by Warner Carter

Most search engine optimization processes are free, and it won’t cost you a dime to get the top spot on Google search results provided that you’re willing to do the work. The online scandal involving the popular department store chain is considered by many as the most blatant act of Black Hat SEO in recent history. For some time, the JCPenney website dominated Google search results for an extensive range of search terms. A search expert consulted by the New York Times discovered how the company was able to achieve such a feat: thousands of inbound links from websites that aren’t even related to the company’s niche.
Such practices fall under Black Hat SEO, and companies that use Black Hat SEO techniques are correspondingly penalized by Google. Although the punishable SEO methods are clearly defined by Google, the company’s Webspam team doesn’t really expound on the best way of doing SEO.

We don’t have to single out JCPenney. Black Hat SEO techniques are commonly used by website owners and developers everywhere. These people saw SEO’s potential in making them more popular and richer than ever. It’s not organic Black Hat SEO; it’s link buying. Whoever is behind the JCPenney scandal can be considered a genius. Concealing the trickery for months without catching the attention of both Google and the company’s competitors isn’t an easy task. This can be a wakeup call for Google’s Webspam team.

Webspam cops have wasted their time running after Black Hats. History chronicles a list of companies that used these ‘illegal’ techniques, and laying down the exact rules for proper SEO may help clarify some issues. What’s punishable by Google and what’s not?

Keywords have been misused for a long time. The reality is that Matt Cutts and the rest of the Google Webspam team won’t be able to track down all the companies who exploit the influence of valuable keywords on search engines. As a result, not all websites at the top of Google’s search results get into the position because of clean SEO.

Having more money is an undeniable advantage in SEO. Whether you’re targeting organic traffic or buying links, money helps you achieve better results. You need money to pay experts to help you with optimization and to hire people who have the necessary expertise in a certain process. SEO is still a business, and JCPenney never ignored this truth.

The bait that caught JCPenney
Many think that Google should have laid down specific rules and standards about what the search engine considers as good and bad SEO. Many SEO practitioners are actually surprised when they find themselves penalized for SEO methods that they believed to be proper. Google’s ever-changing algorithms make it difficult for SEO practitioners to balance doing SEO the right way and gaining high rankings for their clients’ sites. Maybe, even from the start, the SEO marketers behind JCPenney’s website believed that there was something wrong with gaining rankings through irrelevant inbound links. However, because of the popularity of such SEO methods, maybe these marketers thought that using such techniques was acceptable. They might have thought, “No one gets sanctioned or penalized, anyway.” If they did get penalized, some of these marketers probably thought of getting around the penalty through another Black Hat technique.

The sanction
According to Matt Cutts, Google’s goal is to preserve the integrity of search results and not to embarrass people or companies. This may be the reason why there are no articles on how JCPenney is serving the penalty. What the public knows is that the company’s website experienced a massive ranking decline. For some keywords, JCPenny.com went from the top spot to the tenth spot; other keywords had the website ranked below the 50th spots.

However, don’t take JC Penney’s case for granted. If Google made JCPenney’s sanction real, it would be possible for the search engine to issue sanctions to future multiple link buyers and ranking thieves. Low rankings in the world’s leading search engine can mean automatic SEO failure for your business, unless your business is as well-known as JC Penney. So if you’re planning to copy some of JCPenney’s moves, you know what to expect.

If the SEO world was shaken by this scandal, the opposite is true for JCPenney’s offline customers. JCPenney is one of the most popular department store chains in the US. As a household name among Americans, JCPenney can probably get by without SEO.

The vigilantes
As search engine users, website owners, or businesspeople, we should take part in leveling the playing field for all online businesses. If major companies like JCPenney was able to pull off the stunt with slight success, other companies might achieve full-fledged success using the scheme in the future. We should be watchful and extra vigilant about the SEO processes becoming popular nowadays.

Warner is interetsed in everything about discovering and learning new things online. He works with the only for SEO Resellers outsource resource Endless Rise

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by Christian Arno

English could be seen as the lingua franca of the Internet, just as it is in the business world. It’s certainly the most commonly used language online in terms of content, but even so it represents only around a quarter of all Internet users according to Internet World Stats, and over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English.

Studies by the Common Sense Advisory show that the majority of multilingual web users put more trust in, and are more likely to buy from, websites written in their native language. With this in mind it’s clear that localization is more important than ever. Once you’ve decided to take that plunge, however, you must also decide whether to target your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by language or by country.

Focus: Language

Some languages are widely spoken in more than one country and you may consider it adequate to have a single site to serve every territory sharing a common language. A single site in Spanish, for example, could serve not only Spain but also huge swathes of the rapidly growing online market across Latin America. And a Portuguese website could cater for Portugal, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and various territories in India.

The most obvious benefit in targeting by language is that it’s cheaper to set up and maintain – you only need one translation and one site per language. But there are also drawbacks to bear in mind.

Firstly, linguistic usage can vary between territories, especially when it comes to vocabulary colloquialisms. Just as the English spoken in England, Australia and South Africa varies in syntax, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and the different countries of Latin America. A computer, for example, is an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Spanish speaking Latin America, while coche means “car” in Spain but refers to a baby-stroller in Latin America. Oh, and a baby-stroller would more likely to be used in North America, as UK readers would use a ‘pram’ or a ‘push-chair’.

If targeting by language, care should be taken that all content and especially keywords mean what they’re supposed to in each territory. Make sure you keep the language simple and straight-forward, and try to avoid specific cultural references, colloquialisms and in-jokes.

Another problem is that search algorithms take location into account when ranking sites. If targeting by language you should at least ensure that you organize your localized content into separate sub-domains or subdirectories and make use of Google’s Geographic Target tool, a handy Webmaster Tool that allows you to specify geographic targets for your localized target market.

Focus: Country

Targeting by country can be more expensive and time-consuming but it allows you to improve your SEO and boost your rankings by setting up separate country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as www.example.es for Spain or www.example.pt for Portugal.

These will automatically get higher rankings on Google and other local search engines in local searches. Ensuring the site is physically hosted on a server in the target country will boost rankings still further, while a fully localized site with its own ccTLD will face less competition than one created on the generic top level domain .com, which is what you’re likely to have if you want to direct all users of the one language to the same site.

Content and keywords can also be specifically tailored for the target market and search engines, allowing you to research the most effective keywords for each country rather than relying on broader search terms applicable across several territories. In addition, is allows you to target the full website content to a specific country audience allowing for a more nuanced marketing approach that will appeal on local level.

In SEO terms alone, it makes sense to target by country but the efficacy must be weighed against the costs and extra time involved in setting up and maintaining these sites. A happy medium could be to start with country specific sub-domains to test the waters. If you see a lot of traffic coming in to a specific sub-domain it may be worth investing in a fully localized site, including setting up its own ccTLD and doing targeted keyword research.

Being cautious with your international expansion may be prudent, but you’re likely to see higher returns on investment where you put the time and effort into fully localizing and optimizing a site for a promising national market. Ultimately, however, it will come down to a judgement call based on your business model and type.

