Tell us about the presentation you have planned for MozCon.
It’s going to be an exciting adventure, guiding the audience to discover their international SEO potential and what could be the future of their ROI.
It will be beyond the "ccTLDs vs. subdirectories for country targeting" type of session (although best practices with examples and tactics will be also shared). It’s meant to answer frequent questions I get from strategic, operations, and business perspectives, like: “How do I connect with international audiences and develop an attractive offer and assets when I don’t even speak the language or know anything about the country?” Or, “How can I develop original, localized content for all of these non-English websites if I don’t have enough resources?”
If this is an issue for your business, then it’s highly likely that your international SEO strategy wasn't planned and established well enough from the beginning, allowing your investment to become cost-effective and scalable in foreign organic search markets.
I started to cover international SEO from this perspective in a SEER post I wrote about establishing an international SEO strategy.
Why would it be unwise for someone to miss your presentation?
Because I will be giving away delicious Iberian ham that I will be bringing from Spain to selected audience members in my session! :D (I’m kidding!)
I really wish I could do that, but unfortunately it is forbidden by US Customs. (Nonetheless, you might want to ask for a change in customs law to make it friendlier to Spanish gastronomy so I can do that in the future.)
Seriously, though, it would be really unwise to skip my session because I will be sharing what could be the next step to grow your online business. You definitely don’t want to miss that.
What types of businesses should be thinking about international SEO, and why?
All businesses that might have an audience in other countries or that speaks other languages should be thinking about it.
Sometimes people think that only huge businesses that already have a multinational physical presence should be thinking about an international web presence and search marketing activity. But this is far from true and is just myopic. For more, take a look at this Moz post I wrote about discovering your international online potential.
Regarding international SEO, what is the most unexpected thing you've learned along the way?
Maybe not unexpected, but unfortunately usually overlooked: The characteristics of audience behavior in each country.
Beyond language differences, there are many cultural, economic and sociological factors that can affect the success of many aspects of your SEO process, like the level of response from a link-building campaign, for example. At the end, beyond search engines that serve as a bridge, SEO is about the people.
You can have a better understanding of what I’m talking about in this post I published at State of Search about different aspects that drive an international SEO industry and audience research.
What do you do at SEER Interactive?
My activities at SEER are quite diverse: On one hand, I’m helping to grow the international SEO business, giving SEER more visibility by speaking at diverse events in Europe, identifying and validating leads, giving pre-sales support, and establishing and coordinating the best organization and processes for international SEO. On the other, I’m also developing and helping to implement international SEO processes for current clients.
Tell us about the places you've lived.
I’m from Nicaragua, a small, tropical country with a lot of volcanoes, lakes, and beaches on both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts in Central America. Nicaragua's natural landscape is breathtaking; here’s a photo of Momotombo Volcano (one of the 12 volcanoes on the Pacific coast of the country):
Photo from Flickr (under Creative Commons): https://www.flickr.com/photos/garrettziegler/7355295166/
I grew up, studied, and worked there until I left to study in Salamanca, Spain in 2006. It’s a beautiful student town full of history, with students from all over the world (a lot of people go there to learn Spanish). It’s also home to the University of Salamanca, the oldest university in Spain (where I went to study), which was founded in 1218. Its front building looks like this:
Photo from Flickr (under Creative Commons): https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/3855579280/
I ended up staying in Salamanca after finishing my studies, and got my first SEO job at an online marketing company. I lived in Salamanca for a bit more than 4 years — until I came to Madrid, the city where I live now.
I came to Madrid after accepting an SEO manager position at a company here at the end of 2010. Madrid is an amazing place, since it has the great alternatives that big cities offer, and at the same time allows you to have a good quality of life. Here’s a view of Gran Via, one of the main streets in Madrid:
Photo from Flickr (under Creative Commons): https://www.flickr.com/photos/nico_/6887000482/
What is it about Madrid that keeps you there?
Madrid (followed by Barcelona) is where most of the bigger types of business activity happen in Spain, from trade shows and professional networking events to a wide range of cultural activities. There’s also good weather (there’s always sun, although it might be a bit cold during winter) and great culinary offerings (delicious tapas everywhere!), so I’m happy here at the moment. Although, of course, I’m quite open to experiencing new places to live in the future. I love to travel and experience new cultures.
