International Search Engines & Global SEO

Google may be the most popular search engine in the UK and overall, but when it comes to targeting international countries or specific geographical locations, you may need to look at your performance in a search engine you have never even heard of.

If your domestic SEO strategy focuses on your performance in the Google SERPs, it does not necessary mean that success at home will guarantee success abroad. The number one search engine in the UK is not the same as in China or Russia for example. Even in the US, a significant percentage of searchers choose to use Yahoo despite the majority favouring Google.

As a good search marketer, you may already be following your performance in Google, Bing and Yahoo. However, when it comes to foreign countries, it can be dangerous to ignore international search engines that are popular within that region. Your international SEO campaign could benefit significantly from success in local search engines.

So, apart from Google, Yahoo and Bing, let’s take a look at the other major players when it comes to international search engines.

Yandex – The largest search engine in Russia, Yandex, has a 62% market share in the country. Google only manages a 34.5% share in Russia. It is the 4th largest search engine in the world.

Rambler – Specifically for Russian speakers, this search engine accounts for 2% of the search market in Russia. If your target market is there, it is not one to ignore, holding as much weight as Bing or Yahoo in the UK.

Baidu – Baidu is China’s number one search engine with around a 52% market share, leaving Google with only 32.9%. China has over 500 million internet userscompared to the US’s 225 million. Ignoring Baidu in your international SEO strategy would be perilous.

Sohu – Another significant search engine in China accounting for around 4.6% of market share in China.

Seznam – Seznam is the number one search engine in the Czech Republic, although it is only just holding on to its title with Google gaining momentum there. It is still an important consideration when introducing an international SEO strategy in this country.

Ask Jeeves – Arriving on the scene the same year as Google, 1996, Ask Jeeves could not compete with the big search giant and has since reverted to its question and answer format. However, it is still widely used in European countries including UK, Spain, Italy and Germany.