International SEO Strategy To Boost Your Business Abroad!

If companies and businesses in Canada planning to reach the rapidly expanding abroad, increasingly sophisticated international internet audience, they must get smarter about international search engine optimization.

I don’t mean the traditional and domestic SEO, I am talking about international version boosts the likelihood that a particular website will rise to the top of search results, thereby enabling increased conversion rates.

The challenge internationally is to sketch out a clear plan and select the right SEO strategies for an enormous number of locales, cultural norms and languages. For those creating and implementing an international SEO program, it’s helpful to adhere to three key principles.

Know the international SEO needs before publish it abroad.

International SEO is instrumental in helping businesses get found online and ensuring your visitors or potential visitors stick around once they land on your site. 

Don’t make your international SEO strategy as step two. It should be part of your planning process from the moment you decide to expand internationally.
That planning process begins with keyword research. Determine what keywords your target customers are likely to use. Will they search for your products using the exact translation, or are there local slang terms you need to know?

This information is essential to developing an international website that is optimized for the key factors evaluated by search engine algorithms: meaningful, fresh content that is keyword-specific; descriptive tagging; rich media; social media distribution plans; and internal and external links.

Don’t make global SEO a follow-up item on your globalization to-do list. It should be embedded in every step of the marketing and sales strategy.

Monitor and update your content periodically and continuously.

You should pay close attention to content that is changing regularly and to keywords used in your business website. If you’re not seeing any results, means there is something wrong and you need to consider updating your keywords and track the impact the changes have on your rankings. Make sure you re-submit your website for indexing every time you make a change to ensure your changes are captured by the relevant search engines.

Align your SEO strategy with social media activity.

If SEO and social media work in different directions and don't communicate nearly enough, they can't form a well-coordinated, comprehensive International marketing plan. Therefore, it's extremely important that SEO is integrated into social media activity. What follows are some specific tactics that can be used to increase the impact that your social media activities have on International SEO performance.

To break into promising regions in the Americas, Europe and Asia, companies need to focus on above principles to all of their electronic communication points with customers and therefore maximizing their prospects for success

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How To Drive Your Website to Achieve Your Business Goals

One of my friends (Heather) is working real estate managing director in Canada. She had worked with a team to redesign company project. The website launched with lovely look and whistles that created by a company graphics designer – but his call was relating with an issue that impact company’s website and was calling me to help with a problem. !!

The problem is - Her beautiful new website wasn’t getting many visitors!  - Please Yasser we need your suggestion.

“Why don’t people want to visit our lovely website and check the properties list and other promotions we have there?” Heather wailed, genuinely puzzled that the results of her intensive efforts weren’t as rosy as she had expected when the redesigned the website.

From the first glance I knew what the problem is, but I couldn't point out where is the defect and I had to soften the impact, and gently explain what went wrong.

Together, we quickly checked the site’s ranking on Google for her top 50 keywords.  They weren’t anywhere in the top 10 results. Or even 20.  You see, the not-so-apparent reason for the ‘failed’ website was the lack of something essential for both higher search engine rankings, and to enhance the visitor experience which can convert a prospect into a customer.  What’s that, you ask? 

Heather’s company new website, though visually appealing and technology-rich, was sorely lacking in a well-planned information architecture and website structure.  But you will ask what “information architecture” is? And how does “website structure” differ from design? 

I would define “information architecture” The art and way of organizing and labeling websites, intranets, online communities, and web plugins to support usability and fundability.”

To understand this better, imagine you strip the website from of all its clothes and look at it as skeleton, shorn of flesh and skin. Focus on the basic fundamentals of building the page from shapes and strengthens it.

In computer engineering school, trainees begin by learning about computer hardware. Knowing what makes up the computer works (and later treat) hardware-software integration that not only focuses on how computer systems themselves work, but also how they integrate into the larger picture.

 

Think of your website like a cake your links, paid search, and social media acts as the icing, but your content, information architecture, content management system, and infrastructure act as the sugar and makes the cake. Without it, your cake is tasteless, boring, and gets thrown in the trash.

