It seems obvious, but it’s worth repeating: search in the US is NOT the same as search around the world. And with nearly 2 billion Internet users in the world, your website needs to be ready to go global.

Going global, however, doesn’t just mean paying attention to the usual suspects, such as new languages and search engines. Your drivers of success, your catalysts for conversions – they can change from city to city and country to country, and your website needs to be prepared to handle this.

Fortunately, smart analytics can make sure you’re on top of any cultural, linguistic and behavioral nuances you face. Remember, there’s no room for cut-and-paste strategies in global marketing, and these three analytics must-haves will make sure you’re outfitted for global return and response:

• Deep Dives for Regional Insights. There’s no better way to unearth what drives your customers to convert than an analytics deep dive. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, think of a deep dive as a crime scene investigation: teams of analytics experts (detectives) pore through all of your data to find solutions and insights (clues) that you can use to optimize your marketing efforts (solve the case).
  
  For global websites, deep dives can be incredibly useful and targeted to your specific business needs. For example, find out what drives traffic and revenue in specific countries with a Geo-Profiling deep dive, learn what offers drive response in particular engines with a Search Engine deep dive, and build actionable demographic and behavioral profiles with a Customer Segmentation deep dive.

• Test & Target for Unique Content. One of the biggest challenges for global websites is determining how to deliver customized content to customers around the world. After all, what works best in one country or market may prove ineffective in another.
  
  Rely on testing to take the guesswork out of what type of content, offers and design to provide. In particular, a combination of A/B and Multivariate Testing can reveal the experiences and offers that high-value customers respond to most. With this information in hand, you’ll be well-equipped to provide customized, relevant site content to every one of your key markets. Because one size really doesn’t fit all!

• Know Your Keywords. Wherever you are in the world, make every effort to speak the language of your customer. This doesn’t mean you have to run off learn five new foreign languages (though it might help!); instead, study your analytics data to find out which words and phrases perform the best in a particular market.
  
  Be sure not to assume anything. For example, if you’re a cell phone provider, optimizing for “cell phone” might work in the States. But in Asia? “Cell phone” would equal missed customers. But with a little research…and a subsequent switch to “mobile phone”…you’d be right back on track.
  

Contact us at bebrilliant@acronym.com with your analytics questions.