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2024年5月27日

Four key points of English SEO! Technical SEO and Content SEO explained respectively

With globalization advancing at a rapid pace, it is becoming more and more popular to make websites available in English.


One of the most important aspects of English SEO is to optimize your website for English-speaking search engines.


Even if you go to the trouble of making your website English-enabled, it will not be very effective if the key content is not displayed at the top of the search results, so English SEO is extremely important.


  • Optimize the structure and specifications of your website for English.

  • Understand the search behavior of English-speaking users and select KW

  • Create quality English content


The above points will be explained in an easy-to-understand manner.


1: Optimize the structure and specifications of your website for English

It goes without saying that the essence of modern SEO is "content SEO," but in English SEO, "technical SEO" such as website structure and specifications is also extremely important.


  • The reasons for this are summarized below.

  • Search engines misidentify regions and languages



If the site is still in Japanese specifications, it will not be accepted overseas.


In other words, even if you have created high quality content, if the technical aspects of your site are weak, there is a high possibility that you will not get the results you want with English SEO.


Below is a list of some of the most important technical SEO activities that can be performed from Japan to English-speaking countries.


  • Setting the "hreflang" tag

  • Creating a domain name

  • Enhance mobile responsiveness

  • Sign up for Google My Business

  • Utilize social networking sites

Each of these is briefly explained below.



Set the "hreflang" tag

When performing SEO in multiple languages, not just English, it is necessary to specify which languages are supported by the relevant pages and to communicate this information to crawlers.


For this purpose, what is called the "hreflang tag" is necessary.


It is no problem to include this information in the "Head tag" of each page, so do not miss it.


If you do not do this, not only will the search engines not know that the content is in English, but they may also recognize it as a copy of the Japanese content.


Please note that the presence of copied content will be evaluated very negatively in terms of SEO.


Creating a Domain

Creating a domain is an unavoidable part of creating an English-enabled website.


For multilingual development, it is recommended to choose either the "ccTLD" or "gTLD" URL structure.


Please refer to the following for details on which one to choose.


  • A clear target country → ccTLD

  • Targeting not a country but the entire English-speaking world → gTLD


To briefly explain, "ccTLD (example.jp)" includes the country name in the URL in the form of ".jp" or ".us".


If you plan to target only the U.S., there is no problem if you acquire a ".us" domain under "ccTLD," but if you plan to target the entire English-speaking world, it is safer to choose a "gTLD (such as .com)".


Enhance mobile responsiveness

In Japan, many websites, especially business websites, are specialized for PCs, and mobile compatibility has not progressed much.


However, overseas, mobile support is more advanced than in Japan, and if mobile support is not strengthened, there is a possibility of negative evaluation in technical SEO.


At the same time, this is a good opportunity to strengthen mobile support for websites for Japan.


Sign up for Google My Business


Utilize SNS


2: Understanding the search behavior of English-speaking users and selecting KWs

After conducting technical SEO, keywords are selected to create content.


The basics of keyword selection are the same as for SEO in Japan, but the following is a list of points to keep in mind, especially for English SEO.


  • Research local needs

  • Understand "differences in search behavior" in English-speaking countries.

  • Check for differences in meaning and spelling between countries.


Especially important is the "difference in search behavior.


For example, when researching "smartphones that will be popular in 2024," it is common to search as follows in Japan and English-speaking countries.


  • Japan: Smartphone popularity in 2024

  • English-speaking countries: What is the best smartphone in 2024?


As you can see, while searches in Japan are "word-based," searches in English-speaking countries are "sentence-based.


Please be aware of these differences in advance when selecting keywords.


It is also required to understand the "difference in spelling.


For example, the word "catalog" is expressed as follows in American English and British English.


  • American English: catalog

  • British English: catalogue


Although this is a small detail, it is directly related to the selection of search keywords, so please pay attention to it when selecting keywords.


3:Create quality English content

After selecting keywords that match the search behavior of English-speaking countries, we will create high-quality English content.


  • How to write the title

  • How to translate the text

  • Obtaining backlinks


The above points are particularly important, so let's check them in order.


Titles should be written in accordance with the conventions specific to English-speaking countries.


In English-speaking countries, there is a customary way of titling articles.


The following is a summary of points to note.


  • Omit be verbs and articles.

  • Use the present tense.

  • Replace "and" with "&" and "comma

  • Use 50 to 60 characters.


Even in Japanese, we don't often put beautiful sentences in the title to make it catchier and more concise, do we?


The above conventions exist in this same image, so it is important to be careful and create an attractive title.


How to write and translate the main text

Next, we will explain how to write and translate the main text.


  • Avoid using machine translation as much as possible.

  • Hire native writers and translators.

  • Fact-checking by native speakers is essential.


The above three points are important.


Although the accuracy of machine translation has been increasing recently, it is still in its infancy in terms of "creating attractive text.


Also, it is not uncommon for what is considered correct and natural in Japan to be incorrect in some English-speaking countries.


In order to create content with an awareness of detailed nuance and atmosphere, it is necessary to commission native writers and translators.


In addition, with the spread of machine translation and AI translation, Google is gradually tightening its evaluation of translation-related content.


Needless to say, human-translated content is more likely to be evaluated than machine- or AI-translated content, and this trend will become stronger in the future.


Therefore, although it is costly and time-consuming, it is better to avoid using machine translations and to ask native English speakers to translate your content for you.


Obtaining Backlinks

Similar to SEO in Japan, acquiring backlinks is very effective for SEO in English SEO.


The following methods are effective for acquiring backlinks in the same way as for SEO in Japan.


  • Continuously create high quality content.

  • Use of SNS and other social networking services to increase exposure

  • Propose reciprocal links to related sites with high domain authority.


Regardless of the method used, in order to obtain backlinks, you need to generate enough interest to make people want to "share" your site.


This requires in-depth knowledge of the relevant industry in the English-speaking world, so you will need to keep up with the information you are gathering.


Conclusion

With globalization, English SEO will become more and more popular.


It is difficult to achieve results simply by translating Japanese content into English, so please refer to the information presented in the article.


The essence of modern SEO is to "continuously create high-quality content," so let's focus on creating high-quality content, whether in Japanese or English.

SNS Share!!

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