Christian Arno is founder of Lingo24, a top provider of professional translation services. With 150 full-time staff across Europe, North America and the APAC region, Lingo24 secured a turnover of $8m in 2010.

by John Komatsoulis

Are you struggling trying to sell your product? Have you tried everything but nothing works? Forget what you’ve learned in the past and will start fresh today. Today is a new day and you’re going to succeed in internet marketing because the past does not equal the future. Let’s take a bold new step together and FOCUS on the activities that will generate you an income.

You may have noticed that I bolded the word FOCUS, it’s this one powerful word that will help you accomplish great things in your business and your life. I strongly believe in the power of focus, without it you will spin your wheels never to see or feel success. It doesn’t have to be this way of course, you just need to take the right steps in order to get the results you’re looking for.

Wondering, what you should focus on?

Let’s work on 3 Core Principles for developing a successful internet marketing business

1 — FOCUS on your customers problems:
You may have a great product, but it’s naïve to think that everyone is your potential customer. In order to get profitable results, it is important for your marketing to be very specific. You need to attract those that actually want your product. Let’s pretend you market a weight loss program, it’s safe to say that your customer is trying to lose weight. Rather than making a general statement like lose weight, focus on talking about your customer’s problem. By focusing on your ideal customers problems, you will have a lot less selling and a lot less convincing to do.

2 – FOCUS on mastering one marketing strategy:
Marketing is complicated enough without you trying to successfully master multiple strategies. Don’t get sidetracked by everything that is a happening online and focus on mastering one strategy at a time. Whether you choose to market your business using PPC, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Article Writing, Radio or even the Newspaper. Whatever form of marketing you decide to do, it’s important to do it consistently so that you can monitor your results and improve upon them. Then once you’ve established your business using one marketing method, it’s at that time and only then can you move on to incorporate another strategy.

3 – FOCUS on the follow up:
You probably heard this a million times, but the fortune is really in the follow up. Following up with your potential customers is the most important part of your marketing funnel. Everybody is different, but rarely do customers buy on the first date. Would you try to score on the first date? :)

Like a new boyfriend or girlfriend, customers need to be romanced and pampered until they become more relaxed and more open to your offer. Using an auto-responder service like MailChimp (Free) or Aweber (Paid), you MUST send a follow up message to your customers at least once every 7 days. People receive hundreds of e-mails per week, and it’s important that your name is on one of them every week. Now that you have people on your list, you should not try to sell them with every e-mail. Doing so is a surefire way of being unsubscribed. It’s important to provide your list with valuable tips, which will pull them towards you and your offers.

That’s it, the 3 core principles of a successful internet business, are not a mystery anymore. Having developed two successful businesses of my own, I promise you that if you FOCUS on these 3 principles, your business will see tremendous growth today and into the future.

Will you implement these ideas into your business? Leave a comment below and please share this article with anyone you feel who will benefit from it.

John Komatsoulis is a 23 year business consultant and coach who teachs marketers how to attract customers with simple but powerful strategies. He is the CEO and founder of the internet’s premier educational community and his own personal business blog The Networking Dad

by Alan Grainger

Whether it’s a TV commercial or a newspaper ad, marketers have always had to watch what they say and avoid making misleading claims through their promotional activities. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has a UK wide remit that enables them to monitor all offline marketing and advertising and have the power to enforce sanctions on any company found to be misleading customers through their promotional activities.

Although the ASA has been able to regulate the offline promotional channels, it hasn’t had the same authority when it comes to offline marketing, until now.

As of 1st March 2011, the ASA will be able to issue sanctions on any company found to be flouting its regulations and these sanctions will include a name and shame policy, removal of paid-for search advertising and the placement of search advertising by the ASA to highlight an advertiser’s continued non-compliance.

The ASA will also be accepting complaints from UK customers regarding foreign sites and liaise with their counterpart in that country, so even if you are outside of the UK then these changes could still affect you.

So if you are involved in online marketing, how can you make sure that you are not affected by the new advertising regulations?

Do As You Do Already!
If you are involved in any kind of offline advertising then you will already be producing material that is regulated by the ASA. Now that they have jurisdiction in the online world, you simply need to replicate what you are doing offline to make sure you fall within the guidelines.

The ASA admit themselves that there isn’t widespread evidence of problem advertisers online, and to date it has received only 4,500 complaints that “companies behave differently on their own sites” than they do in other marketing space.

Maintaining a consistent message both offline and online is something that most companies are doing already, so just keep doing what you are already doing in your offline marketing efforts.

Be Careful What Claims You Are Making

While the vast majority of advertisers will not knowingly try and manipulate the system, some may come unstuck by making claims that cannot be backed up or that may be untrue. If you are going to be making claims like “the cheapest prices online” or “the most popular online store” then make sure you do your research first. If you are going to make any claims of this nature, make sure you do your homework first.

Spread The Message

One of the key problems that may arise through these regulations is the problem of many more people being able to speak for the company. Any paid-for social networking activity is also covered by these regulations giving many more people the potential to make unfounded claims on behalf of the company. Whereas with more traditional forms of marketing there is only a small, select group of people who will be speaking for an organisation, the dawn of the internet and social networking means that there will be many more employees making statements on behalf of the company.

To stop you company coming out with incorrect statements, make sure that the communication within your company is efficient and accurate. Just as items such as corporate gifts can be used internally to spread brand awareness throughout a company, similar procedures must be used to ensure the right message is getting through to the right people. Trying to be officious and restricting access to company social networks may well be an exercise in futility, so make sure that the right people have the right facts to ensure your message remains consistent and your claims can be verified.

The ASA isn’t looking to impose draconian measures on companies who breach their regulations and will give advice and support where possible. Make sure that any claims that you make can be verified and that you avoid placing misleading claims and there is no reason why your company needs to worry about online regulations.

Alan is an online marketer for The Corporate Gifts Company one of the leading online stores in the UK for corporate gifts. He writes articles on all issues surrounding marketing, advertising and PR.

by Ajeet Khurana

With the recent crackdown, or should I say expected crackdown, on content farms, many owners of content-based websites are worried about their future. After all, there is no formal definition about what constitutes a content farm.

A farm is the place where crops grow. So does that mean that any place that grows crops is a farm? In a similar vein, a content farm spits out a lot of content. So does that mean that any site generating a lot of content is a content farm?

Naturally, in labeling a site as a content farm, it would be illogical to simply look at the quantity of content generated. So, that once again begs the question: What is a content farm?

I think the answer will be found not so much in quantity, as in quality. Any site, regardless of its size, should be labeled as a content farm, if it solely produces content for the sake of producing content. It should be regarded as a content farm, if its content is primarily created for search engines.

Now that leads us to a second-order problem. How do you decide what site is creating content solely for the purpose of creating content? Of course, a human reader, with a high degree of proficiency, could make that judgment. But the Googles and Yahoos of the world do not want to physically read every document on the Internet before deciding its worth.

I have a solution, and it is one that I have always favored. At the very least, documents written in poor language, should be demoted in search rankings. After all, language is the medium by which written communication takes place. So if your language is bad in the first place, I would regard that as a strong signal that the content itself would be inferior.

