Quebec Specific Seo Issues. A presention gave by Guillaume Bouchard (NVI) at Search Engine Strategies, SES Toronto on June 9th 2009.

1. INTERACTIVE STRATEGY - 55 AV. MONT-ROYAL W., SUITE 999, MONTREAL (QC) H2T 2S6 T 514.524.7149 NVISOLUTIONS.COM QUEBEC-SPECIFIC SEO ISSUES

2. AGENDA > QUEBEC DEMOGRAPHICS > QUEBEC FRENCH AUDIENCE > GOOGLE.CA > BING > QC.YAHOO.COM > TOILE DU QUÉBEC / CANOEKLIX > BV! MEDIA > PAGESJAUNES.CA > QUEBEC MARKET DISTRIBUTION > QUEBEC AND SOCIAL MEDIA > HOW TO MARKET PROPERLY IN QUEBEC INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM

3. QUEBEC DEMOGRAPHICS > In May 2009, 73.5% of Quebecers used the Internet regularly > Over 1 out of 6 Quebec Internet users go online at least once per day from a mobile device, 65% of them more than once > 55% (+15%) made purchases online over the past semester. > Numbers would be higher if debit payment was widely accepted > Quebec users trust their banks, not 3rd party websites! > 4 million active users > 70% French / 30% English > Montreal is a bilingual market: 60% French, 40% English > Any other city or region besides Montreal = 90% + French INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM

4. QUEBEC FRENCH AUDIENCE > Quebec Search landscape is more experienced than France: ~ 8% searches are 1 keyword vs ~30% in France ~45% searches are 2 keywords vs ~22% in France ~35% searches are 3 keywords vs ~29% in France ~12% searches are 4+ keywords ~12% users are not satisfied by the search results displayed Data is gathered and normalized from multiple sources, including: ComScore Networks, NETendances study, personal experiences with hundreds of clients statistics, specific publications in Quebec, including a recent one from Skooiz « Comment les québécois cherchent-ils sur le web », and great discussions with peers on the French markets in Quebec and France. INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM

5. GOOGLE > Educated guess monthly searches: ~79% with 225-250 million searches INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM Major Strengths Major Weaknesses Quebec and France sites are well divided More likely to get spammed Easiest to setup / most traffic Content network quality is below average Best ratio between time spent / ROI Confusion of Google.ca and Google.com in English

6. BING.CA > Our estimate on monthly searches: ~8-10% with 20-25 million searches INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM Major Strengths Major Weaknesses Traffic quality Relevance is sometimes inaccurate Not a lot of advertisers (lower CPC!) Finally a decent branded name for Canada Time consuming platform and not a lot of traffic

7. QC.YAHOO.COM > Our estimate on monthly searches: ~4-5% with 10-15 million searches INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Best traffic quality / ROI Small (for some verticals?) French content network Great Quebec French portal Generates lower traffic volume than Google/MSN Great Canadian account managers network

8. TOILE DU QUÉBEC / CANOEKLIX > Our estimate on monthly searches: ~2-3% with 3-5 million searches > CanoeKlix has an important ad display network with several million impressions INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM Major Strengths Major Weaknesses Great paid regional directory Unconventional payperclick platform Unsavvy Internet users No recurring billing Loyal userbase (oldest Québec engine) Poor performing platform as a whole

9. BV! MEDIA > Formerly Branchez-Vous and Networldmedia, BV! Media is an important ad display network with several million impressions that can reach all Quebec users INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM Major Strengths Major Weaknesses Great behavioral targeting Low ROI on B2B Great B2C market Not a search engine More than 1 000 clients Below average tracking

10. PAGESJAUNES.CA > Our estimate on monthly searches: ~3-4% with 3-5 million searches INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM Major Strengths Major Weaknesses Contains all Quebec businesses Expensive cost per click Great for brand awareness No clear relation between traffic and price for categories A major player in Quebec Not good for all verticals

11. QUEBEC MARKET DISTRIBUTION > Major Quebec properties and verticals owned by 3 actors: PowerCorp, Transcontinental, Quebecor > Top 3 actors strategy is mainly based on vertical acquisitions > Because of their size, the turnaround is much slower > This leaves multiple opportunities to create many verticals (and maybe get acquired by any of those 3 leaders later!) INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM

12. QUEBEC AND SOCIAL MEDIA > Quebec users are the most active in Canada (37%) > Youth in Quebec are more prone to use rich media than other provinces (50%) > 2 of the top 30 users on Digg are from Quebec > Quebec’s culture encourages the use and understanding of many non-English social platforms INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM

13. HOW TO MARKET PROPERLY IN QUEBEC > Include francophones while building your strategy > Make your website bilingual and optimize it > Leverage social media tactics with marketing tools coming to maturity (Facebook Apps, Online PR through blogs, Reputation management, Brand Watch, etc.) INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM

14. GOOGLE.COM: INTERNATIONAL VS US > Since early 2008, Google.com international ≠ Google.com US > Canada is international > If you want to rank on Google.com US, act American, but you might sacrifice part of your Canadian heritage > Backlink profile, hosting, physical addresses listed on site, text about the country, Google local listing > Use the query &gl=us to have Google.com US results INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM

15. THANKS / MERCI ! > EMAIL [email_address] > NVI SITE NVISOLUTIONS.COM > NVI BLOG (EN) NVISOLUTIONS.COM/BLOG > NVI BLOG (FR) GO-REFERENCEMENT.ORG Find us on twitter @NVI INTERACTIVE STRATEGY – NVISOLUTIONS.COM