3. You might say:
Step 1: Assuming English is OK
English is
the business
language
@ObanIntl
Overseas
students need
English to
study here
I’ve been to
Sweden / Denmark
/ Norway –
they all speak
English
@IAmTheLaserHawk
4. Is English OK?
NO.
People search in local language.
Even when English is accepted,
local language is often the kick-off point of
the search journey.
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
5. English is great for students coming to the UK
Hybrid
English
Arabic
0
@ObanIntl
5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000
@IAmTheLaserHawk
6. No English keywords in China
Chinese
Hybrid
English
99%
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
7. E-commerce is different, right?
Cross-border sales
are increasing...
So consumers
must be ok
to buy in
English then?
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
15. Do your research
Review how competitors are using language
Review the search results
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
16. Do your research
Review how competitors are using language
Review the search results
Look at keywords in both local language and
English
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
17. Do your research
Review how competitors are using language
Review the search results
Look at keywords in both local language and
English
Remember hybrid terms
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
18. Do your research
Review how competitors are using language
Review the search results
Look at keywords in both local language and
English
Remember hybrid terms
Don’t just assume it’s English
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
19. Do your research
Review how competitors are using language
Review the search results
Look at keywords in both local language and
English
Remember hybrid terms
Don’t just assume it’s English
Remember the differences between
languages shared by multiple countries
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
20. Step 2: Shortcuts to translation
So I need local language?
Let’s just
get something
out there
shall we?
@ObanIntl
It’s too
expensive to get
full translation -
so we’ve just
used a tool
Having
something in
language is better
than having
nothing
@IAmTheLaserHawk
26. Step 3: Assuming the same products will sell
You know your top 100 selling products –
they always sell
Let’s just take these and use them
internationally – this is a winning formula right?
WRONG.
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
27. Not everybody likes the same brands
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
China Germany UK Russia South Korea
HTC
Samsung
Apple
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
28. Not everybody wants to do the same things
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Antarctic/
Arctic
Fjords Hiking Husky Dog
Sledding
Midnight
Sun
Nature Northern
Lights
Snow-
mobiling
SE
NO
DK
FR
DE
US
UK
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
29. Don’t forget payment methods change too!
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Bank
Transfer
Cash on
Delivery
Credit
Card
Debit
Card
Direct
Debit
E-
Invoices
eWallet Others PostPay Pre-Paid PrePay
APAC
EMEA
Latam
North
America
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
31. Step 4: Hreflang tag woes
One of the easiest things to
get wrong!
Common issues include:
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
32. Step 4: Hreflang tag woes
One of the easiest things to
get wrong!
Common issues include:
Wrong language or country codes
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
33. Step 4: Hreflang tag woes
One of the easiest things to
get wrong!
Common issues include:
Wrong language or country codes
Lack of return tags
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
34. Step 4: Hreflang tag woes
One of the easiest things to
get wrong!
Common issues include:
Wrong language or country codes
Lack of return tags
Redirecting URLs
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
35. Step 4: Hreflang tag woes
One of the easiest things to
get wrong!
Common issues include:
Wrong language or country codes
Lack of return tags
Redirecting URLs
Conflicts with canonical tag
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
36. Wrong language codes
Some of the most common:
Eng for English
BR for Brazilian
Or a missing language code because you
want to target a country not a language.
Some of the best we’ve seen:
WW for worldwide
EU for Europe
SE for Sweden
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
37. One page, many locations
Hreflang en-de
Hreflang en-fr
Hreflang en-esEU homepage
Hreflang en-pt
Hreflang en-fi
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
38. Hreflang tag coding errors
No-man’s-land hreflang tags
</head>
<link rel=”alternate” href=”http://example.com/at”
hreflang=“de-at” />
<body>
Incorrect syntax
“de_de “ not “de-de“
Relative URLs not absolute
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
39. Hreflang tag conflicts
No return tag errors
Confusing message across
different countries
English
Services
Page
@ObanIntl
French
Services
Page
English
Home
Page
@IAmTheLaserHawk
40. Hreflang tag conflicts
Correctly returning tags
Clear message
English
@ObanIntl
Service Page
French
Service Page
@IAmTheLaserHawk
41. Hreflang tag common mistakes
No self-referencing tags
In both sitemap.xml and on page
– different URLs
Conflict with canonical tag
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
43. Hreflang tag common assumptions
Having a ccTLD is enough
Geotargeting in GSC is enough
Having them in both the sitemap and on
page is a good idea
If you put them on one site you don’t
need to worry about the other countries
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk
44. Hreflang tag common assumptions
Bing, Baidu and Naver don’t support
hreflang tags
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Language “
content=”en”>
@ObanIntl@IAmTheLaserHawk