Of course there will be certain errors in this sort of judgment, and Google will have to come up with methods to reduce those errors of judgment. But the fact still remains: good writing has now become the writing on the wall.

I know what you’re thinking. Does that not lead us to a third order problem? How does one decide whether a document has good language? Luckily for us, unlike the earlier two problems, there is a high degree of standardization in language. Machines are able to make reasonable estimates about the quality of language. You could check out the readability statistics in Microsoft Word to understand what I’m talking about. Also remember that a highly respected examination such as the GMAT uses a robot reader, to evaluate written essays.

So it can be done!

What is the take away from my argument? Quite simply: You need to start looking closer at the quality of your content, and not just quantity. After all, one page at position one of Google, is better than 100 pages, with a similar level of competition, if they are all at position hundred for their respective key phrases. Don’t you agree?

The author of this article, Ajeet Khurana, is a twice-published book author with McGraw-Hill. After two decades of writing, Ajeet has decided to start writing about writing. His new site talks about common dilemmas that writers face: “then” vs. “than,” parallel construction, and much more.

by David Walker

Marketing on the internet is a challenging but very rewarding field to be in and if you can master the techniques, skills, and knowledge that are needed to become the best of the best, then you can enjoy a very profitable career of your own in this wonderful field.

On the flip side, you could also find yourself struggling to make any money at all and here are a number of reasons why you may be failing online.

1. Trying To Do Too Many Things At Once

One of the biggest mistakes that many internet marketers make is trying to do too many things at once. Often times more is less when it comes to marketing on the internet because trying to do too many activities at once can cause you to become less productive overall. When you’re less productive, then you‘re not going to be as successful.

2. Too Much Analyzing & Not Enough Selling

This is often referred to as “Paralysis by Analysis” and means that many times individuals spend more time on the analysis work that is involved in marketing and spend less time on what it actually takes to get visitors to your blog or website. You can plan and develop the perfect strategy for getting visitors to your sales page, but unless you actually follow through with that plan, you won’t achieve the results you are looking for.

3. Poor Product Selection

Another reason why you are not experiencing any success is because you made a poor choice when it came to product or service selection. Perhaps there is little demand for the product or service you selected. If this is the case, then there is going to a small target audience and very little potential for profitability. It’s important that you choose a product or service that has enough demand to be profitable for you.

4. Poor Planning

If you don’t have a plan in place for the activities that you are going to partake in, then you’ll simply end up running circles around yourself and won’t get very much done at all. Developing a plan for your online marketing activity will help you keep things organized and on track at all times.

5. Not Enough Experience & Knowledge

The reason you are failing could be down to you don’t have enough experience for the job at hand. There are a many aspects to marketing that require extensive knowledge and ability. If you don’t possess the skills that are necessary for carrying out the task successfully, then you won’t be able to accomplish much and won’t be able to profit from the activity.

The internet is filled with valuable resources for teaching you everything you know about marketing online or anything else for that matter. If you want to be the best of the best, then you have to be willing to put in a little time in order to make yourself knowledgeable in the field.

David Walker is an internet marketer who blogs about how to make money online and you can access his “$100k Blogging Secret” training module for free at his blog. To build your email subscriber list, consider joining the latest JV Giveaways as a contributor.

by Kimberlie Hutson

If you’re new to online marketing or you’ve just employed the services of an agency to look after it for you, you’re probably more than a little confused by the language they seem to use. In fact you’re probably feeling like you need to speak fluent ‘internet geek’ just to understand the reports they send over. This should help; it’s the top ten most common acronyms that will fly around any online marketing agency office on a daily basis and what they mean in plain English.

SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is probably one of the more obvious ones you’re going to hear. The overriding purpose of SEO is to improve your websites visibility in the organic search engine results pages. This means if you sell green widgets, you’ll want your website to be as close to the top position as possible when someone searches in the search engines for the phrase green widgets. All the major search engines are split into organic and paid results, the organic results will be on the left hand side and this is what SEO concentrates on. The art/science behind SEO is far more complex than I’m going to go into here but suffice to say there are many different factors that impact these results and they can be very time consuming, sometimes taking months before real results start to kick in.

PPC

PPC stands for Pay Per Click and is most commonly associated with Adwords (at least in Google). These are the results that appear in the paid results in the right hand side (and often the top few results on the left hand side) under the heading ‘Ads’. The results from PPC will often be much quicker and the premise is that you only pay whenever anyone actually clicks on your ads. You tell the search engine how much you’re prepared to pay for each click and if you’re prepared to pay more than anyone else your ad will appear in the top position, if the person who appears directly underneath you is willing to pay almost the same amount you’re more likely to have to pay that amount you said you were prepared to but if the next person under you is only prepared to pay significantly less than you you’ll only have to pay just above their bid for your ad to appear. As with SEO there are much more complex factors that are taken into consideration but this is only a brief explanation.

SEM

SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing and can encompass just about anything that involves publicising your website on the internet. It will usually include things like SEO and PPC as well as other factors like social media (so thing like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube etc). Online PR could also fall under this heading.

HTML

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language and this literally is a whole new language to learn. This is the standard language behind most websites and what the search engines read when they look at/crawl your site. The language itself is made up of hundreds of tags which sit round all the content on your website and tell the search engines exactly what’s in that content. Each tag opens with a angle bracket and the tag closes with an angle bracket followed by a forward slash and another end bracket (i.e. < h 1 > Important page title goes here < / h 1 > ). The easiest way to see this is to go to any website and view the page source by hitting ctrl+u on your keyboard.

CSS

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet and dictates the way the HTML code looks and is presented. The language of CSS can be applied to any XML document but is most commonly seen with HTML pages. CSS helps define things like the layout (i.e. if you’re using tables or paragraph breaks) as well as things like the colour being used on site and the types of fonts being used.

XML

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language and you’ve probably already noticed this one if you spend much time on a computer. This language is more generic and is one that’s read by your computer. If you use Microsoft Excel and you save a document you might notice the file extension (the drop down box marked ‘save as type’ under the ‘file name’ box) will usually save as XML by default. When it comes to the world of online marketing you’re probably being told you need an XML sitemap, this simply means having a map of all the content on your site in the preferred format specifically for the search engines to read.

CRM

A CRM is a Customer Relationship Manager and these are simply designed to help you manage useful business information. The most common Customer Relationship Management tools are SAP and Oracle and they’re great at making sure your sales team can see what revenues have increased and if the marketing team has recently run a campaign to boost any of these products or services. You can also identify things like loyal customers (so you could maybe offer them a discount on their next purchase) and where your business might be losing money.

CMS

A CMS is a Content Management System and will most commonly be used to manage the content of your website. A popular example of a CMS would be Joomla or WordPress and they allow you to access a private admin area where you can create new pages for your website or edit or delete existing pages. If you’ve employed the services of a web design agency they might have used a standard CMS or even an open source (free) one, like the two mentioned above. Or they might have created you your own custom built CMS which might be more expensive but it means it would be tailor made for your needs.

