One of the reasons I joined Digital Point (aside from the fact I found the posts here quite informative, and the community friendly) was due to the fact that this site seems to attract a lot of people from all over the world - much more so than some other sites I'm on that discuss the same topic. I started a general purpose discussion forum, called Singleminds, that (as of now) is mainly North American based in it's membership. One of the things that I'd like to do is to expand the membership base in other areas of the world, and try to truly bring in people from other countries. Now, in looking at traditional discussions here about SEO and the like, they seem to be oriented towards an overall increase in members - but are rather limited in how one appeals to, attracts, and satisfies the needs of people in places like Europe, Asia, India , etc. So, with the membership we have here from those areas, I figured this might be the perfect place to ask the question - and discover perhaps some things that might help all of us in doing the same thing. Is a visitor from Bangalore, India different in what he or she wants in a website than a person sitting there in Bangor, Maine ? Are web forums with a North American base of existing members interesting, or less appealing ? Are the ways we reach potential members the same, SEO wise, in these markets ? Perhaps others can add to this, and we can broaden the discussion if so. Thanks for your time and efforts in advance....
Is your website in multiple languages? If not, think about it. Would you go to a chinese website that you could not read?
Cultures in other parts of the world vary significantly and you are 100% right. Another factor you might want to consider is the GDP per capita in the different countries instead of just blanketing regions like Europe. For example, the GPD per capita in Lichenstein is much much greater than that of Portugal. Keeping these factors might have an impact on how people respond to the different aspects you want to cover.