ISFNet Inc.’s global team approached us to build an English website and strengthen SEO for their IT staffing and managed services in the English-speaking market. They had never implemented SEO before. This is a case study of ranking high in both Japanese and American Google searches with targeted keywords.

Client’s Background and Request

The global team wished to receive new inquiries from English-speaking regions through their English website. Finding a Japanese SEO company with expertise in English site search ranking was challenging and often expensive. They found Tokyo SEO Maker through an online search and approached us.

Client’s Challenges

• Newly created site with few pages
• Need to select keywords and improve ranking
• A website with no web acquisition
• Desire to rank in both Japanese and English Google searches

Key Points and Strategies of the SEO Campaign

1. Overseas SEO Measures
2. SEO Site Internal Modification Diagnosis
3. Addition of page content elements
4. Off-page SEO (Link Building/SEO External Measures)

Overseas SEO Measures

For the English website, it’s crucial to indicate to Google that it is an English site. We extracted keywords based on monthly search volumes from both Japanese Google and American Google. Using Google Listing (formerly Adwords), we selected areas in Japan and America for keyword extraction.

SEO Site Internal Modification Diagnosis

Once keywords were selected, we made internal site modifications. In overseas SEO, strategy formulation (analysis, identifying issues) is known as SEO AUDIT, and internal measures as On-site optimization.

• On-site strategy analysis
• Page indexing, markup status
• Title, meta description, optimization of H1 and H2 tags
• Internal linking

We had native checks done by an American SEO company for English title meta descriptions and content.

Addition of Page Content Elements

We added content elements matching the keywords as there were no existing content pages for them.

Off-Page SEO (SEO External Measures)

The site had no external links initially. In America, there are many medium-scale media suitable for SEO measures. We acquired about ten original high-quality links, which improved the ranking for various keywords.

Post-SEO Campaign Results

• High ranking for each keyword
• Increase in traffic numbers

Ranking Fluctuations

There’s a possibility to rank on American google.com even with just Japanese google.co.jp measures. However, for a full-scale entry into America, specialized measures for American google.com are indispensable.

The English site started from being unranked in both Japanese google.co.jp and American google.com and achieved ranking post SEO measures.

Client’s Testimonial

After requesting SEO for our English site, we’ve seen an increase in inquiries from overseas, including Singapore and American multinational companies. We are now planning to expand the same service on our Korean site, so we would like to request SEO for the Korean site as well. (Mr. Hirano, Global Team)

From the SEO Consultant

In overseas SEO, it’s necessary to implement separate strategies for each country’s Google search engine. This time, we mainly focused on Japanese Google search and gained links from American media, which improved the ranking on American Google search. The basic modifications of titles and meta descriptions are the same. The key SEO points remain consistent across languages – prepare content pages matching the keywords and acquire links.

Supervised by

Takeshi Amano, CEO, Admano Co., Ltd.

A graduate of the Faculty of Law at Nihon University, Takeshi Amano worked for an advertising agency for 12 years before encountering SEO. He began researching SEO during the early stages of its development and conducted experiments and verifications on over 100 websites. He founded his own company and is currently in his 11th year of operation. Takeshi handles sales, SEO consulting, web analytics (Google Analytics Individual Qualification holder), coding, and website creation. The company has been involved in SEO for over 2,000 websites to date.