At the heart of understanding website structure, and planning your strategy for information architecture, lies a need to know about terms like semantic search, latent semantic indexing and SEO automation.

Semantic search is an attempt to improve search accuracy by predicting the intent of a searcher. The shift from blindly matching keywords typed into a search box against a massive database, to a more “intelligent” form of search that attempts to understand what those words actually mean to the user, has serious implications on strategic SEO for many business owners.

Latent Semantic Indexing is an indexing and retrieval method that was designed to identify patterns in the relationship between terms and concepts within any text.

By providing unique context for each search term or phrase, it ensures that a search for ‘Apple’ computers will retrieve pages with iMac or iPad on it, while a search for ‘Apple’ fruit will pull a different set of results on gardening and growing apples.

I would say, your information architecture must be based on the best ways to serve your visitor, based on an intimate understanding of ‘user logic’. For instance, good SEO begins with good keyword research. After all, if you don’t know the ways people are seeking your content, it’s pretty hard to ensure that your content “speaks” to them using the words they search for.

So for this company’s website, the primary way of organizing information was by target part of segment not by audience and by type. Because of this, I asked Heather (my friend) to modify the primary navigation and relevant page interlinking on the website. I did not discount the keyword research data. I just used the keywords in the right context.

I explained to her and to the team, that search engine optimization is optimizing a website for people who use search engines. Understanding searchers, their contexts and environments, behaviors, and intentions is just as important as understanding how search engines work.

In my opinion, if SEOs are optimizing websites without considering query classification and searcher personas, then they are optimizing more for search engines than for searchers (technology-centered optimization). Keyword classification is crucial for long-term search engine visibility and conversions.

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Do you Know What Resources You Need For Your Business Strategy?

Can you summarize your organization’s strategy or your company business’s strategy in 20 words or less? If so, would your colleagues or your partner put it the same way?

From my experience, I would say that very few executives can honestly answer these simple questions in the affirmative. And the companies that those executives or managers work for are often the most successful in their industry.  Why? Because those executives know what is long-term business planning and how they can work to achieve organization objectives. Companies that don’t have a simple and clear statement of strategy are likely to fall into the sorry category of those that have failed to execute their strategy or, worse, those that they think they have one! This in turn, has a negative impact on frontline employees, and all those in between are frustrated because no clear strategy exists for the company or its lines of business.

The kinds of complaints that abound in such firms include:
“I try for months to work in creating new online marketing campaign to our company, and then it is shut down because ‘it doesn’t fit the strategy.’ Why didn't anyone tell me that at the beginning?”

“Why are we hiring or selecting this vendor again? The vendor submitted an offer last year but did not abide on supplying, and I thought it is not worth it to waste our time and repeat same scenario."

“Should I cut the price for this customer? I don’t know if we would be better off winning the deal at a lower price or just losing the business.”

For instance, I have an experience in IT industry and digital marketing media field; I would therefore talk through this perspective and sketch out the role of IT on company strategy.

Information Technology has become a key business function for almost every organization and most have great expectations of their investment in IT for the future benefits to the business – expectations that will enable the business to:-

-Reduce costs;
-Standardize processes;
-Enhance productivity;
-Improve workflow and communications;
-Sustain repeatable service levels;
-Implement new business strategies;

Despite the growing trend towards building solid business and adoption right concept of strategic tools in a company, there are still real opportunities for IT to make a difference. But the IT contribution is less likely to take the form of the ‘killer’ application that gives specific competitive advantage – it is far more likely that the principal benefit will be derived from having robust, but adaptable, technology throughout the organization, thus facilitating an agile business strategy.

This also includes the digital marketing part and its role in company business strategy especially when we the company plans to grow the business and build up a solid reputation, for instance building a digital tools for trust-based marketing to match company’s objectives, and understanding the role of customers or target audience as a stockholder in business growing

But, if our strategy is not clearly visible – how can we ever hope to align anything with it, let alone the IT function? The answer is that we must move beyond the conceptual level of most strategic thinking, towards a practical, physical expression of the alignment process.

