All about the particularities of the French Market in SEO : the little subtleties of Google search in French language, key elements to succeed on the French market, in SEO mostly, but also in search marketing in general: Language differences, strategies that work, pitfalls to avoid…
2. NOTE D’ÉTONNEMENT
4. AXES MEDIA ONLINE 2019 - 2020
SEO
CONSULTING,
CONTENT,
LINKING
MEDIA
ADWORDS, DISPLAY,
MARKET PLACE
ANALYTICS
REPORTING
CONVERSION RATE
OPTIMIZATION
SOCIAL MEDIA
COMMUNITY
MANAGEMENT
ADVERTISINGCONTENT
TRACKINGRANKING
1st INDEPENDANT SEM AGENCY IN FRANCE
120 EMPLOYEES IN 6 AGENCIES
40 SEO EXPERTS
3. NOTE D’ÉTONNEMENT
4. AXES MEDIA ONLINE 2019 - 2020
HOP ON, AND LET’S DIVE DEEP INTO THE FRENCH MARKET
4. 4
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
THE FRENCH MARKET
Sources : CREDOC, enquêtes « Conditions de vie et Aspirations » http://www.credoc.fr/pdf/Rapp/R337.pdf
FEVAD : https://www.fevad.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Chiffres-Cles-2018.pdf
67 MILLION
PEOPLE
73% HAVE A
SMARTPHONE
1/3 ONLY
SPEAK FRENCH
12 MILLION
BOUGHT ON MOBILE
5. NOTE D’ÉTONNEMENT
4. AXES MEDIA ONLINE 2019 - 2020
LET’S RIDE ON THE FRENCH MARKET
HOW TO HOP LIKE A FROG
6. 6
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
THE FRENCH MARKET
274 MILLION
PEOPLE
SPEAK
FRENCH IN
THE WORLD
Source : https://www.francophonie.org/274-millions-de-francophones-dans.html
7. 7
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
THE FRENCH MARKET
BUT NOT THE
SAME WAY !
Un char
8. 8
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
THE FRENCH MARKET
NO, NOT THE
SAME WAY…
Une camisole
9. 9
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
THE FRENCH MARKET
AT ALL !
Une catin
WELL… YOU
JUST DON’T
USE THAT
WORD…
10. 10
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
THE FRENCH MARKET
MULTILINGUAL
COUNTRIES
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.FR/
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.COM/
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.CA/FR/
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.CA/EN/
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.BE/FR/
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.BE/NL/
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.CH/FR/
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.CH/DE/
HTTPS://WWW.MYWEBSITE.CH/IT/
WARNINGS
IP DETECTION /
REDIRECTION
DUPLICATE
CONTENT
CURRENCIES
AND REL
ALTERNATE
MANAGEMENT
11. 11
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
A LANGUAGE WITH SPECIFICITIES
35K WORDS
12K VERBS
USE OF
ACCENTS
200K WORDS
25K VERBS
USE OF CAPITAL
LETTERS
12. 12
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
A LANGUAGE WITH SPECIFICITIES
Une tronçonneuse (a Chainsaw)
Célèbre (famous)
Mur (wall) VS Mûr (ripe)
Où est-ce ? (Where is it ?)
Elle est belle / le mouton bêle
(She’s beautiful / The sheep cries)
SEO WARNING
Use proper URL rewriting : ASCII
Avoid accents and spaces encoding
é/è/ê/ë => e
à/ä => a
ù/ü/û => u
ô => o
ï/î => i
ô => o
13. 13
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
BEWARE OF FALSE FRIENDS
a coin : une pièce un coin : a corner
Sources : https://www.anglaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-anglais-2/exercice-anglais-57289.php
14. 14
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
BEWARE OF FALSE FRIENDS
a cave : une grotte une cave : a cellar
Sources : https://www.anglaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-anglais-2/exercice-anglais-57289.php
15. 15
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
BEWARE OF FALSE FRIENDS
Pain : bread Pain : douleur
Sources : https://www.anglaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-anglais-2/exercice-anglais-57289.php
