Looking to enter the USA

[bober]

Hi,

I have customer that wants to sell products in America (not specified where yet). They sell children toys.

Normally I submit Irish sites to Irish Directories, build links in Ireland, used Irish Keywords, set Google Account for Ireland, Google Places etc.

I'm also thinking I'll need to reword content for example replace S with Z & stuff like that. (eg: organisation v's organization).

Any experience with entering the USA, Best practice & it's difficulty would be appreciated.

 

[mneylon]

It's a big market, but depending on the vertical they're targetting it will obviously vary ..

Things to consider:
onsite / page indicators eg. US telephone numbers etc

Not sure about the spelling ..

Do they have a .com or a .ie?

Are they using a single site for both domestic and international markets? (no reason why they can't, but just asking)

 

[bober]

I've yet to discuss exact detail/location but as you said it's a BIG market. I'm just trying to suss the best method for this.

The client is using .com - I think it's best to localise the domain for each market .ie .co.uk etc. I read this interesting Article by Primary Position about Going Global. Part of this Campaign will be Social Media Marketing on Facebook therefore I think it would be good to run CPC/CPM ad's on Facebook geo-targeting their specified location in the US.

*spelling is not a big deal but I'd image it will have some impact. (we'll i think).

 

[link8r]

Spelling is still quite important despite Google's strength at internationalisation. Mainly because its tested by Americans and it seems to work for them. If you search for a phrase - say "Search Engine Optimisation" / "Search Engine Optimization" - you'll notice that there 47 million pages with a "z" and 52 million with an "S". On the first page in Ireland, the results are largely similar but Google doesn't treat the two perfectly well in every case. I think you will do right to localise your spelling. Secondly, Google often offers the US spelling of words in the suggested text box - definitely worth noting!

 

[link8r]

I'd buy a .com or other ccTLD and build a US focused site with contact information. Set the Geo-Location in Webmaster Tools as the USA. Link Building in the US is way more aggressive than here, they're much more open to buying links than we are. They are also early adopters - so obvious niches are taken quickly. But its also a huge market, so long tail ranking may still deliver significant business. You're best advised to divide and conquer - take bits of the US rather than the whole thing. Also, there are markets within markets - there's always a slant or lean on organic/european/irish/holistic/safety on products that you might be able to take advantage of. Certainly paid-for PR and Paid-for inclusion-on-grounds-of-editorial are important : PRWEB, Yahoo Directory, Craigslist - will be crucial.

 

[bober]

I'd buy a .com or other ccTLD and build a US focused site with contact information. Set the Geo-Location in Webmaster Tools as the USA. Link Building in the US is way more aggressive than here, they're much more open to buying links than we are. They are also early adopters - so obvious niches are taken quickly. But its also a huge market, so long tail ranking may still deliver significant business. You're best advised to divide and conquer - take bits of the US rather than the whole thing. Also, there are markets within markets - there's always a slant or lean on organic/european/irish/holistic/safety on products that you might be able to take advantage of. Certainly paid-for PR and Paid-for inclusion-on-grounds-of-editorial are important : PRWEB, Yahoo Directory, Craigslist - will be crucial.

Cheers thanks for this, I'll take note & factor these in when thinking about my strategy for entering the desired location(s) as per my client.

 

[TwoHeadsWebDesign]

Local looking contact number with good visible prominance on the site should be given priority too. We did one in the UK and even though we had a UK Low Call tel number, once the customer heard the intl dialling code (diverting back to IRL) many dropped the call immediately. Even when they did get through a non local sounding voice was another hurdle to business.

 

[bober]

Local looking contact number with good visible prominance on the site should be given priority too. We did one in the UK and even though we had a UK Low Call tel number, once the customer heard the intl dialling code (diverting back to IRL) many dropped the call immediately. Even when they did get through a non local sounding voice was another hurdle to business.

Cheers, I'll keep that in mind.