SERPs

SERP’s stands for Search Engine Results Pages and you’re most likely to hear your SEO telling you you’re at position x in the SERP’s. A standard search engine will return around ten results on each page and this can include things like video content, latest news results, shopping results and standard web sites. Normally saying your site is at position 35 in the SERP’s would mean you website is appearing around the middle of page 4. Ideally you want to appear as close to position one as possible.

URL

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator and the easiest example of this is your website address, so http://www.yourwebsite.com would be your URL. It states exactly where your content is located on the internet. Every page on every website will have a unique URL and like snowflakes no two URL’s are ever the same (if they are you’re creating duplicate content which is a whole other issue).

OK, that’s pretty much it. There are of course plenty of other acronyms and lots of other marketing jargon you might want to get your head around but this should be enough to at least help you translate the basics of the online marketing industry.

Kim works on the SEO for Real Asset Management who sell fixed assets software solutions.

by Brett Alan

Don’t let the administrative tone of developing a Content Diversification Strategy–AKA CDS–put you off. Content diversification is a simple concept that when applied correctly can open up a whole new planet of link building opportunities to open-minded SEOs via podcasting, e-books, video and other forms of multi media.

The concept behind CDS is straightforward. The more strains of content you’re able to create, the more communities open up for the plundering of both links and traffic. And by taking the effort to develop your own CDS, you’ll open up link opportunities that don’t exist for your competition simply because they don’t, can’t, or won’t publish content in different formats.

And perhaps best of all, unlike written content, podcasting and video let you build links and citations across multiple sources leveraging the same piece of content.

So why in 2011 do so many businesses still limit themselves to one kind of digital content? Most don’t see the full opportunity in creating diverse content for link acquisition or marketing to new audiences. Some believe content creation will be cost prohibitive or a slightly higher barrier of entry discourages them from trying. Others still, worry they won’t be good at creating the content.

I say, let your competition continue to accept every one of these limiting beliefs as you cultivate your own CDS to become a competitive online advantage. Your websites will have the potential to open up a world of links and traffic, while your competition will remain marooned on their tiny island of singular content–restricted and limited by the type of information they choose to create.

But if you find yourself in a rut generating homogeneous content, fear not. There’s still time to break the cycle. Here’s a simple outline you can use to help decide which type of media is right for you and a few of the link opportunities that can open up as a result of following through with your own content development strategy.

Images: We’ll begin with content that has the lowest barrier of entry aside from plain-old text. That’s right images and photographs. Don’t get stressed out about this one if you don’t have a professional photographer or designer on staff. Shooting circa National Geographic spreads is not a requirement for success and there’s no need to spend a lot of money purchasing an expensive camera either.

All you really need to do is lay down $200 for a decent camera and start snapping interesting photos that are relevant to the audience. Or, as ridiculous as it may sound, committing 30-minutes in Microsoft Paint can often do the trick to outline a mind-map or diagram that helps illustrate a point.

Make sure to let people know you have a Creative Commons License for each image to encourage link credit and citations from other content creators.

Unique Link Opportunities for Image Creators: Flickr.com, Photobucket.com, ImageShack.us, Picoodle.com

Ebook / Special Report: Got a few pages of solid content and a couple decent graphics? Well, you’ve already got everything you need to create a free report or ebook you can leverage to build more links.

All you need to do is organize the content into MSWord or Open Office, export the file as a PDF, and voila! You’ve got a quality resource to distribute across the interweb that contains backlinks to your website.

Unique Opportunities for E-book / Special Report Creators: free-ebooks.net, scribd.com, docstoc.com

Podcast: Podcasting is one of the content types that carry the biggest illusion of difficulty along with it. But trust me, there’s no prerequisite for a degree in audio production or need to spend a lot of money getting started here either.

Download a free program called Audacity to record audio then purchase a microphone / headset from a retailer like Best Buy and you’ve got everything you need to get started.

If you’re worried about how you’re going to fill 30-minutes for a podcast try doing interviews. Generating a few questions for discussion takes little time and it’s a great way to get introduced to the big players in your niche.

Unique Opportunities for Podcast Creators: Podcast411.com, AmigoFish.com, PodcastDirectory.com, iTunes (There are literally thousands of podcast directories that can be leveraged for link building.)

Video: Video is another strain of content that can make organizations second guess themselves. Isn’t video editing equipment expensive? Don’t professional cameras cost thousands of dollars?

These used to be significant barriers of entry for video, but that isn’t the case any longer. In the last few years video equipment and cameras have become affordable enough for anyone to get started. And if you don’t have anyone in the organization that’s comfortable on camera, no worries. You can always start with screen casting.

Unique Opportunities for Video Creators: YouTube.com, Revver.com, Flurl.com

Brett Alan is the owner of StartSEOCompany.com a white-label SEO reseller you can use to outsource client work, content generation, link building, and more.

by Ajeet Khurana

Is search engine optimization all about conning the search engines? That is the impression one would get if one traveled around the many SEO blogs on the Internet. One day it is about stuffing keywords in the body text of the article; on another day it is about referral spam. On yet another day, it is about setting up millions of profile links.

Is that what search engine optimization is all about? Is it us versus Google? Is it finding new ways to take one’s garbage higher up in search engine ranks?

I got into writing online content in 2002. Along with writing, naturally, I wanted to rank well in search engines. That introduced me to the amazing world of search engine optimization.

I am proud to say that all the sites that I optimized, mine as well as those of friends and associates did well across algorithm changes by Google.

What went right you ask? Quite simple: I used the principle that good search engine optimization is not about cracking the search rank algorithm of Google, or any other search engine. Instead good search and optimization is about having good website practices.

RINF site has several articles on what constitutes good website practices. Today let me focus on one that is quite dear to me. Writing!

Despite the growth in Internet video, images, photograph sharing and the like, the Internet continues to remain a predominantly text-based medium. This means that people spend a lot of time reading on the Internet. It could be e-mail, social media, micro-blogs, blogs, online publications, newsletters, or just good old plain articles.

As a result, one needs to ensure that the written word is:
a. Written well.
b. Clear in communication.
c. Grammatically sound.

If your writing is poor, it often camouflages the quality of your idea. You might have something great to say, but you don’t know how to say it. As a result you lose credibility and engagement, readers lose interest and loyalty. No one wants to read your content!

I know, I know, I do wish that the world would not judge a book by its cover. But good language is not about being superficial. Good language is about spending time and effort to improve one’s language, proofread, and improve one’s composition; because one realizes the value of good language.

So what does one do if one does not have good English? Naturally, the answer depends on how poor the English is. But if you are one of those who can write good English but are out of practice. I recommend that you go back to class.

What class? Well, go back to the time when you were taught writing at school.

How were you taught writing? The primary instrument of developing writing skills was essay writing. So why not do that again?

I think that writing essays on various topics provides one the right stimulus and opportunity to improve one’s writing skills. There are so many different types of essays: descriptive, character, compare and contrast, formal, argumentative, analytical… the list just goes on. When you write all of these essays, you naturally tend to learn one important dimension of writing, or another. Thereby becoming better at writing on the whole.

