have meanings, and you want to express the proper meaning. For example, in China, red is the color of life, wealth, happiness and good luck, whereas black is the color of death and bad luck. Be sure to consider the meanings behind your colors before launching a deadly site into the wrong country.

Search Engines:

This is a part of SEO that most forget about when launching in another country. Google is the search engine used by 65% of Americans, which is not the case in other countries. For example the number one search engine in Russia is Yandex, in China it is Baidu. If you are planning to launch your site in these countries, you must first know how they will be searching for your site and market appropriately.

Languages:

It is a known fact people will not willing do anything they don’t feel comfortable with. If your site is uncomfortable, hard to understand or just unreadable, your foreign fan base will dwindle. In an effort to accommodate the new traffic from foreigner web surfers, translating your web page may be necessary.

Taking the countries native languages into consideration will not only show your dedication to their following, but will also make them more comfortable, increase conversion rate, and keep your traffic flowing in the right direction. Language translation can be achieved either by hiring a service to translate, translating yourself or using a code based translator on the pages you want to make available to the other countries.

Keywords:

What is popular in the US is not always popular in other countries. If you are planning your international SEO strategy, you will need to include keywords that target the areas you are aiming for. By visiting that area’s popular search engines, you can compile a list of popular searches to add to your list of keywords.

International SEO is a great way to increase traffic, explore foreign cultures, and offer the popularity of your web page to other countries. By taking the time to consider each culture your targeting, preparing your website for that area, and making the changes needed to have your new visitors feel more comfortable you may find success in a foreign land.

Author Tanya Peterson writes for Absolute Translations, a company providing translation services for a worldwide audience.  From proofreading company brochures to transcription and legal translation services, absolutetranslations.com does it all.