Classic Foreign SEO Spam

Sometimes you get a spam email that's just an absolute gem - for example we received this one earlier today:

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So they've noticed we haven't been found in lots of foreign search engines - there's a simple reason for this - we don't need to be found in foreign search engines!

The email then goes on to inform us that we have "no international presence" and that we need to place one foreign language optimised page for each foreign search engine and "explains clearly how to get top rankings on foreign search engines with  only 1 entry page per language."

Follow the link to the website and we get more gems, such as:

"Let's assume that you're trying to reach the Japanese market: We will create an entry page in Japanese for your site which will be optimized with your Japanese keywords and meta tags.

"The look and feel will be similar to your home page. We will use your graphics and a translated text that introduces the foreign user to your companies products or services.

"This page will tell Japanese users in a 10- to 15-line paragraph what your website has to offer. This communication will be culturally correct and search engine friendly.

"At the bottom of the page we tell the Japanese user in Japanese of course, that by entering your website he or she can expect all content to be in English, and that all correspondence should be in English as well. The Japanese user will then click on the link and will go to your main home page in English!"

Or maybe the Japanese user will be completely confused by being directed to a site that he/she does not understand selling supplies, products and services that are not local but international!

If you were to target the Japanese market you would certainly not use such half-*ssed methods as badly written foreign landing pages.

In fact this goes against the very basis of good search - a searcher should always be presented with the relevant information they require and that they can understand easily.

If a searcher is looking for a product in a certain country or even a local area that would tend to mean that they want to buy from that country or local area rather than somewhere they do not know or understand.

I guess that the bottom line is that in order to sell your services or products you must first understand your visitors and what they are looking for and then present them with the right information about your services and products and not try to dupe them into visiting your web site!!