Are you doing what you thought you’d be doing when you were growing up?
I had the somewhat common “dreams” among children of being an astronaut (I really just wanted to go to space, it wasn't necessarily because I knew what an astronaut actually did). So that’s really a pending point in my life: going to space! I definitely need to start saving more for that.
What is the last thing that you have seen/heard/experienced that has inspired you?
I’ve recently had two experiences that have been inspiring in different ways.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to go to Israel to speak at KahenaCon and had the great opportunity to spend a Saturday walking around Jerusalem Old City. It was a truly inspiring experience, seeing places with such a rich historical and also religious background, like the Western Wall, the Holy Sepulchre and Dome of the Rock. Even if I’m not religious myself, it was a somewhat magical experience.
Photo from Instagram: https://instagram.com/p/Zucpg1N8yT/
Another (and totally different) inspiring moment happened a week ago when I had the chance to try Google Glass. I felt like I was already living in the future, interacting with that small, translucent movie theater-like interface in my glasses with just my voice. Truly amazing.
Photo from Instagram: https://instagram.com/p/Z8tuxJt8yd/
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
To ask myself “What’s the worst that could happen?” when I’m making an important or scary decision. This question allows me to get my risk-averse considerations under control, and gives me a great opportunity to start assessing a new situation with more balanced criteria. By asking this, I’ve been able to go out of my comfort zone more frequently and live new experiences.
Thank you, Aleyda! It was great to learn a bit about your background and how international SEO matters for all types of businesses, not just the big multinationals.
If, like us, you just can't get enough of Alyeda, you can find her as @aleyda on Twitter (where she juggles Spanish and English).
Still don't have your #MozCon ticket yet? Reserve your spot now!
Aleyda is surely one of the most dedicated person in our industry I've known since so far, and I had the pleasure to known many.
I follow Aleyda, and have the fortune to call her friend, since quite a long time. And I follow her adventure in the SEO space since before she exploded also as global authority as we live in the same country. And I can tell you: she was as good as she is now already three year ago, when I heard her talking at a SEO Congress for the first time.
Ok... enough, or this comment will look more like a LinkedIn recommendation :)...
Why not some other question, Aleyda? What about my classic "Proust Questionnaire"?
Hasta pronto, Aleyda.
Hola Gianluca! Thank you very much, I really appreciate your comments. I'm happy to call you friend too :) About your questions:
Now you will need to tell me what my answers tell about me :D Nos vemos dentro de nada!
A genius and a big football fan who needs a lot of variety in her life, yet could listen endlessly to waves making the same sound over and over again ;-)
Here what your answers are telling me about you, Aleyda:
A woman with values and strong beliefs, who cares what she is doing, analytical but who likes creativity, and knows how to relax when it is time for relaxing.
And with defects, as everybody... i.e.: being a Barça fans :D
Really appreciate this friendly chat, and am really curious Gianluca how you two have met?
Aleyda Solis is definitely the best in the business when it comes to International and Mobile SEO. It would definitely be exciting to know a lot more from her.
You had me at ham.
with aleyda its always the best advice. I have seen her videos, interviews and its always great content that i can use on my campaigns. Thanks for this interview, and look forward to see her presentation.
Linday,
Thank you for the great interview. The international SEO section was interesting.
liked the post :)
Great to know more about you Aleyda! I saw you speaking at conferences on Youtube, Moz White Board Friday, & on the Webinar and I must say you speak like a giant and love spreading knowledge you have and what you learn.
... and I love your Spanish accent too :-)
I would of loved to attend but it'd cost over £2,000 for me to go :(
That's the cost all attendees from outside USA have to pay.
But it is worth it, I assure you. Next time, instead of longing about MozCon, start putting something apart for affording it, as I did and so many others too.
MozCon it's a sure ROI conference.
Its worth anyways. i enjoy this
Very good interview, Aleyda is one of the best we have in the world of SEO. Sorry, but I can not avoid saying that in Spanish "Aleyda eres una crack!!"
Lindsay@
thanks for bringing one of our seniors to us. The best thing is to read about our senior's interview is that how cool they are and how effectively they handle the things. Usually i love to read the interview to know their learning and the procedss that they apply to learn the new techniques.
Well done for answering the extra questions in the comments!
someday I Will going there, but not now :)
I enjoy this !
I enjoy this
it is very good.