Starting e-commerce overseas

[ThisCharmingMan]

I work for a company that has multiple e-commerce sites sprinkled throughout the web, and in a month or so, we're launching a new e-commerce site in the UK. Now, since we're building this from the ground up, we're trying to make it as SEO friendly as possible. Are there any tips out there for someone who has never done SEO for a site outside of the U.S? Thanks in advance.

[lorax]

Greetings and welcome to WebmasterWorld.

You've bitten off quite a project. SEO for an ecomm site in a foreign country will be a challenge especially if you're not familiar with the culture. IMHO I think you should spend the next 3 weeks researching! :)

[ThisCharmingMan]

Thanks so much. I do plan on spending a great deal of time researching this project, I just have to figure out where to start. Long time reader, first time poster. :)

[lorax]

Two immediate unknowns come to mind. The culture and the market space.

Ah... I see it is the UK.

As a point for discussion:

Culture: Go read/review the BBC and one or two of the tabloids to get a sense of language and limits.

Market Space: you know your competition. Go review their websites and how they're pitching to the same market. I wouldn't take this at anything but face-value meaning, they may not have a clue how to market. But you're likely to get some useful ideas from the research.

You might want to speak with some people over there if you know anyone.