Probably the most obvious practice is to use customized keywords, content, and language in order to increase the ranking of sites by localized search engines. This might mean having multiple sites written in the languages indigenous to the targeted geographical regions. When running an Internet search a user will almost always use keywords from their native language. If those keywords aren’t in your website then it will most likely not rank at all in the results returned from their search.

If you have multiple sites that have essentially the same content, but are written in different languages, then they can be linked to each other without being penalized by search engines. If two sites are for different regions but are written in the same language then try to restructure the content of the sites. One way to do this is to use local phrases, keywords, and spelling conventions to make the site more readable for the user and change the content in the process. Don’t overuse linking between sites, though, or search engines will interpret this as a linking network, which will degrade search rankings.

Another strategy is to register the site with a TLD (Top Level Domain) that is descriptive of the region that the site is targeting. One example would be that if a company that has an office in both the U.S. and Canada is trying to increase the visibility of the Canadian site they could register it with a TLD of .ca, for example marketingsite.ca. The .com domain name is by far the most common, but often gives the impression that the site is a U.S. business site for commercial use and is not for a specific region. Often search engines will rank a site higher that has a non .com domain if there are multiple sites having similar content. Make sure that there aren’t any restrictions to registering domain names that are associated with a specific country, though. Sometimes countries require that the company have a business office in that country before allowing you to register a site with a country specific domain.

Where the site is hosted could also play a part in search rankings. Some search engines will rank links higher if the site is hosted closer to the region where the search is initiated. They can tell where the site is hosted by analyzing its IP address. It might make sense to acquire a host in the region if you know that local search engines take this factor into account. Also, make sure that search engines are allowed in countries before employing a strategy to maximize the effectiveness of that engine. For example, most public networking sites, especially the ones belonging to Microsoft (Bing), were banned in China leading up to the anniversary of Tiananmen Square.

The main thing to remember when marketing sites internationally is to provide specific content that pertains to the geographical regions that are being targeted. This might be achieved through the use of language, keywords, technology such as domain names and collocation hosting, and possibly multiple sites if they need to appeal to a large diversity of users. Another useful technique is to research the area to find out what search engines are used most and develop strategies that will maximize the search rankings of your site for that audience.

The new alliance should increase competition in the SEO market. At present, Google maintains an eighty to ninety percent market share. With the number two and three search engines combining forces, they hope to be able to erode Google’s market dominance. Developing a link building strategy for the Bing search engine will become increasingly more important over the next 2 years when the two search engines are targeting the completion of the technology integration.

One new idea being put forth for the combined search is that it will likely not focus on the old search box in the browser method, although it will be included. The focus will instead be more of an advertising approach where a user can utilize a search box that is part of an advertising ad, an image, a map, or even a video. This will give the new search engine more visibility than if it were just sitting in a list of available search providers in a browser. It could also provide a more targeted in-line search with the media being viewed. Users will have the ability to fire a search from almost anywhere while they are browsing.

What most consider a benefit is that the new sales and advertising model will not include paid inclusion for links. This is the process by which advertisers pay to have their links displayed higher in search rankings. Instead, the pattern will more closely resemble that of Google and rely mainly on web crawler technology for link rankings instead of the economic standing of the companies submitting links.

At first glance the alliance between Yahoo! and Microsoft seems like a favorable change of events that could provide several new attractive features for the SEO market. Search technology should be more accessible, powerful, innovative, and competitive as a result of the technology merger of two of the biggest and oldest players in the search engine arena.

It’s been a little while since the announcement, feel free to share your thoughts on what the Yahoo! and BING agreement means to SEO & PPC going forward.