How Translation and SEO Work Together

by Amanda DiSilvestro

There is a lot of advice out there about optimizing a website or a blog for a select group of people (the English speakers), but what about everyone else? There is a good chance that the content on your website can help people all across the world, but it doesn’t matter if your website is only in English. Not only would this help other countries understand your content, but many Americans will also benefit. According to the U.S Census Bureau, about 47 million people, nearly 1-in-5 U.S. residents, spoke a foreign language at home in 2000. In other words, although some readers may be able to read your content in English, many would likely prefer to read it in another language. Think of it this way: If your website has the option to switch to Spanish, for example, and your competitor does not have that option, which website do you think will gain more readers?

What This Means for SEO

SEO is all about traffic, and translation will help give you that and more. Consider some of the reasons translation will work in your favor when it comes to SEO:

• Loyalty – Not only would translating your blog help expand your audience, but this audience will likely stick with your website. Instead of the occasional viewer, you will have a more loyal reader base because they will appreciate how easy it is to read.
• Competition – It is also much easier to rank highly on search engines in different languages because there is less competition.
• Duplicate Content – Duplicate content does not count across languages. This also makes it easy to rank highly on search engines in other languages.
• Opinions – You will gain a lot of new viewpoints on your content from different cultures. This will increase the popularity of your website, which will make it easier for others to quote your articles. More than anything, this is simply another way to increase traffic.

By and large, the most popular translation tool is Google Translate. However before you run out and jump on the Google Translate bandwagon, there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to SEO and translation. There are actually translation services that work specifically for SEO purposes. Read more...