Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) starts with…

… search engines! SEO is such a complex topic, it’s good to talk a little about the basics of the basics, even before we talk about what search engines realy are.

Typically, SEO specialists would focus on Google as it retains the biggest market share (of about 90%) in comparison to other companies such as Mozilla (Firefox), Yahoo or Bing.

However, we work with languages and this means international SEO, which has to account for search engines where access to Google is limited or nonexistent.

So, what are the search engines for international waters?

Baidu dominates the heavily-censored Chinese market, but it’s not the only reason of the engine’s popularity. The company itself is a massive universe of subdivisions, many responsible for the cutting edge AI we are just starting to hear about. It’s this technology that made Badu a champion on the market and a clear favourite from local options.

Yandex (Cyr. Яндекс) serves primarily Russia and Eastern Europe. One of the reasons why it’s so popular in this region is because it recognises Russian language and inflections. This makes searching much easier and is one of the main reasons of the engine’s popularity on the market.

Naver. Our list can’t be complete without this South Korean search hub. Unlike the two engines above, Naver successfully competes with Google with little to no government support. Why? Well, Koreans use it as a cultural hub and newssource, which renders the more minimalist Google useless for the region. It’s a great example how specialising in a niche can defeat even the biggest companies.

We hope you enjoyed the article and found some use of it. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch should you need any help!