Launching a French website

[ivebeenstiffed]

Hi,

I was looking for some advice if possible.

I run a taxi fare calculator system for the UK. I am now planning to launch the french version.

I am planning to launch it with the url taxiroute.fr

Now obviously, I will be starting from zero in the SEO game with this site.

Has anyone tried SEOing a business in a language which is not their native tongue?

Is there anything I can do to leverage the SEO work I have already done for the UK version?

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Trev

 

[MASSEY]

If your registering a domain name with .fr then ideally you will need it to be in the french language they dont type english into google.fr

Unless taxiroute is the same in french :|

Just my 2c

 

[seo next]

All you will need to do is :
French domain (already taken)
France based hosting
Content in french language for your site and for external promotions.
Get some one to submit your site in local paid and free french directories and article sites and also get links from a few quality english sites.
Link from your UK site to your french site.
If required buy a few links from french websites. (most probably you wont need to do it as you should already rank with above mentioned points)

 

[seiretto]

Hi Trev,

I would suggest employing a french SEO person, or at least a SEO person who is fluent in both English and French.

Also, you would do just as well using a .eu domain name (cost far less to register, our .eu domains are ten times less than a .fr) and then setting up separate folders (or sub-directories) for each country as you take on the whole of Europe.

For other issues relating to SEO other than the actual written language take a look here:
http://www.seiretto.com/news/EU-hos...-particular-location-to-host-your-website.php

Good luck in conquering the EU.....

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

If your registering a domain name with .fr then ideally you will need it to be in the french language they dont type english into google.fr

Unless taxiroute is the same in french :|

Just my 2c

It will be a totally separate site which will obviously be translated into french

And yes, taxiroute translates into french quite nicely as they call taxis taxis and route is a french word anyway....

cheers

Trev

 

[paulus]

And yes, taxiroute translates into french quite nicely as they call taxis taxis and route is a french word anyway....

Just because taxi and route are both French words, it doesn't mean that the two together form a legit phrase. Even if they do, you want to choose a commonly searched phrase if keyworded domains matter to you. a basic translation I just performed gave me "Taxi itinéraire"as the French equivalent, for what it's worth.

 

[MASSEY]

It will be a totally separate site which will obviously be translated into french

And yes, taxiroute translates into french quite nicely as they call taxis taxis and route is a french word anyway....

cheers

Trev

The site will have to be in french obviously.

Its just i the domain name. The french also structure sentances in a different order to us, you need to make sure the domain is attractive for them to clcik on in the first place.

anyway..........., i just used a yahoo translator and when i typed

Taxi Route

I got

itinéraire de taxi

:redface:

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Just because taxi and route are both French words, it doesn't mean that the two together form a legit phrase. Even if they do, you want to choose a commonly searched phrase if keyworded domains matter to you. a basic translation I just performed gave me "Taxi itinéraire"as the French equivalent, for what it's worth.

I'd be pretty sceptical about that. Sounds like an automated translation that does each word separately.

TBH, I'm not even sure I understand why "taxi route" would make sense for a business name in English. Sounds like something the drivers would use to work out their directions, not something someone would use to get a quote or a cheaper fare.

Steve

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

as steve says, taxiroute doesnt directly translate to anything in english either....

it was about the only domain name i could find available that was the closest match to what it does.

and as such, im not too worried about it when translated to french... but be assured i will be wanting to target phrases such as

Combien coûte un taxi depuis
Calculateur de frais de taxi

etc etc

Trev

 

[terryuk]

I SEO to France...Give me a shout if you have any questions..

Either .com/.fr will do just fine, you will find that Google translate even works but isn't very readable for the user!

 

[seiretto]

using a .com would not be recommended for the requirements outlined unless the site is hosted in a FRENCH data centre.

 

[terryuk]

using a .com would not be recommended for the requirements outlined unless the site is hosted in a FRENCH data centre.

I have a french .com hosted in USA and ranks p1... works fine for me?

 

[seiretto]

If you analyse it you will probably find you are losing out on "country specific" search results, let alone providing a low speed of connection for "potential" customers. Have a read of the link I posted earlier in this thread.

 

[terryuk]

The website is ranking on The web, Pages in French, not on the other... I am not too concerned about that. Majority of the traffic is on the main search.

Yeah I understand about the website speed etc, they are just blogs and nothing demanding so I doubt it'd have much effect with a few ms off on ping.

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

i am leaning toward taxiroute.fr and hosted in france...

how the hell do i seo to a french audience is my problem.

ive managed to get good visibility for the uk site cos i speaks english like but without being able to understand french fluently i am wondering if i can repeat what i have done with taxiroute.co.uk and hopefully carry some of the seo across to the new site...

tricky

 

[MASSEY]

well i would of thought writing out all your content in english and then handing it to a translator to french it up would do the trick.

That wont be cheap though, and you will need to make a lot of revisions when you tweak your content.

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

well i would of thought writing out all your content in english and then handing it to a translator to french it up would do the trick.

That wont be cheap though, and you will need to make a lot of revisions when you tweak your content.

luckily my site answers people questions in 2 screens. wont take long to get it translated. thats no biggie at all.

its the seo im concerned about.

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

i suppose thinking about it. why have i chosen a country of which i cannot read the lingo. perhaps doing north america would be more sensible....

its just i know the way taxis work in france and i have all the data i need to launch which makes me want to try it....

but its one thing getting the fares right. its a totally different game to get traffic

 

[paulus]

its the seo im concerned about.

The link from your existing site will help. When I checked earlier I saw you had a link from wikipedia. You could try getting one from fr.wikipedia. I know they're nofollow. I would look through existing links to your original site and think about whether the linkers would benefit from a link to your French site.

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

ive always wanted to say this...

links are vanity, traffic is sanity....

(see what i did there?)

 

[MASSEY]

ive always wanted to say this...

links are vanity, traffic is sanity....

(see what i did there?)

How did you get a wikepedia link... is it just a wiki profile thing?

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

must admit didnt know i had a link from wikipedia or how it got there...

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

good news. taxiroute france is up and running.

http://www.france.taxiroute.co.uk/

im worried about the french text though. it was all done using google translator.

can anyone recommend someone who can help me get it making sense in french?

thanks

trev

 

[franglaisaccounts]

Hi Trev
Sorry to reply only now that you seem to have pretty much sorted out your frenchwebsite set up, but I've only just managed to get online after being cut off from the internet world for a whole 2 months (that's french telephone companies for you!)
I just wanted to say that I live in Lyon, France, and am perfectly bilingual. I'm actually a management accountant, but also do translations and help start ups in France in both of these areas. If you need any further assistance with the french side of your business please feel free to pm me at anytime, I'd be happy to help.
I have looked at your website and do have some comments about the french if you'd like them I've learnt over the years being here that quite a lot of sentences have to be rephrased to get their full meaning across. I actually have a job speaking proper english these days: help!
Good luck with it all.
Rachel