Ranking on french search engine

[StalkerB]

Lots of things

I assume the content is French already

Specify the country you're targeting in Webmaster Tools
Host the site in France
Get links from French websites
Set the language in the header ()
CONSIDER using the fr. subdomain or /fr/ subdirectory (pros and cons here)
Add a physical address in France to the about page or similar (minor/ I can't prove it does anything)
Make sure the whois has a French address
I would guess, where appropriate, there may be some use of 'xml:lang=fr' ([">tag info](<META HTTP-EQUIV=)) (I never use this)
Use accents coding them like 'è' so all browsers can read them (In general search engines will see e and é as the same thing, but users won't like it)

The very best thing you can do is to use the .fr domain, but I assume that's ruled out.

If I think of any more I'll come back

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[StalkerB]

Is it a new site or an existing site?

Start by getting a host in France, changing the whois (if necessary), adding the meta language and adding the target country in Webmaster tools. Take you an afternoon or so.

Then work on getting links from .fr sites and tidy up/improve the code as necessary. If you don't know how to change the <title>tags you'll have to read documentation on yur CMS or for HTML.<br /><br />I wouldn't necessarily translate the site into English if you're not targeting English speakers.</p></title>

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[StalkerB]

Shouldn't be any different than doing it in English But remember to use the á etc for character coding (though FF will sometimes display these wrong until you close the window and re-open it)

Parlez-vous français? If not, write out what it should say in English and ask the client to translate or factor in translation costs. Don't just rely on Google Translate.

As it's a very established site I'd also be careful of following my move host and change whois suggestion as this can look as if it's changed owners. You do want both of these things, but it can potentially have a negative effect instead. Make the client aware and give them the choice. I'd probably still go for it.

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[StalkerB]

Lul, wut? o_O

Put the French words in where you'd usually put the English words.

<title>Sèjours linguistiques et ècole de langue á sitename.com</title>
Etudier le langues et d'apprendre de la maison avec notre programme de grande langue">

Make sense?

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[StalkerB]

Well, you only really need grave, acute, cedil(la) and circ(umflex).

é = é
à = à
ç = ç
ô = ô

and on the very off chance you need them uml(aut) and tilde.
ü = ü
ñ = ñ

Basically the letter you want and the appended diacritic code.

This page was the first one I found.

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[oznappies]

If you need to check a few phrases you can run them by my wife as she has worked as a translater in France with manuscripts and documents before. She lived there for 5+ years. Send me an email sales@oznappies.com and I will give you her email.