International Keyword Research: The Three Rules

Welcome back to the next installment of our international keyword research series, where we explain the workings behind online searches and how they can benefit your business. Today we’ll take a look at three rules that can help you understand the way in which people approach online searches.

The Where

The actual software that people are using for their searches can have a huge influence on the results they’re seeing. Different search engines have varying algorithms and rules we can use to our benefit, or be forced to work around if we want to get the best results. The first thought that comes to mind when optimizing keywords is to target Google as the default search engine for the whole universe, but if you’re doing business in the Chinese market, you’ll find that the almighty Google is banned there. In comes Baidu, China’s most popular engine, with all its algorithms tailored to Chinese culture, interests, markets, and lifestyles. A completely different set of rules that need to be unraveled, as if the ones Google has weren’t obscure and complicated enough! However, it is essential to adapt any kind of SEO strategy to the default search engine of the target market. Using the strategy you have for Google on Bing will be like throwing money away.

The How

The language people use for their searches, with all its nuances and common misspellings, is also something we have to take into account when building our strategy. For example, Spanish and French users often ignore accents when typing into the search box. That is a common practice for all languages that use particular symbols to aid in spoken pronunciation, but become less relevant for a search engine that is able to auto correct and find certain words within different contexts. Abbreviations are also widely used in online searches, and so are synonyms that can have different prevalence depending on the country. The more of them you take into account, the more users will be directed to your page.

The What

Learning the type of content that users search for and how it relates to our business or product is essential to understand exactly what people want. A business that sells musical instruments can have a plethora of angles in which users will search for their products. If people want a Piano, they might be concerned about measurements, price, and sound quality. If they’re shopping for a guitar, perhaps aesthetics, weight, and build quality become more important. Then we have the more abstract searches that relate to actions: Will I be famous if I buy this bass? While becoming famous is entirely up to the buyer, it’s a perfectly legitimate question that is probably asked more often than it seems, thus becoming a good candidate for a keyword. Music, and the instruments needed to make it, is immensely related to fame in our collective conscience, and associating one another is as natural as the sun rising every morning. Make sure to take advantage of that.