Andy Radovic and Shawn Finn will present on search marketing best practices in Japan. Radovic has over 10 years of experience in digital marketing, including 6 years focused on search and social in Japan and Korea. Finn has 5+ years experience in search, planning, and management in Japan and Korea. Their presentation will cover the growing Japanese search landscape, SEO best practices for Japan, examples of companies that are doing well with search in Japan, and final thoughts on localizing for success.

2. Your Presenters:
Andy Radovic Shawn Finn
Managing Director, Outrider Japan Associate Director, Outrider Japan
• 10+ years in Digital with 6 focused • 5+ years in Search & Social
on Search & Social across Japan planning, execution and
and Korea markets management in Japan and Korea
• Born and educated in the US and • A native Bostonian who loves
now enjoys traveling throughout Mexican food, oil painting,
Japan and Asia photography and the Red Sox

3. Strategy Search Marketing & SEO SEM
Consumer Driven Solutions
An Experienced Team
21 dedicated search marketers in Japan with a thorough
command of the search medium and over 10 years of
experience globally with industry vertical experience
Proprietary Technology LPO Analytics
Decide DNA is our proprietary double-byte compatible
search and ROI technology helping clients manage complex
search campaigns across the region/globe
Results Driven Experience
Delivering strong ROI for our clients is at the heart of what
we do as a group, and all the search programs we build
focus on delivering these results
Local, Regional, & Global Leverage Social Performance
With offices in all the major regions of the world, and now
in Japan, we can leverage our network experience to
provide added value to our clients
Outrider is part of:

7. TODAY’s AGENDA
1. Why Japan?
2. Search Landscape in Japan
3. SEO Best Practices: How to Be An SEO Ninja
4. Who is Doing Well
5. Final Thoughts

8. Why Japan?

9. #2
[current global ranking for internet penetration]

10. 13.2%
[estimated growth of `12 search spend]

11. 31%
[estimated growth of `12 mobile search spend]

12. 15%
[current smartphone penetration rate]

13. 34%
[estimated smart phone penetration rate by end of 2012]

14. 307%
[total growth in # of Facebook users within 2011]

15. Still #3 global Strong
economy = Massive infrastructure and
purchasing power very networked
Population that is Very concentrated
very digitally & trend-focused
switched on consumer mindset

16. All this equates to a
Opportunity for those who are in or soon to enter Japan

17. The search landscape in Japan
+

18. Similar to other markets, Japan has a
proliferation of search engines…

19. …However, 2 search engines control over 92%
of the market share
Over 10 billion searches per month in Japan with Google recently
overpowering Yahoo as the dominate search engine

20. And Mobile search
is taking over…
Breakdown of Beauty Search
Trends (Desktop vs. Mobile)
Source: Google Internal - averages based on a sample of available industry-related Google data. Future results may differ
from provided. Please use as a directional guide.

21. Introducing…
Mr. Google Mrs. Yahoo

22. “Call to Search”
Concept
The majority of both television & train
advertisements in Japan have a
keyword in a search box as the primary
user action, often with no URL
A Recent Goo Research Survey
Found that:
› More than 60% of
consumers surveyed
indicated they had seen a
television advertisement
that asked them to search
for a key word
› More than 32% of those
that had seen the ad, had
then actually used that
keyword in a search.

23. Impact of TVCM on Mobile Search Queries…
Mobile Search Query

24. Where is Search Headed…
Survey: What are the top digital channels
where you see opportunity in 2012?
#1: Mobile #2: SEO #3: Social
Source: Japan Marketing and Creativity magazine Jan 2008
* Questions directed at marketers across 74 companies
• We see a shift in client mindset • The key challenge is how to make a
with a skew towards SEO and less more local experience, while retain
reliance on pure media your efficiencies of scale
• There is a realization that the • We see a more continual shift to
fundamentals of SEO are not mobile SEO and ways to properly
currently in place address that channel

