International SEO and Online Communities with Ben Huh

August 25, 2010
 

No one ever said SEO was a one-size-fits-all solution. One way this is true is in international markets, where accepted tactics, user behavior, and search engine technologies and features make each region a different challenge. Today on the show, Bruce, Susan and Virginia account for the differences of SEO methodology across the world. SEOs in any region must understand the unique demands of the search space, and craft personas appropriate to their audience. International search engines have specific quality guidelines, and also, different thresholds for what may be considered spam. However, the quality guidelines in the U.S. and the white hat SEO best practices that follow them are the safest and most long-term solution to SEO, no matter where the site or business resides.

Ben Huh understands the needs of individual communities as the founder of the Cheezburger Network. He talks to Virginia about building communities that people love. Community participation can be facilitated by making it easy to join in the conversation or generate content. He also explains that every community is different and that moderators aren’t there so much to police the community as keep it the way the users like it. He then shares what he sees as the foundational element of a successful startup, and that’s passion.

Returning to the discussion of international SEO issues, Virginia and Daerick Gross are joined by Bruce Clay Australia’s Kate Gamble and Bruce Clay Italy’s Alessandro Agostini. While today spam and quality guidelines may vary across regions, all search engines seek to provide quality results. Avoidance of gray or black hat tactics will keep a site in the best position for long-term rankings. It’s also an SEO’s responsibility to be aware of all available features and tools at their disposal. And while competition has long been considered a question of location, when search results are dominated by domains from another region, competition is who ranks, not who is physically nearby.