SEO Brein meetup: CTRL+C is not how to scale international SEO

Transcript

1. Linda Hogenes | Head of SEO @ Coolblue | linkedin.com/in/lindahogenes | #seobreinmeetup| speakerdeck.com/lindahogenes
2. Today's talk is all about how to create a successful website in a new market or language at scale.
3. Stand up if you've ever launched a new-language slite by duplicating what already worked in your home market.
4. Now stay standing if, deep down, you knew it wasn't going to work - but shipped it anyway.
5. Welcome to the copy-paste loop. Let's break it.
6. Because if your site doesn't feel local, it won't perform local.
8. 11 years at Coolblue 2014
9. Long-time member & moderator SEO Brein
11. We sell consumer electronics
12. 12 . Netherlands, Belgium and Germany
13. 13 7 different language/country combinations German English Dutch English Dutch French English
14. You've probably seen us around
15. Anything for a smile
17. The illusion of scale
18. Happy customers?
19. Rankings?
20. Commercial results?
21. Will they trust you?
22. Make a website that is actually local
23. You can scale a lot still
25. Today's subjects • Words • Assortment • Formatting • Expectations • Show you're local
27. Same language Different keywords Droger Wasdroger Droogkast
28. Untransla table No direct translation possible Kopfhörer Hoofdtelefoon Koptelefoon Oordopjes
29. Time of day the Dutch 'middag' has a different meaning in Netherlands and Belgium
30. With a smile Fact/slogans
31. Words A lot of words are the same across countries, or can be easily translated. 1
32. Words Check the correctness of your wording, ideally by a native speaker & customize your pages where needed. 1
34. Different products language on panel
35. Different products Keyboard layout
36. Service providers Internet, telephony
37. Assortment Ask vendors & check competitors to find out if products are different. 1 ?
38. Assortment A lot of your assortment will be the exact same. 1
39. Assortment Or the same product, just with a different name and look. 1
40. Assortment Or entirely different products. 1
41. Assortment Customize where those different products are shown on your site. 1
43. Date & time display Different per language 6 février 2025 14 h 38
44. Date & time display Different per language 6 février 2025 14 h 38
45. Notation of numbers Like dishwasher niche sizes
46. Formatting Customize the templates per country/language. Test improvements. 1
48. Legislation Impressum (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
49. Expectations Service, delivery, installation → strong USP?
50. Expectations Check competitor websites and market data. 1 ?
52. Credibility Why should people trust us if they don't know us?
53. Payment methods Offer the ones your customers are used to
54. 'Feel' local Images must match local expectations
55. 'Feel' local Images are actually local
56. Be local Stores
57. Be local Delivery
58. Be local Customer service
59. Show you are local Don't fake it. No copy-paste. 1
61. Check where you need to localize • Words • Assortment • Formatting • Expectations • Show you're local
62. Google follows users behaviour
65. Hreflangs point to each other & itself Wasdrogers nl-nl Droogkasten nl-be Sèche-linges fr-be Dryers en-nl Trockner de-de <head> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="nl-nl"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="en-nl"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="nl-be"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="fr-be"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="de-de"> </head>
66. Either in the <head> or in sitemap <head> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="nl-nl"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="en-nl"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="nl-be"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="fr-be"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="de-de"> </head> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <url> <loc>https://www.coolblue.nl/wasdrogers</loc> <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="nl-nl" href="https://www.coolblue.nl/wasdrogers"/> <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-nl" href="https://www.coolblue.nl/en/dryers"/> ... </url> <head> sitemap
67. If unavailable, don't link to it Wasdrogers nl-nl Droogkasten nl-be Dryers en-nl Trockner de-de <head> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="nl-nl"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="en-nl"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="nl-be"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="fr-be"> <link rel="alternate" href="..." hreflang="de-de"> </head> fr-be
68. Targeting Belgium? be
69. be Targeting Belgium? Belarusian
70. be-nl Targeting Belgium?
71. be-nl Targeting Belgium? Belarusian
72. nl-be Targeting Belgium?
73. nl-be Targeting Belgium? Dutch (Flemish)
75. Check where you need to localize • Words • Assortment • Formatting • Expectations • Show you're local • Hreflang ... and much more
79. Linda Hogenes | Head of SEO @ Coolblue | linkedin.com/in/lindahogenes | #seobreinmeetup| speakerdeck.com/lindahogenes