25. How to be an SEO Ninja

26. What it Takes to Succeed in JP
1. Domain & Hosting Considerations
2. To Localize or Not to Localize
3. Keyword Strategy
4. On-Page Fundamentals
5. Content
6. Social
7. Linking

27. 1 Domain hosting is best served locally

28. Domain & Hosting Considerations
Format Example Hosted Local Search* Bonus
Overseas none
Roman .com Tenshoku.com
Locally minimal
Overseas minimal
Roman .jp/.co.jp/ .net, etc. Tenshoku.jp
Locally moderate
Overseas moderate
Japanese .com 転職.com
Locally potentially strong
Overseas moderate
Japanese .jp/.co.jp/.net , etc. 転職.co.jp
Locally potentially strong
*in Google/Yahoo JP from a Japanese IP address
Key Takeaways
• Local domains (.jp, .co.jp)
see ranking benefits
• IDNs can and do rank well
The power of IDNs: ranks 4th for 香港ホテル for domain name terms
(Hong Kong hotel)

29. 2 To localize or not
to localize…

30. Let’s Get Emotional
Successful localization in Japan relies on two overarching themes:
Emotion Relevancy
&

31. Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
+

32. Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
=

33. Emotion and Relevancy through Collaboration
+

34. Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
=

35. Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
+

36. Emotion and Relevancy through Localization
=

37. Breaking the Mold, and the Template
Exbear – Expedia’s very
Japanese mascot – has helped
connect the brand with
Japanese users in both a
relevant and emotional way
Key Takeaways
• Localize your templates
whenever possible, even if
Successful localization also involves adapting global it’s just the top page
• Look to connect with users
templates to Japanese visual aesthetics and UI
through emotion and
preferences . . . a site that looks especially “foreign” relevancy
will likely not do as well as a properly localized site!

38. 3 Keyword Strategy
輸入くるま
ゆにゅうくるま 輸入車
ユニュウクル
マ
輸入 車
yunyu kuruma ユニュウ クル
ゆにゅう くるま マ
輸入 車
Yunyuu Kuruma ゆにゅう く
るま
ユニュウ クル
マ
ゆにゅう車

39. Keyword Strategy
Keyword Type Searches* Key Takeaways
輸入車 kanji, no spaces 480,000
• 4 different character sets to
輸入 車 kanji, single byte space 240,000 optimize for: kanji, hiragana,
katakana, romaji
輸入 車 kanji, double byte space 560,000
• Watch your spacing – single
ゆにゅうくるま hiragana, no spaces 3,900 byte vs. double byte
influences Yahoo rankings
ユニュウクルマ katakana, no spaces ~100
• Japanese tend to search in
輸入くるま mixed kanji/hiragana 47,000 the infinitive, which can be
hard to naturally work in to
yunyu kuruma romaji 2,200
copy
import car English 15,600
*Combined Google/Yahoo Japan, February 2012
Four Character Sets to Optimize for….
• Kanji: Chinese characters used for everything 車 売る
• Hiragana: phonetic alphabet used for conjugation and Japanese grammar rarely matches how
spelling out words searches are formatted – the above
• Katakana: phonetic alphabet used to spell loan words (literally “car to sell”) sees 40,000
and brands searches a month, but cannot be
• Romaji: Roman characters naturally rolled in to copy.

40. 4 On Page Fundamentals
On-page best practices for Japan do
not vary from standard best
practices:
 On-page HTML Elements
Links (H1s, Alts, Anchor Text,
etc.)
 Page Speed / Load
Times
Social  Keyword-rich Title Tags
 Fresh Content
On-Page
Content  Quality Copy
 Use HTML Content