And if you are an online marketer, what better than being able to write, or at least discern, good writing.

The author of this article, Ajeet Khurana is a twice published writer with McGraw-Hill. In addition, he runs an essay writing site. On this site, you can learn how to write a formal essay, an expository essay, and much more.

by Lee Dobbins

Getting visitors to your site is one thing, but keeping them long enough to turn them into customers is quite another. The longer a visitor remains on your site, the more they “get to know” you and the likelihood of them becoming a future customer increases. Not only that but Google knows how long people stay on your site and they take favor upon those sites that can retain visitors longer by pushing them higher in the search engine results.

So, as you can see, keeping visitors on your site longer can have a big payoff — here are 5 tips on how you can achieve longer visitor retention:

1. Write Engaging Articles

No one wants to read a dry, boring article that sounds like your ninth grade economics essay and there’s nothing that will have visitors hitting the back button sooner than a poorly written, unexciting article. What you need to do is engage your visitor so that the want to keep reading. Make your article entertaining, add some humor and always keep the focus on the reader. There’s nothing that people like reading about more than themselves or how something will benefit them so make sure you identify with the reader in your article and they will likely hang on your every word.

2. Add Some Visual Aids

Text can be dull, so why not add some pictures or even a video to your page? There’s nothing like visual aids to keep readers interested and on your page longer. Videos can be great, especially if your article is a “how to” piece where you can show them the steps in a video. Pictures, graphs and other illustrations that help drive home the point of your article can be a huge benefit for readers.

3. Add Relevant Links To Other Articles On Your Site

If your blog is focused on one niche or market, it’s a pretty sure bet that some of the things you are talking about in your article are actually expanded upon in other articles on your site. One thing you can do is link to these other articles from within your article. I don’t mean to clog up the article with reference links, but a few here and there can help the reader to know that they can click to another article to find out more about that particular topic. Also, adding links to other related articles at the bottom can help keep them on your site reading more of your stuff. Of course, in order to get them to want to do that, you have to pay heed to item #1 on this list and write engaging content in the first place!

4. Have Good Navigation

What’s the reader going to do once they finish your article? You want them to read more articles, right? Well, that’s where good navigation comes in! If you have a well organized navigation bar on the top and on the side then your visitor will be able to easily skim the links to see what else interests them. Also, providing links at the bottom of the article, with a sentence telling them what to read next can be quite helpful. Bad navigation only causes confusion and people that don’t know where to go next, often hit the back button right off your site so don’t underestimate this important piece of website design.

5. Focus On Informing Not Advertising

I see a lot of new bloggers make the mistake of clogging up their site with every possible banner or adsense block possible. The theory is that the more ads you have the higher your chances of making money but the truth is that you could be losing money in the long run in favor of a quick click. All these flashing banners and ads can distract the reader from actually reading your article and, once they click the ad, they are gone forever. It’s much better to focus on the content and make the ads secondary, that way you may win a reader that comes back over and over again and eventually turns into a life long customer.

Keeping visitors on your site is all about building a relationship and letting the visitor know what you are all about. Writing great content that informs, entertains and enlightens takes you one step further to forming that relationship that will earn you loyal customers that pay you over and over again. So, the next time you write an article, why not take the extra time to make it one that helps keep your visitor on the site longer — it could also end up adding money to your bottom line further down the road.

Visit Lee Dobbins Blog on Website Promotion for interesting case studies and a step by step guide on how to promote your website.

by Richard Adams

The Simple 5 Minute Change To My WordPress Blog That Boosted My Google Rankings By 60 Positions In Less Than A Week

When it comes to getting traffic from the search engines to increase the number of visitors to your website or blog we all know that building quality links is of vital importance. Unfortunately it’s also time-consuming and can quickly get boring.

Whether you choose to exchange links with other sites, spend your time blog commenting or distributing articles to other websites this is possibly one of the least enjoyable aspects of growing your online business.

Because of this, I decided to carry out an experiment and completely give up on this “off-page optimization” for a short while and instead focus more on my “on-page optimization”.

Thanks to the database-driven nature of WordPress and the way that themes can quickly and easily be changed, carrying out minor changes to your website is often a simpler and more enjoyable way to increase traffic – if only you can figure out what works.

The basics are well-known. Put the keyword phrase you want to rank for in your website title, in the headline of your homepage and scatter it generously throughout the text on your homepage. But most marketers know about this – so how can we rapidly gain the upperhand and take our on-page SEO to the next level?

To this end I experimented with dozens of different themes, menus, layouts and plugins over several months – making a change to my site then waiting to see how the search engines – particularly Google – reacted.

I’ll be honest. Most of these changes had little or no impact on my search engine rankings but there was one technique that massively boosted my results. So I tried it on a few of my other WordPress-powered blogs and websites and every single one saw a significant boost in traffic as a result.

Even better, the method is free and will take you only five minutes to implement on your site. Interested?!

What I did was to improve my internal linking structure. Quite simply I made sure that every time I mentioned my main keyword phrase anywhere on my site that it linked back to my main homepage. Suddenly I had dozens if not hundreds of extra links pointing back to the main welcome page of each of my sites – and this led to significant increases to rankings – and hence traffic – for me.

Now there are two ways to implement this simple yet powerful strategy. The first is to manually go through every article on your site, searching for your main keyword phrase and then manually hyperlinking it to your homepage. But that’s slow and boring.

I wanted quick and easy.

My solution is the free SEO Smart Links WordPress plugin which is available at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/seo-automatic-links/.

All you need to do is to install it on your WordPress site, go into the settings option and enter your primary keyword together with the website address of your homepage. Now every time your site mentions the phrase you’re trying to get traffic for it will be automatically linked to your home page – even in articles you’ve already published.

Try it for yourself and let us know what sort of improvements you see as a result of this quick and simple technique.

This post is written by UK blogger Richard Adams who runs Lifestyle Design Unleashed – a blog all about escaping the rat race and living life to the fullest.

by Warner Carter

No doubt about it. Without SEO Resellers’ efficient work on the local field, SEO would just remain to be big companies’ weapon to success. As time goes by, and as the SEO business expands, the local industry has become a competitive field to target clients and possible SEO consumers.

Imagine the SEO industry without SEO Resellers. SEO would be a slow-paced marketing tool. It would be hard for the SEO firm alone to promote the service widely. Local businesses will still have the chance to benefit from SEO, but they may not understand it as well as they would have if an SEO Reseller presented it to them.

SEO firm owners from the early years of the industry were way different from SEO owners today. SEO owners then were the high-profile, reserved types, many of whom were contented with simply delivering their service over the phone or through the internet.

The early SEO days were very different as well compared to what we know now. SEO was only for those who believed it, those who had direct contact with people who had experienced success from it. It was difficult then to spread information about SEO service and other relevant facts because everything was just too formal and classy. Today, with the changes brought by SEO’s constant transformation through SEO Resellers, selling SEO service has become possible for everyone. There are no more walls and boundaries to consider because SEO Resellers have found their own niche in the local scene. Early SEO Resellers, and even present ones, are usually blue-collar employees who bailed out of their day jobs to earn better income. They were simple people who knew the local scene and colloquial culture by heart, unlike the early executive-type firm owners who were just burning their seats in their office, not really knowing how to reach out to the people outside. SEO Resellers brought the SEO market to localities, to small industries, and to microfinance-dependent businesses.

