Once upon a time, 75% of internet content was in English.  Non-English speakers performed searches in English because they didn't have many other options.  Fast forward to 2009, when fewer than 30% of people online are using English.  Almost all internet users search in their own languages, and they won't find you if your site isn't optimized for their search.

This doesn't mean you have to translate your entire website or hire bilingual staff to communicate with these potential customers.  The idea here is to get found. You'll invite these searchers to your site in their language, and they'll enter via a landing page written in that language.  When new visitors click through to your website, they'll already know what you're about and what you're selling.

Once you have a landing page in another language(s), you can submit it to foreign search engines like www.terra.es (Spain) and www.google.it (Italy).  Make sure you have included keywords in the content, and that your tags (title, meta and H1) are also in the target language.  Don't forget a call to action to click to your website.

Now that you've built it, they will come.

http://www.pandltranslations.com

There's an interesting article in Advertising Age on the dearth of Spanish-language content on the web.  Considering how big Burger King is in Puerto Rico, it was surprising to read that their U.S. website is English only.

adage.com/digital/article

http://www.pandltranslations.com