• National e-Commerce Extension Initiative
• Module Homepage
• General Overview
• Facilitation Tools
• Learning Lesson
• Introduction
• Phase One
• Phase Two
• Phase Three
  • Introduction
  • The Four Stages
  • Searching
  • Searching Cont.
  • Ordering
  • Payment
  • Payment Cont.
  • Delivery
  • Deilvery Cont.
• Phase Four
• Final Thoughts

Searching

Being able to find your Web site is the first step to new internationally based customers patronizing your business. Potential customers will do this through the use of search engines such as:

• Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com

  While these search engines are common to the United States Web user, search engines could be specific to other parts of the globe. http://www.arnoldit.com/lists/intlsearch.asp can help you find search engines that might be more specific to the countries or regions you are targeting.
  
  

How will targeted international customers will be able to easily conduct a search to find your Web site?

Through Search Engine Optimization which is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to your Web site from search engines via un-paid search results. There are many aspects to optimizing how your Web site is located, below are some resources that include tips to get you started.

• Mseo.com

  http://www.mseo.com/demo.html
  An excellent tutorial video is provided by a company specializing in international search engine optimization. Although this company’s services are fee-based, the Web site offers free and helpful resources. One of these sources is a demonstration video – a helpful tool for understanding how optimization works in the international marketplace.
  
  

• Search Engine Land

  http://searchengineland.com/search-illustrated-international-seo-tips-13834.php
  A document diagramming search engine tips for international optimization. This document maps out the optimization process using more in-depth methods such as country-specific domain names and hosting sites in different countries.
  
  

Web site and all contents © Copyright Southern Rural Development Center 2009, All rights reserved. These materials were developed as part of the Southern Rural Development Center’s National e-Commerce Extension Initiative. They are based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Award No. 2005-45064-03212

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Southern Rural Development Center.