16. And so many more : Abuse, habit, hazard, injure, eventually….
20. 20
A FEW INSIGHTS ABOUT THE FRENCH CONSUMER
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
Source : https://www.nielsen.com/fr/fr/insights/reports/2017/premiumization-report.html
HE DOESN’T FALL FOR THE
« PREMIUM » EMOTIONNAL
ARGUMENT
= IT’S (TOO) EXPENSIVE
21. 21
A FEW INSIGHTS ABOUT THE FRENCH CONSUMER
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
Source : Google Trends
Luxe / « à la française » = foreign target (Japan, English, Russian, American…)
22. 22
60%
Discover new products in Stores
Vs 48% in the world
Source : https://www.nielsen.com/fr/fr/insights/reports/2015/le-magasin--premier-media-de-communication-pour-les-nouveaux-pro.print.html
23. 23
A FEW INSIGHTS ABOUT THE FRENCH CONSUMER
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
HE IS FOND OF THE
CLICK & DRIVE / COLLECT
SYSTEM
= DECIDE WHERE AND WHEN
24. 24
A FEW INSIGHTS ABOUT THE FRENCH CONSUMER
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
13 REGIONS
101 DEPARTEMENTS
36K TOWNS
« LA VILLE » is often the best local target
DON’T FORGET
« NON ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS »
AND DOM-TOMs !
25. 25
HE IS NOT (THAT) SELF-CENTERED
AFTER ALL
59% buy online on foreign websites
Source : https://www.nielsen.com/fr/fr/insights/reports/2016/l-e-commerce-abolit-les-frontieres-et-devient-mobile.html
26. NOTE D’ÉTONNEMENT
4. AXES MEDIA ONLINE 2019 - 2020
THE GOLDEN SERP ?
WHAT GOOGLE TELLS US ABOUT OURSELVES
28. NOTE D’ÉTONNEMENT
4. AXES MEDIA ONLINE 2019 - 2020
Popular black hat specialists (not all repented)
Not so legit SERP results
Automated tools /
Scrapping / content
spinning / parsing
Black hat agencies /
forums / blogs
Craftsmen / magician
Vocabulary and
methods
BACKORDER / PBN / DROP-CATCHING
Mechanical Turk in
madagascar
EMD
29. 29
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
GOOGLE SERP FOR HIGHLY COMPETITIVE KEYWORDS
30. 30
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
GOOGLE SERP FOR HIGHLY COMPETITIVE KEYWORDS
https://www.serrurerie-cles-eclair.fr/
http://serrurier16.paris/
http://www.serrurerie-paris10.com/
http://swiftlocksmiths.co.uk/
https://www.londonlocksmiths.com/
http://www.londonlocksmith.london/
Spam the districts !
31. 31
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
GOOGLE SERP FOR HIGHLY COMPETITIVE KEYWORDS
32. 32
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
GOOGLE SERP FOR HIGHLY COMPETITIVE KEYWORDS
Neat results
Legit websites
Editorial optimizations
Relevant content
Spammy contents
Competitors’ hacks
Fake websites / tel number
Mixed reviews (fake/legit)
Custom pictograms in meta description
Keywords repetition / over-optimization
Overuse the terms « honnete » / « serieux »
33. 33
THE SUBTLETIES OF GOOGLE SEARCH IN FRENCH
GOOGLE SERP FOR HIGHLY COMPETITIVE KEYWORDS
PAID SEARCH : 4 GOOGLE ADS
PAID SEARCH : 3 GOOGLE ADS
UNIVERSAL SEARCH : 3 MAPS
SEO : 1 PRO LOCKSMITHS
SEO : 2 MFA
SEO : 1 PRICE COMPARISON SITE
SEO : 1 MFA
SEO : 1 DIRECTORY
SEO : 1 PRO LOCKSMITH
SEO : 2 PRO LOCKSMITHS
40%
Of
Organic
quality
results
PAID SEARCH : 4 GOOGLE ADS
PAID SEARCH : 3 GOOGLE ADS
UNIVERSAL SEARCH : 3 MAPS
SEO : 1 PRO LOCKSMITHS
SEO : 1 CLASSIFIED ADS SITE
SEO : 1 DIRECTORY
SEO : 2 PRO LOCKSMITH
SEO : 2 PRO LOCKSMITHS
SEO : 2 PRO LOCKSMITHS
SEO : 1 MFA
60%
Of
Organic
quality
results
38. 38
38
CONCLUSION ON THE FRENCH SEO MIX
