In my last post I began a line of thought concerning website content translation and how it affects search engine marketing (SEM). As it’s becoming more generally recognized, information content is a fundamental requirement that must be addressed to provide search engines with fuel. Search engines see website content the way Winnie the Pooh looks at honey. The attraction is deliciously overwhelming. As search engine technologies improve, it’s likely that content will become even more important to gaining and keeping their attention.

Bilingual SEM is a phrase/category not yet much referred to, though it may catch on. In fact I may just get on this bandwagon. With 1 in 7 Americans considered Hispanic (predicted to grow soon to 1 in 6) many organizations really should take a look at online marketing programs targeting both Spanish and English speaking audiences. Take the business of automobile sales for example. In speaking with dealership managers, their sense is that upwards of 90% of automobile sales are in some way impacted by the internet. At some stage in the buying process, whether early, mid-stream, or late, car buyers go online. Intuitively this rings true, explains why the traditional Sunday newspaper automobile section is becoming smaller, and highlights an area of promotion that automobile dealers can no longer afford to neglect. There are huge disparities in the online marketing presence and effectiveness of automobile dealers. Here even a little attention to online marketing basics can go a long way and result in distinct competitive advantage for dealers.

Lest I stray too far from my original topic, back to blogs. Active blogs represent a fresh stream of content that search engines see and index. My personal observation is that blog entries are often indexed almost immediately (e.g., within an hour of posting). Just a little extra effort in translating blogs into Spanish, can provide a rich stream of Spanish language content to attract the Spanish dominant portion of the US Hispanic market plus if an organization’s reach is international the majority of Latin America. The workflows for managing this translation process can be relatively straightforwward. Whether performed in-house or outsourced, once processes are in place, they can go like clockwork. The obvious benefit is that valued content in the original language is then leveraged to connect with an expanded audience. If you write a blog, consider going bilingual if your customers speak Spanish as well as English. Your search engine prospects are almost guaranteed to improve dramatically.