As Resellers go local, SEO becomes personal. Resellers changed their marketing strategy–from formal and technical to simple and understandable presentations–so that simple business owners, especially those who have no any idea about the service, could grasp the SEO concept. Search engine optimization became a local business term, wherein it became a wide channel for more SEO firms to deliver their service to more localities and small towns and industries. This channel branched out, made SEO service more popular, and created bigger opportunities for SEO Reselling.

As the years go by, these low profile Resellers continuously give birth to SEO Reselling firms. They continuously change the face of Search Engine Optimization market. Though SEO is only a derivative method, it is constantly improving and quickly surpassing the mode of direct sellers and product intermediaries. In just two years, Reselling plans and programs became available on the market, created by firms and providers to sustain existing and aspiring SEO Resellers’ needs.

The SEO evolution shows no signs of stopping. As long as there are SEO Resellers to bridge the gap between local businesses and bigger ones, and as long as consumers rely on the internet, the competition will remain tight and aggressive, whatever the business and niche are. Every business will need SEO, not just to stay in the competition, but also to mark its existence.

Warner is a guy who likes the net and computers since always. I find discovery and learning is what drives me. SEO is like an ever changing puzzle with many solutions so naturally I work for SEO Reseller Endless Rise

by Mike Holly

It always pays to think ahead and guest blogging is no exception to this rule. Each year there are themes and keywords which always peak in popularity around the same time. Whilst most of these are fairly obvious there are always surprises. So use Google insights to check out the peaks.

It also pays to look back to the same year but 50, 100 or 200 years ago and check what anniversaries are coming up. Finally look ahead for big events and other newsworthy items. Have your blogs ready.

Monthly calendar for Americans

1. January. Skiing peaks December through to February.
2. February. Valentine’s day.
3. March. All easter activities
4. April. Taxes.
5. May & June. Swimwear and related areas. Also BBQ’s in June.
6. July. Ice cream peaks strongly on the 4th July. Loans are popular during June and July.
7. August. Usually a quiet month.
8. September. Harvesting.
9. October. Halloween.
10. November. Thanksgiving, turkeys and cooking.
11. December. All Christmas issues, gifts and related areas.

Anniversaries coming up.

Fifty years ago, in 1961, Barbie gets a boyfriend with the launch of the “Ken” doll. Coincidentally it also was the year when George Clooney was born ( He will be 50 on May 6th). More seriously it was a year with plenty of civil rights activity.

In July it will be 100 years since Hiram Bingham rediscovered Machu Picchu. Great for travel articles.

In August 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. Think of insurance, security and culture.

Two hundred years ago in 1811 the Juliana became the first steam powered ferry. It ran between New York and New Jersey. Could be used on a real estate blog as an example of new technology changing the way we view local areas.

Two hundred years ago the Luddites were making waves by destroying new milling machinery. Great for any technology blog.

Looking further ahead and making educated guesses.

The big forthcoming event is of course the Olympics in 2011 with all the associated demand on hotel rooms, TV screens and media.
There could well be a return of inflation and as it is unlikely that any American under 40 years old will know what it is like to live in inflationary times there is scope for good articles here.

Mike Holly lives and works in the North East and loves exploring Northumberland’s Cottages

by Ross Hudgens from Burial Insurance

5 SEO Tips You Must Use On Your Blog

Create great content, and let everything else take care of itself. Well, I say to them — wrong, and thank you. Yes, you can create great content and have an incredibly successful blog — but you can generate even more traffic if you spend just a few minutes extra per blog post. And I’ve got the tips for you to help you do that.

1. Create your post first, SEO later. This way, you don’t taint user experience in any way. Don’t do keyword research in advance — if that’s the point of a blog that’s personal/anyway unique, there’s a strong chance your content can’t really be great. Your post will improperly skew one way — and by doing that, and not truly being unique, you do your users a disservice.

2. Create two experiences — one for users, one for search engines. Yes, this can be done, without interfering with one another. Users don’t read title tags once they’re on site — so deliver a title tag that is optimized for SEO, even if it’s dramatically different from the user-modified title tags. Research shows that headers really don’t matter — so if the term is relatively uncompetitive (which are terms you should be aiming for), you won’t have problem ranking. Similarly, users don’t care about the URL — so deliver the URL, matched with the title tag, that is going to give you the best chance of ranking for a certain term.

3. Target two keywords — or more. If you have a strong domain and a good thought that a post fits more than one keyword, target multiple KWs. This can be done by having one in the title tag — the strongest one — and then having the URL be a separate URL. For example, I could target /blogging-tips.html with the URL and “How to Blog” in the title tag. These would both be pretty competitive, so I wouldn’t suggest it unless you have a power domain to back it up (such as Daily Blog Tips!).

4. Do long tail research with Google Suggest. These can be the easiest terms to target. For example, when you input “How to Blog” in the Google search bar, you will automatically get other long tail suggestions — suggestions searchers will lean towards because of these nudges. Find ways to work these terms into your post, even if once. Also, consider targeting these in the URL/title tag specifically if the short tail is too specific.

5. Make internal linking easier with the Cross-Linker. If you have WordPress (why don’t you?), use this plugin to make SEO life easier. Cross-Linker allows you to use certain terms — like “how to blog” — and make them auto-link to posts on your site that utilize them. This makes internal linking easy and something that isn’t a reoccurring time suck.

People can get by, in blogging, without SEO. Many times, they stumble into it. This is because much of blogging search traffic comes from long tail queries, where there is no competition — and thus, very little SEO skill needed. But real traffic can come from small-to-moderate difficulty queries, and this can get you lots of residual traffic from over time. Those who ignore it suffer the consequences.

Ross Hudgens is the Online Marketing Manager for Burial Insurance and Streamline Refinance. He likes blogging and the sweet upward arrow on an Analytics chart.

by Brian Jenkins from BrainTrack

Over a billion and a half people surf the Web today. This huge crowd has created an abundance of great opportunities for talented and motivated Internet marketers. Many schools have responded by offering Internet marketing degree programs which focus on e-commerce and online business. These programs cover e-marketing strategies, developing a brand on the Internet, increasing a company’s web presence, and attracting more consumers to websites.

Internet marketing associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degree programs are available both on-campus and online. Most of the programs are offered by for-profit schools. It is a good idea to find out if your prospective programs prepare you for certification from Google Advertising Professionals and the Web Analytics Association. These types of certifications will greatly enhance your resume.

Internet Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Programs

These programs typically cover topics like:

• Determining target audiences
• Analyzing behavior of Internet consumers
• Creating, implementing, and tracking Internet campaigns
• Architecture of successful web sites
• Developing and implementing promotional email campaigns
• Social media
• Building and optimizing websites
• International marketing
• Search engine optimization
• Web analytics

Some Internet marketing programs also review other important subjects such as mobile technologies, media planning, digital imaging, mobile advertising, audio and video for the web, Internet law and intellectual property, and multimedia design.