PILLARS OF SEO STRATEGIES : A HEART OF CONTENT
SPINE
TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE
WEBSITE HYGIENE
CRAWL & INDEX
HEART
USER INTENT ANALYSIS
MATCHING RICH USEFUL CONTENT
LEGIT MARKUP
BRAIN
BRAND AUTHORITY
TRUST
CONTENT MARKETING
Valorize Leads to
COMPETITION / TARGETS / KPI
-
MIX SEO
VISIBILITY > QUALITY TRAFFIC > BUSINESS
67 Million people
73% have a smartphone
12 Million bought on mobile in 2017
One third of french people speak exclusively french
Speaking about the french language…
France’s history leads to a population nearly multiplicated by four when speaking about the french language
Fifth language in the world
Still far away from the more than 1 Billion english speakers though
All those people speak french, but not all the same way
Quebecois have their own words.
And LOVE / HATE Anglicism depending on the context (parking > stationnement)
TANK TOP VS STRAIGHTJACKET
DOLL VS PROSTITUTE
And Don’t forget « patois » (padiaus) and accents. There are also geographical specificities between the different french regions :
cf. war of the « pain au chocolat » / « chocolatine » - sac plastique / poche
We also have neighbours with linguistic specificities
Often a very wrong idea to redirect automatically
French SEO needs correct french orthograph : use the correct accents, or it’ll be considered as an orthographic error
We love to be different : use the region/language configuration in windows to change your keyboard configuration
Useful in a lot of cases for some special characters
Money is taboo in France : There is a widely spread sentiment of shame to earn a lot of money.
French people use less money as a sign of welfare than the rest of the world
High price is the first characteristic of a premium product for 56% of the french people (worldwide average 31%)
LUXURY CRUISE VS DISCOUNT CRUISE
LOCAL IMPLANTATION AND VISIBILITY IS ESSENTIAL
THE PRESENCE IN STORES IS THE MAIN WAY TO DISCOVER NEW PRODUCTS IN France > 60% // 48% IN THE WORLD
https://www.nielsen.com/fr/fr/insights/reports/2015/le-magasin--premier-media-de-communication-pour-les-nouveaux-pro.print.html
https://www.nielsen.com/fr/fr/insights/news/2018/grande-consommation-e-commerce-la-france-championne-europe.html
In 2017, 20% of the conveniance goods consumption growth was due to Drive systems
ALSO INTO CREDIT CARD ONLINE PAIMENT (systems like paypal are not much used, neither paiment on delivery which is marginal)
https://www.nielsen.com/fr/fr/insights/news/2018/grande-consommation-e-commerce-la-france-championne-europe.html
In 2017, 20% of the conveniance goods consumption growth was due to Drive systems
ALSO INTO CREDIT CARD ONLINE PAIMENT (systems like paypal are not much used, neither paiment on delivery which is marginal)
https://www.nielsen.com/fr/fr/insights/reports/2016/l-e-commerce-abolit-les-frontieres-et-devient-mobile.html WORLD 57%
UK 52%
DE 73 %
IT 79 %
USA 29 %
Black hat is a large part of the basis that each SEO with a long experience has tested or practiced
LOCAL IN UK : more respectful of Google’s guidelines
So many competitiveness that they spam the specific local areas (districts)
PURE PLAYERS AND LITTLE BUSINESS KEEP A SHOT AT IT, EVEN FOR VERY POPULAR BRANDS
SEO in France is done the same way as everywhere else.
The greater specifities are intimately linked with the language and the psychology of the targets :