Quite simply, we need a tangible alignment plan that will help us to realize our ambition of complete harmony between our IT and business strategy / or our digital tools and business strategy. ( As mentioned earlier from IT and Digital Marketing aspects)

I would say, organizations that have been able to successfully integrate technology and business strategy have created significant business returns.
Information Technology (IT) and Digital Marketing has become an important enabler of business strategies in such areas of mass customization, competitive differentiation, quality improvements, and process automation and improvement.

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Direct Your Content Marketing To Be Authentic .. It is Time Now!

Last week I was lucky enough to be on of attendees in a session that hosted by Meetup group E-Business to discuss the fundamentals in the field of digital marketing and its effect in and business. And while the entire talk was informative and entertaining, one bit really stood out. He asked a good question about social media “Whether or not it’s a good idea to outsource social media”. One of the participants unequivocally said no, and pushed the need to be authentic. That idea of authenticity struck me. That word used to mean something and it seems has real impact on business. He mentioned the authenticity is still vital for a successful social media campaign, and anyone worth their salt should be striving to present an authentic voice through their social channels.

Content is a king and acceleration for the business growth!

I opened this piece with a story for a reason. I believe you will ask why Yasser Al Mimar needs to go through this part of story to open the subject. I would say, readers like to be able to connect with content, and content is still one of the best ways to keep your online marketing authentic. After all, you are producing and creating the fodder for this form of marketing, so you imbue your content with your personality and voice. It’s as close as your audience can get to talking to you, without really talking to you. That is why I believe that content is still the primary focus for social marketers.  Simply put, content is what your customers are looking for. Specifically, people want detailed and in-depth information that supports their decision to buy something from you. If you can provide this, then you have your foot in the door. Or you’ve got their feet in yours, however way you look at it.

A survey by Social Media Examiner found that 58% of marketers still rank content as their most valuable social marketing tool. Yes, there are SEO benefits to content marketing, but it trumps visuals, audio, and curated posts for reasons beyond search engine ranking – it’s an authentic representation of your voice, and a good reminder for your audience that a living, breathing, thinking person is behind the profiles that they follow.

It can be hard for any business to cultivate its voice. After all, your company isn’t a celebrity and sitting on the throne of stardom in the market place! But your brand does have a voice. And it is that voice that sets you apart from your competitors. People will follow you through your various social channels because they like that voice. So you need to work to cultivate it, and keep your presence authentic.

Good content, quick responses and an actual person to monitor and interact through your feeds will do wonders for your social marketing campaign. Authenticity isn’t just a pointless corporate buzzword– it’s the very keystone to your company’s social success.

In that day, I had discussion with one of keynote speakers and other participants. I had clarified very important point that relates with my work and business.  As webmaster and digital marketing experience, I mentioned: “Content is King.” And everyone in web marketing knows that. A website's content, even more so than its products, is what attracts visitors. People are coming to your website need to have the sign kind of interest to get wherever you are giving and delivering. 

There are two important aspects of web content. For simplicity's sake, I'll call them Quantity and Quality.

Quality means that the content should be well written and be free from those embarrassing typos that make visitors wonder if your website really knows what it's talking about. For our purposes, however, it also means that content should be rich in keywords, informative and interesting, so that the visitor feels they've learned something. Such is the power of Quality content.

Quantity, on the other hand, means that your website should be updated regularly with new content added. A visitor may return to an informational article once, or even two or three times, but if your website's content never changes, eventually, there will be no reason for him to return.

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Business Positioning And Winning Customers in Highly Competitive Markets

You know that your business is offering a great service or product, and you believe that you and your company are special, but your potential customers won't know unless you tell them, Think about it? And they won't care unless they can see how your special angle directly makes their lives easier. In the same time, you need to make sure you know how your product or service works to get customer satisfaction.

