English is one of the most spoken languages in the world. It doesn’t have the most native speakers (that’s Mandarin), but many people learn it as a second language because it is so widely used in business. However, despite its popularity, there are many, many more people on the Internet who do NOT speak English and don’t even have a passing understanding of it.
A number of tools are now available to help you make your site more accessible to the people who don’t speak English, and more and more blog owners are adding translation to their sites. If you haven’t already added translation to your blog, here are 4 reasons why you should:
It Lets You Connect with More Customers
The most obvious benefit of adding translation to your blog is that it allows you to connect with more customers. There are millions of people who do not speak English. By allowing them to easily translate your site into their native language, these people may become regular readers and perhaps even customers.
Simply bridging the language gap may be all you need to do to expand your readership and your customer base exponentially.
You Can Appear Higher in Local Search Results
Google has put an increasing emphasis on local results in search listings. You are already at a disadvantage by being located in another country. However, if you provide content in the local native language, you can increase your site’s chances of gaining visibility in local search results.
The higher you appear in search listings — no matter what search engine is used or in what country — the more traffic you will get, which will lead to greater brand exposure and increased sales and conversions.
You Can Avoid Duplicate Content
The Google Panda update slapped down sites that carried duplicate and spun content, and now sites must provide original, high-quality content in order to maintain page rank. Even internal pages should be 100 percent original.
By using a translation tool, you allow users to get the content in their native language without actually having to rewrite it yourself and post duplicate pages. It’s a simple solution that makes Google and your readers happy.
It’s Easy
In addition to all the benefits to your marketing efforts, adding a translation tool is just easy to do. There are many plug-ins and online tools available that you simply have to add to your site in order to make it possible to connect with your customers and reap these benefits. Instead of asking why you should, ask yourself why you wouldn’t.
Adding translation to your blog can open up a whole new world of readers — literally. It’s easy to do, and it could help you expand your brand and grow your site quickly.
Do you have translation on your blog? Tell us how it has helped your site in the comments!
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