Internet Marketing Master’s Degree Programs

You can also obtain an MBA with a specialization in Internet marketing. These programs usually cover the core business subjects of a basic MBA program as well as search engine marketing and usability, integrated online marketing strategies, advanced interactive marketing, and management.

Most of these programs provide advanced training in many of the subjects covered in an Internet marketing bachelor’s degree program. Some of these MBA programs also cover the best practices of successful Internet marketers. In most of these programs, students develop a fully integrated business plan, which goes a long way to preparing graduates for the world of business.

The University of San Francisco (USF), a private university founded in 1855, offers a Master Certificate in Internet Marketing. USF has been designated as one of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report. (It should be noted the author has no connection with the university.)

A degree that focuses on Internet marketing can give you a competitive edge for Internet-based marketing jobs. An Internet marketing program is also beneficial for entrepreneurs.

As a writer for BrainTrack, Brian Jenkins writes about a variety of subjects related to jobs and careers, including careers in marketing management.

by Colin Alsheimer from LevelTen Interactive

Many know that Drupal is one of the best content management systems in the world. But do you know why? Besides being highly adaptable and customizable, Drupal is the perfect engine for Internet marketing activities, including search engine optimization (SEO). If better SEO for your Drupal site is a priority, here are 11 essential Drupal modules you should install today.

What are some of your favorite modules for Drupal SEO?

Colin Alsheimer is the Marketing Manager for LevelTen Interactive, a Texas based Drupal SEO Company. He also serves on the board for the Social Media Club of Dallas.

By Ryan Chaffin

In this never ending world of competitions, expenditures and various road blocks of business, every decision you make regarding your business is a difficult one. The most recent question every company owner has been asking themselves is whether or not SEO is right for their business? After all, it’s just not something that everyone understands and it can also be incredibly expensive. That’s the problem, though — too many business owners are not calculating the astronomical increase in revenue that SEO will bring back to them after their investment for the services has been paid off.

So here’s what you need to ask yourself regarding SEO: What are the risks? Not only what are the risks of investing into it but also what are the risks of not investing into it? We are in an e-commerce world these days. If your product or service cannot be provided online, it can still be researched online. If your potential customers can’t find you online, you can bet that they won’t buy from you.

Customers feel safe when they see a professional website. They like to read all information possible on the company they are considering going with. Those that cannot find the company website are those who will be very hesitant to trust the company. Also, a huge percentage of consumers will do their research online before buying any product or service. Since the majority of consumers are lazy, they will most likely only look through the first or second page of their search engine results. What does this mean to you? If you’re not on the first or second page, you may as well close down shop.

Whether you sell ready to assemble kitchen cabinets or holiday fruit baskets, customers need to find you, trust you and buy from you in order for your business to be successful. This can only happen if your website is search engine optimized. So don’t try and figure it out on your own because let’s face it; it’s like learning a whole new language. Leave the search engine optimization up to the SEO experts and count the amount of difference in revenue it will inevitably bring.

Posted by Ryan Chaffin on behalf of Knotty Alder Cabinets, a leader in ready to assemble kitchen cabinets. Ryan is currently a college student majoring in Business Marketing. He loves anything technology, internet, and social media related along with sports and health & wellness. Ryan currently specializes in search engine optimization (SEO), blogging, and social media and believes in achieving your fullest potential on and off the web. You can also find Ryan on Twitter (@ryanchaffin).

by Barry James from Wolf21.com

A cardinal rule of marketing is ‘know your customers.’  In online marketing, a second rule is ‘don’t spam our customers.’  E-mail campaigns have long been a staple of online marketing; however, the proliferation of scam artists (spam artists?) has bred a high degree of cynicism amongst target audiences who are ever more ready to block e-mails from all-too persistent marketers; or, worse yet, report what appears to be dubious marketing from a website as spam. Search titan, Google, frowns on spammers, and you do not want to risk having your business website blacklisted by Google.

Now, as online businesses and marketers have realized the vast potential of social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to reach their target audience, so too have spammers and ‘phish’ artists. You do not want to have an otherwise well-crafted social media marketing strategy scuppered – risking your site’s viability and online reputation – by being classed amongst such “black hat operators.”

The Economist reports that, “(s)pammers are moving onto social-networking sites such as Facebook because they find e-mail increasingly unrewarding.” “Data from Cisco,” its reported, “(indicates) the volume of e-mail spam began declining slowly in late 2009  . . . and by almost half in the past three months, after the authorities disabled spam networks in Russia and the Netherlands.” Online security firms, it appears have done their job, “with the result that they stop more that 98% [of spam] from reaching its target,” according to the Economist.

Now the shift has begun to popular social media sites. Twitter reportedly estimates that only 1% of their traffic originates from spammers. However, “researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana show that 8% of links published were shady, with most of them leading to scams and the rest to Trojans” the Economist reports. “Links in Twitter messages, they found, are over 20 times more likely to get clicked than those in e-mail spam.”

In an online experiment, security firm, BitDefender, was able to generate up to 100 new Facebook friends a day on phony profiles they created. (Utilizing a profile picture, particularly that of a pretty woman, was the most effective friend generator.) “When the firm’s researchers expanded their requests to strangers who shared even one mutual friend, almost half accepted,” according to the Economist, and, “(w)orse, a quarter of BitDefender’s new friends clicked on links posted by the firm, even when the destination was obscured.” 

With malware and Trojan viruses spreading rapidly on many social media sites, users are sure to become increasingly wary of new contacts. A social media marketing campaign should, therefore, build out organically starting from existing customer lists and offering value-added information, entertainment or opportunities. A campaign run solely to build brand recognition, and offering nothing in return for the time and effort put in by the end-user reading or responding to a marketing reach out (however small that might seem), risks being seen as unwanted spam. The best result to such an approach is likely to be brand diminishment – the very opposite of the intended result – yet, in a worst case scenario, the reputation and viability of a company’s online business may be imperiled.

Again, you do not want your site blacklisted by Google, or any other search engine or social platform. Such an outcome could wipe out years of online marketing efforts, or . . . worse . . . put you out of business.

Barry is a Copywriter and blogger from Wolf21.com. Barry James is a freelance copywriter who covers search engine optimization and social media marketing for Toronto SEO firm, Wolf21.com.

by Mark Spenser

When it comes to marketing, new marketing strategies keep evolving to deliver results in short term that may not necessarily adhere to quality parameters. SEO marketing is no exception to that. But why to insist upon website marketing that comes out as a natural result of a site’s enhancement and other organic techniques applied to increase traffic? You should know organic SEO first if you want to understand this.

Search engine optimization efforts are inclined at enhancing the site’s quality to make it “search engine crawl-able” and improving search engine rankings targeting the ways and means search engines have accepted in order to rank the web pages. So even when black hat practices exist to cut corners and make everything appear fast, easy, and cheaper in the first place, you shouldn’t fall in that trap as it may prove fatal eventually and may even result in the penalty from the search engine. It is best to adopt organic SEO services, which ensure a qualitative website marketing to receive long-term benefits.

