19 replies to this topic

[Corey]

Has anyone had any success with PPC or Search Engine Marketing of any sort in Japan?

I have a client that gets occasional orders from Japan that are considerably higher than locally in the US.

We are currently attempting Overture and AdWords campaigns targeting Japan.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

(We are also looking for UK and China, but primarily Japan.)

[Jill]

Welcome Corey!

Go into your back yard, and start digging, digging, digging. Eventually you'll reach Japan! (Or is it China?)

Sorry, that's all I got...



Jill

[Randy]

Welcome Corey !

Sorry, I have less to offer than Jill did. Hopefully someone will have some experience to share.

[Jill]

Wow...who woulda thunk my post would be the most useful!



Sorry Corey...I'm really sure there's someone here who can help. We're just keeping this post at the top so that others will see it and give you some real info!

[mcanerin]

Here are some good search engines and directories for the Asian market:

Sina.com http://www.sina.com/
Timway HK Search http://www.hksrch.com/welcome.html
Goo http://www.goo.ne.jp/
New Malaysia http://www.newmalaysia.com/
Sohu.com http://www.sohu.com/
AsiaCo http://www.asiaco.com/
Asia Dragons http://www.asiadragons.com/
Goyoyo Search http://www.goyoyo.com/
Baidu http://www.baidu.com/
163 Search http://search.163.com/


I've bolded the ones you would likely be most interested in. Hopefully that's helpful.

Ian

[Christian_SEO]

My wife is Japanese. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that English is a second language in Japan, and as a result most Japanese can read quite a bit of English even if they cannot speak it (The lack of speaking seems more from shyness and lack of practice).

The bad news is that the cultural differences may be more of a problem. Look at the packaging for Fuji and Kodak film. My wife says that one of the problems Kodak has had is the incredibly ugly colors they choose for their products.

I don't know about overture and it's partners in Japan, but the Japanese know Google. The name and the image of the company are pretty popular, since it's more playful, which I think is a Japanese trait in general.

I would look into Goo and other Japan SE & Dir. I have a number listed on our list at www.best-free-search-engine-list.com, but I admit that the foreign listings may be out of date, since we no longer try to submit to most of them.

If you want to run ads Japanese, then you are going to need someone that is fluent in the language and also knows the culture well. My main concern would be doing the scored keyword phrase research, but perhaps Google and Overture offer this as they do for English?

[qwerty]

If you're interested in China too, Yahoo just opened Yisou.

[powerofeyes]

We get referrals from both http://www.google.co.jp/ and www.naver.com ,

Naver seem to send a lot of referrals to one of our client's commercial site,

So anyone know whether it is Japanese or Chinese or Korean, Cant sort out from the homepage

[mcanerin]

It's Korean. One easy way to tell is that it's the only Asian language I know that has little circles in the characters - all the others have brush stroked lines - I've only seen those little "o"'s in Korean.

Also, I neotraced it to Seoul

Ian

[Tonemeister]

What about buying some .jp domains, then submiting those with an entry page in Japanese?

It's a tough one!

I live in asia, and making a simple design mistake (language, formality, colors) could potentialy turn away anybody that lands on your site. Whichever way you decide to go, my advice would be to find someone that is not only fluent in the language, but understands the culture like a native (or better still is a native!) Get them to look over any copy/advertising that you decide to do, before entering into any kind of submissions/advertising campaign.

What about asking the customer in Japan what they advise. I don't live in Japan, but if they are anything like the Japanese people I know here in Thailand, they would be more than happy to help. How you approach asian people in business is very important. Be friendly, (maybe not quite as direct as you would be in the west) tell them that you value their opinion, (though they may not offer it!)see what they say. Throw in a round of golf and they might even do the translation for you

Maybe powerofeyes above can point you in the right direction.

If some of the advice above seems contradictory. Welcome to 'doing business in asia' day 1

[mcanerin]

I always recommend getting a translator or SEO who has real experience in the area you are marketing to. They are aware of local variations, slang, popular culture and so forth that a non-local would miss.

For SEO's even simple things like optimising for "holiday" instead of "vacation" could make a huge difference in traffic from a particular country, even though technically both speak "english".

Tonemeister is right - Asia is a whole new ball game - I've done some business over there in the past and it's been interesting, to say the least. I do think that Korea would be a great place to market to, though. Lots of people speak English, the language is easier to translate, they are well connected, internet-wise, and it's not as expensive as Japan.

I haven't been to SE Asia, so I don't know much about that area - to my regret.

I have relatives in China, and have been thinking about opening up an SEO branch specializing in marketing Chinese companies to the west, but I wouldn't think of actually doing it until I get at least one native (or recent ex-pat) on staff. It's too hard - culture counts (says the anthropologist ).

At the very least, hire a native certified translator to help you do keyword research and maybe advise you (as a native) on preferred colors, etc. It would be worth it, trust me.

Ian

[Jill]

Wow, good stuff guys!

So does this mean nobody is going to use my suggestion of just digging your way there?

[Vrindavan]

Japanese Search Engines: govinda.nu/search-engines/japanese.htm

China Search Engines: govinda.nu/search-engines/china.htm

UK Search Engines: 1-best-uk.com/search-engines/index.htm

Edited by qwerty, 22 June 2004 - 09:24 PM.

[qwerty]

Welcome Vrindavan and thanks for those resources.

The only problem is that our forum guidelines require members to make 20 posts before they can link out, so I had to delink them, but people can still get to them and check them out.

[Tonemeister]

Slightly off topic.

Hi Ian. South east asia is IMHO one of the most beautiful parts of the world, Just noticed that you live in Canada! :doh: Think it may be a little too hot for a northerner like yourself! Don't think it's gone below 27 ( what's that? 80 something?)degrees since I came here over two years ago! In the summer in the sun it can get up to 47/48 in BKK

On the question of doing SEO for companies in asia I've also been thinking about this myself. IMHO Bangkok is a good central place to start as you have native speakers of all asian languages there, computer skills are good and it can be more cost effective.

E-mail me if you need any info.

Sorry. back to the topic