• Distilled , Friday, April 11, 2008 1:15 PM

Lucy Langdon corralled a group of search pros from around the globe to discuss their best geo-based SEO strategies and tips.

When making language-based spelling choices (think café vs. cafe), Argentina-based Maria Soledad Balayan says that you should always aim for the correct spelling of a word--particularly if you're concerned about user perception of the quality and accuracy of a Web site. "Misspelling could be really bad for reputation and trust," Balayan says. "Even though people make a lot of mistakes when writing, they expect you don't." She suggests running a paid search campaign with the alternate spelling to see what kind of impact it has on traffic.

The primary language of your target audience may also affect the Web site's title and domain. If you were targeting French-Canadians, for example, U.K.-based Ciarán Norris says that a ".fr" domain "might well be more likely to appeal to French speakers, which highlights the fact that there are two elements to decisions like this- cultural and technical." He adds that you could also set up a site for one domain and then use language-specific PR, social media and buzz marketing to snag users from other countries.

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