Organic SEO helps your website perform better at search results employing techniques extended over a period but guaranteeing results that remain effective for a longer duration with those one time efforts and giving greater return on investments for a longer term. If you want to make sure how using organic SEO practitioners can help you accomplish that, be sure of the services you are likely to receive from them.

If you have a website ready, the primary service from an organic SEO company will most likely be content optimization for keywords related to your services. They will make most effective use of keywords to get you the best organic search results every time. You should be aware that search optimized keywords for your domain happen to be the most common words used to search for products and services in your industry or niche. These will be researched out by your SEO marketing firm to incorporate into your website. This, in turn, will make your website rank high in the search results for your targeted market and get higher traffic.

Since SEO counts the most on the organic strength of your website, your site may need a lot of refinement in order to be perfected for marketing. Your SEO marketing service provider will see to it that your website content is beefed up employing ethical means. To attain this, it’s necessary that there are right words present both in the titles and content of your pages. Either by rewording some of your original content or designing a new content altogether, they will not only try to bring in more traffic to your website and but also make your website better at converting traffic.

Another important thing that goes with SEO services these days is quality one-way linking. Here, your SEO marketing service focuses on getting quality backlinks and not just link exchanges. The application of the latest methods of organic marketing is one important reason why you need a reputable SEO company to work on your SEO needs.

Finally, you can get targeted email marketing campaigns run for your website to improve traffic inflow and customer volume.

Be absolutely sure now that good SEO is an indispensable need to any website design. You don’t want your website to behave like so many other websites that are set up but are never optimized for making traffic and sales, do you? Let a good search engine marketing company do your SEO and see how the magic of SEO marketing brings a difference in your website traffic and sales.

Mark Spenser is associated with Website Design Company based in los angeles providing professional web design & website development services along with iPhone App Development.

by Jamie Fairbairn

Read my top 10 marketing tips for builders below to see how you can promote your business in ways that needn’t cost the earth.

Get a website

With 70% of UK household having internet access in 2009 and that figure being set to rise even further, no builder can afford not to have some sort of online presence.

Even a simple 1 page website with your company name, list of services and contact details can get you more business and won’t cost a lot to set up.

Use a professional email address

If you’ve gone to the trouble of setting up a website it pays to get a professional email address too. Think about how you’d feel as a customer asking for a quote for building work worth thousands of pounds and getting an email back from an address like bigjimmy@hotmail.com

Think about what sets you apart

In marketing speak this is known as your USP or unique selling proposition. If there are other builders in your area doing the same as you, have a think about how you could make your business stand out.

For example you could highlight your great customer service or that you turn quote requests around quicker than any other local builder.

Use your previous customers to market your business

Word of mouth advertising is a great way to help you market your building business. Rather than ignore your previous customers and chase new business yourself why not give them an incentive to refer you to their friends and family? You could offer a free gift or % discount for every referral you receive.

Offer something for free online

Offering something for free can be a great hook to get people to contact your business. For example if you have a website you could offer a free report to download entitled “10 questions to ask a builder” or something else that potential customers may find useful and will help you come across an expert in your field.

Improve your customer service online and offline

Some builders and other trades people have a bit of a reputation for not being great at customer service.

Responding to quote requests and complaints whether they’re via the telephone or your website in a quick and efficient way will improve your reputation and help you stand out from other builders who aren’t so professional.

Choose your method of advertising wisely

When it comes to spending on advertising you need to choose wisely in order to avoid wasting your money. Would you rather pay for a small advert in a local paper that nobody reads or advertise your business online using pay per click advertising where you are in full control over your costs?

Ask for testimonials and put them on your website

Get into the habit of asking all of your customers for testimonials. If you’ve done a good job most of them will be more than happy to do this. Once you’ve gathered these, you need to get them on your website so that potential customers can get a better idea of the quality of your work. It’s no good just saying you’re a quality builder; you need to show some proof.

Create a video

A great way to stand out from the crowd and let your customers get to know you is to create an online video on a useful topic such as “How to spot a cowboy builder”. Video sites such as YouTube are incredibly popular and will drive more visitors to your website.

Get your name out there online

Adding your business details to as many free online directories as possible is a good way to raise your company’s profile. You should also get a free Google Local Business map listing for your building business so that people searching for your services locally will be able to find you more easily online.

Jamie Fairbairn set up his blog Search Blogger in Autumn 2010 to provide small business owners in the UK with a range of free online marketing tips.

by Diane Ferraro

Taking advantage of the Internet as a marketing medium is one of its most powerful uses. Here then, are 5 steps you can start quickly and easily to promote your music.

If you’ve never researched or performed any type of online marketing, don’t worry. It’s really not rocket science. The reality of using the Internet to promote your music (or any product/service) is that you simply have to learn the steps required. Then you have to perform those steps. Over. And Over again. Until finally, you find success.

Depending upon who you speak with, there are myriad approaches to how you can get started marketing online. But you want the basics. Simple, tried and proven tasks that if performed diligently should either produce successful results or at least point out that which you should not be doing.

Following, then, are five of our favorite, easy to do, and relatively fast steps that should have you marking your way up the ladder of success.

Here are five steps to successfully promote your music online:

Determine Exactly Who Your Target Audience Is:
It’s often easy to think that our audience is made up of individuals who are merely reflections of ourselves. In the rarest of occasions this might be true, however, most realities indicate that your audience may be nothing like you. Don’t carry your preconceived notions into your session on determining who you should be targeting your music products towards.

Where Does Your Audience Hang Out? Again, where you hang out and your most desired target audience does are likely to be different places. As you research who you’re hoping to get to listen and buy your music, you’ll naturally come up with a list of the sites they visit, the forums they communicate in and the social media they are taking advantage of. These are the precise places you’ll want to spread your message.

Create an Advertising Budget:
Though it might seem counterintuitive to wait this long to develop a budget, consider all that you know at this point in your game planning. You know who your target audience is, and where they hang out. While you may not be able to afford to place ads in every place they frequent, if you’ve done an adequate job listing out your options, you should easily learn the various rates to spread your message at these destinations. From this point you can get creative with how much you’ll spend in order to get the best ROI.

Develop Interesting & Creative Ads:
Just as important as knowing who your audience is, will be the development of engaging advertisements which have the opportunity to exhibit viral marketing tendencies. Putting the time and effort to make water cooler worthy ads is exactly what is required for success. At the end of the day, if the ads are in the best places possible but are lack luster, you’ve lost momentum and the chance to really connect with your buyers.

Track Your Ad Results:
This might be the most challenging task on the list, but to make it a simple no brainer, just understand you’ll want to know how well your ad placements are doing. Most of the services and websites you contract with should be able to tell you how many times your ad was displayed and the number of clicks it received. If you’re not getting this minimum amount of information, find another place to spend your advertising money. They exist.

Diane Ferraro is a marketing expert, specifically in the music industry. She is now a writer for a cell phone ringtones company. When she is not writing or blogging, she loves to spend time with her twin daughters.