1.    Website Content

• All content should be written in the targeted language in the commonly spoken dialect of each country. Translations are NOT as effective as rewriting text from scratch.
  • New keywords should be allocated to each page written in the new language. Often, keywords’ meanings change with each language.
  • The physical address of the company should be listed on a dedicated page or on the contact page. Ideally there should be an address for each country that is to be targeted.

2.    Keyword Research

• Keyword research should be done using Google Adwords in each language separately.
  • Keyword research should be carried out with the help of a native speaker.
  • Translations of keywords sometimes miss local slang which can provide better search results based on search volumes.

3.    Domains and Hosting

• Domain names should be registered in the country being targeted.
• Domain extensions should cover all variations of each language i.e. for France – www.domain.fr
  • If not the primary domain name then a second domain name should be bought and optimised
• The DNS server should be based in the country that is being targeted. It’s normal for the top performing websites for each country to be geographically based in that territory.
• The IP address for the site should be located in the country being targeted

4.    External Text Links

• External text links should come from country specific sites matching the appropriate language and industry relevance.
• The external links are chosen by analyising potential websites to match to Vivid Limes foreign language criteria.
  • Any text links from internal sites should be written in the target language as well.

5.    Local Search

• The site should be listed in all local and language directories
  • Local search listings should be activated in the country itself – using a local address.
  • Adding a local search listing will give the site priority in searches conducted geographically near the company.

6.    Videos and Images

• Any videos or images used on site should be tagged in the target language
• Videos should contain the foreign language in dialogue or if the video is a slide presentation, each slide should be created in the targeted language.

A recent project for a client made me think that an actual design of a Wordpress theme can hold SEO benefits, which a lot of the time are overlooked.

1. Make sure your theme is widget compatible – The free downloadable widgets provide great value to a blog and can help increase links and RSS subscriptions. Of course if you are a coder and want to add this separately the same results can be achieved but this will add time to the final cost.
2. Make sure the blog title is search engine readable – I know again you would think this is standard but I’ve seen many that only offer background or images for the header section.
3. Include RSS feeds in your design – Sounds like common sense but make sure then entries and comments are coded in the theme design, preferably near the top fold of the page. The basic blog feed, not feed burner or other feed websites, the bare basics.
4. Give people space to breathe – Ok, so not directly SEO related but the design should encourage the client or end user of the theme to include a sufficient level of customisation, be this adsense, MyBlogLog or other synthetic extras.
5. Site architecture – When deciding where to put your pages, categories or recent posts consider could enhance your design. Ideally put your pages at the start of the readable code i.e. in the header file, I personally like to see categories next in readable code from a search engine perspective, this will increase the speed of crawling throughout your site, thus keeping everyone happy!

Over the last eighteen months there has been an abundance of SEO (including mine), most provide informative and insightful SEO guides, tips and strategies. I have also come across many that have good intentions but offer very little value to other search marketers and often posts can be misleading to newcomers to the industry.

There are however a select few that continue to provide quality content on a weekly basis that I believe should be on every SEO’s RSS subscription.

1. SEOMOZ

SEOMOZ are an SEO company based in Seattle in the US and have become an anchor in the SEO industry. The leader of the pack so to speak would be Rand Fishkin who has continued to create great post content. The site offers a selection of free SEO tools to assist with analysis and they offer a members area which contains even more. Altogether I cannot find a better SEO blog out there, it’s that simple. I suggest you visit them immediately and start learning or touching up on your SEO skills.

SEOMOZ blog feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/seomoz

2. Search Engine People

Search Engine People are a Canadian based SEO company that have another fabulous blog that every SEO should be subscribed to. At the forefront of the great insights is Jeff Quipp. It’s strategy in this blog that I find most important, proven methods in dealing with the different scenarios of internet marketing, it’s bloody good dust I tell you.

Search Engine People blog feed: http://www.searchenginepeople.com/feed/

3. Search Engine Land

Search Engine Land is great for a number of reasons but what I like is when technical information or data comes up in posts that it’s always written in a way that is understandable to almost anyone, really great writing styles. The most recognizable character on the team would have to be Danny Sullivan the man who brought us our beloved Sphinn. They always deliver great quality and is a must for every SEO!

Search Engine Land’s blog feed: http://feeds.searchengineland.com/searchengineland

4. Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal has a selection of very good blog authors, I tend to get the most value from Ann Smarty, and her posts are so detailed there’s never a short read! They provide insights and links to great tools and content that as an SEO you just can’t ignore.

Search Engine Journals blog feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SearchEngineJournal

5. Seo Scientist

A lot of other SEO’s would probably argue that there are more deserving SEO blogs to get this number 5 spot. Branko Rihtman is the author of this absolutely fantastic blog. As the name might suggest these blog posts are based around the inner workings of search engine behaviors, with extremely detailed posts and data to back up findings. The frequency of the posts is far less than others but when content is posted you can guarantee you will learn at least 1 new piece of information.

SEA Scientist’s blog feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SeoScientist

• Honourable mentions and still recommend signing up to their feeds:

• http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/sew
  http://www.seobook.com/rss.xml
  http://feeds.feedburner.com/SearchEngineRoundtable1
  http://feeds.feedburner.com/searchengineguide
  http://feeds.feedburner.com/Wolf-howl
  http://www.seobythesea.com/?feed=rss2
• And SeoUnique’s = http://feeds.feedburner.com/SeoUniqueBlog