Many marketers tend to rely solely on analytics for identifying the best global search markets for their sites. Although analytics are useful, you need to consider other factors as well to ensure that you don’t end up missing out markets with great potential. You can score markets based on different factors to come up with markets that offer the best odds. Here are the factors that you need to consider:
Analytics
In analytics you need to consider not just the traffic that a market segment brings to your site but the bounce rates and conversion rates as well. For instance, if a market gives great traffic but the bounce rate is close to 50%, its importance is much lesser. Give higher scores to markets that give good traffic and have average bounce rates.
Competition
You need to consider both local as well as global competition in terms of their size, brand name etc. The higher the competition, lower are the scores for such markets.
Technical Challenges
Preferences of people differ according to countries. Your site needs to be designed to suit the market. Give high scores to markets that do not pose much of a technical challenge for your site.
Keyword Research Data
Your English keyword may be highly optimized but for foreign markets, a translation is not enough. Taking help of a search expert will help you find the hidden potential in foreign markets. Give high points to markets that offer highest search data availability.
In case of an e-commerce site, you also need to consider transactional challenges. These can include different preferences for payment methods. For example, in the U.S, credit card is the most preferred mode of payment while in China it is money transfer. Rank the markets that use familiar payment modes highest.
For successful internet marketing, consider all these factors to ensure that you do not miss out on any high potential markets.