Benefits of multilingual SEO explored
Monday, 06, Oct 2008 10:14
English-only websites are "a thing of the past" and brand marketers are embracing the power of multilingual search engine optimisation (SEO), it has been asserted.
Writing on E-consultancy, sector commentator Greig Holbrook states multilingual SEO is about improving the quality and volume of international traffic to websites from culturally-specific search engines.
"Think about it as a simple mathematical problem. Nearly three-quarters of the world does not use the internet in English. Most people prefer to use the internet in their own language and search on their own culturally-appropriate search portals," he adds.
Mr Holbrook notes such portals will not include Google, stating websites which are only available in English and have great rankings on English Google will be "largely invisible" to people using search engines such as Baidu who search in simplified Chinese.
Concluding, he states proactive online marketers will act promptly to strengthen their multilingual credentials while competition in the sector remains low.
In recent days, industry commentator Jakob Nielsen told useit.com that effective online representation is "essential" for firms.