41. 5 Content: more is better

42. Content Best Practices
• More Is Better: Japanese users expect • Localize Forms: Remember, date
to see lots of information. The Western formatting, credit card input fields,
meme of “less is more” doesn’t work in name fields etc. are all formatted
Japan, so don’t be afraid to load up on differently in Japan
text-heavy details
• About Us Pages (について) are often
• Write content specifically for the among the most viewed pages on
Japanese user, don’t just translate brand sites, especially foreign brands.
existing English content – it won’t Put some love in to these pages!
resonate with the user as well, and
you’ll miss keyword density • Stock Images: Avoid the typical multi-
opportunities racial corporate imagery common in the
West – this is Japan, show Japanese
• Highlight Local Management: Trust is a people with your brand and products
huge part of the online experience in
Japan, and demonstrating commitment
Above all else, do not just use Google
to the market by highlighting Japanese
Translate! Users will know. User will
management can go a long way in
disapprove.
cementing that trust

43. 6 Social
Tea still on for
tomorrow
afternoon?
Moved to Sunday,
didn’t you see my
FB update?
She’s still stuck
on mixi…

44. Link Building
Social media in
Japan is both
highly developed
and highly
stratified

45. Social
Key Takeaways
It’s a stereotype, but: Japanese social media
users are a lot more polite than you might be • Facebook, Twitter and mixi should
used to – Japanese FB brand Pages tend not to
all be part of any brand’s social
see the negative comments and brand attacks
that can be so frustratingly common in other
strategy – but remember that mixi
markets is a closed system and offers zero
SEO value
A Nation of Bloggers: With over a million blog
entries a month, the Japanese are the world’s • Yahoo!知恵袋 (Q&A) is a great
most active bloggers place to engage users; create a
“brand ambassador” who
mixi is slowly dying: For almost a decade, mixi
had been Japan’s biggest SNS by a wide
transparently answers product,
margin, but the past few years have seen service and brand questions – great
Facebook and Twitter catch up and eclipse the for backlinking too!
homegrown network:
• Social gaming on services like Glee
and Mobage are massively popular;
if your company can swing it, think
about creating a branded social
game to drive traffic and build
awareness

46. 7 Linking
#1: Go Native #2: PPP is OK With #3: Don’t Expect
Me Transparency
When looking to build Pay Per Post backlinking A hard pill to swallow for most
backlinks, remember that programs are popular in Japan digital marketers, link building
engines value links and can be reasonably effective programs in Japan rarely report
originating from Japanese IP at boosting rankings for a low more than a sample of all
addresses and surrounded by investment. sourced backlinks – around 10%
Japanese content – overseas is the standard.
link building is less effective. PPP programs also drive solid
traffic, especially those that run Tip: If you want to fully
Japanese anchor text is on top blog networks like undertake a complete SEO
essential as well; large Ameblo. program in Japan, accept that link
volumes of backlinks with building providers will not
English anchor text won’t cut Japanese users are not turned off provide the level of transparency
it. to sponsored blogging in the way you’re likely used to seeing in
that North Americans tend to be. other markets. Shoganai yo ne.
Tip: Place links with JP anchor
text in the footers of other Tip: PPP programs work great
PoS sites with limited-time campaigns

47. Best-in-Class
SEO in Japan

48. http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp
 Light and fast loading
 Editable content
 Localized domain
 Great title & header tags
 Localized site template

49. http://www.expedia.co.jp
 Great keyword targeting
 Localized domain
 Lengthy content
 Great title & header tags
 Localized site template

50. http://www.cosme.net/
 High quality of content
 Social signal integration
 Great interlinking
 Targeted keywords
 Clean & light pages

51. Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Go Local Whenever Possible: whether domain
hosting, localizing templates and other assets,
researching keywords, developing content or building
links, look for a Japanese solution
Trust Your Guys on the Ground: who better to help
provide a local solution than your Japanese team?
We’ve seen many foreign companies fail in their digital
endeavors because Global refused to listen to Local
Know Your Audience: you may have a clear idea in
your head about your target audience in Japan, but
understand that there will be cultural differences in
user tendencies and expectations; speak to your
Japanese audience
One last time: Do not use Google Translate!