It's more than just showing the features of your products or services; you've got to explain the benefits, for instance, if your business is in the educational sector or in the technology services it’s best to slice out specific benefits that will distinguish your products or services in the market.

Therefore, a brand's "position" is where it stands relative to its competitors in the minds of customers. An important aspects of a brand's position in a products or service category is how similar or different the brand is perceived to be in comparison with other brands in the product category.

Positioning has long been acknowledged as a core branding activity (DiMingo, 1988). Positioning is the act of designing an organization's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the target market's mind (Kotler, 2000). For example, Samsung is positioned as the industry leader in technology. Panadol is positioned as the painkiller medicine. Walmart is positioned as lowest possible prices for retailing. Each of these brands holds a distinct position in its product category and the organization's product, promotion, distribution and pricing strategies are designed to communicate and support the brand's unique position.

I would consider the positioning decision as crucial strategic decision for a company or a brand because the position can be central to customers' perception and choice decisions. Further, since all the elements of the marketing program can potentially affect the position, it is usually necessary to apply the positioning strategy as a focus for development of the marketing program. A clear positioning strategy can ensure that the elements of the marketing program are consistent and supportive.

I have a good experience in educational sector, and for this reason I would like to input my example at the level of the higher education to clarify the role of positioning in this business.

A university that has a distinct position is able to convey to prospective students what it is and what it stands for (Lowry & Owens, 2001). By directing all of its marketing efforts towards a desired position, a university maintains a coherence and unity in its activities and establishes a specific image (Lowry & Owens, 2001). Effective positioning focuses in what the target market perceives is important and not necessarily what university administrators believe is significant (Lowry & Owens, 2001).

For instance, AUS (American University of Shariah) is one of the organizations in Middle East that offers services which is not intended to make a monetary profit. AUS one of the top universities ranking in the region and it jumps to 390 in world university rankings.

Positioning results from the specific way in which the four key marketing variables of product, price, promotion, and place (referred to as the 4 Ps) are managed (Lowry & Owens, 2001). In a collegiate environment, product becomes academic programs and services, price is tuition and financial aid, promotion is the communications program, and place refers to the delivery system for academic programs (Lowry & Owens, 2001). The size of a school, class sizes, and the student faculty ratio are important elements of the academic delivery system (Lowry & Owens, 2001). The advertising, public relations, admissions materials, and other promotions of the institution should be coordinated to make a unified positioning statement (Lowry & Owens, 2001).

Based on that, the university works to create its position in terms of student’s quality, community, faculty and staff qualification and skills, program, service and facilities. I have sketched out below a diagram with positioning map that has three categories (competitors, attributes and segments)

The most frequently used positioning base is associating the brand with a particular attribute, product feature, or user benefit. For example, Columbia College of Chicago positions itself on the attribute of innovation in the arts with its positioning slogan "create ... change"

Organizations are often tempted to position themselves along multiple attributes. However, positioning strategies that involve a number of attributes can lead to a diluted brand position and confusion in the minds of consumers.

In the positioning map I drew for example, 

GS Style layers are always looking for excellent benefit which includes “Academic Program and Services “. Parents or Guardians of students don’t focus on the price (tuition and fees) versus quality and services; also they prefer safe place with sustain environment to enhance their children for optimal use of energy and learn how to live healthy and sustainable. In the contrast we see UOWD also contain GS segment because some parents are usually seeking for moderate tuition and fees and moderate quality of education

One more important thing which is considered a key element in positioning your business in the market place, it is to monitor the organization's position over time and make adjustments to the marketing strategy as may become necessary. In some instances, companies find it necessary to reposition their brands when either the company fails to achieve the desired position in consumers' minds or when the positioning base is no longer important to consumers. From my perspective American University of Shariah needs more work to market its product or service to its customers or clients. In positioning, the marketing department creates an image for the product based on its intended audience, and this is what AUS should do to enhance its position in the educational market place and differentiate from its competitors 

To sum up, I would strongly say if a university is able to establish a distinctive position relative to its competitors, it enhances its ability to maintain or increase enrollments.

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