Which Multilingual Solution is the Best Fit for Your Web Site?

This week, we want to show you which of the multilingual options we've covered is best suited for your Web site. Remember - no two sites are created equal, so you need to choose carefully to get the maximum return on your multilingual investment.

1. For small Web sites that contain 30 pages or less, your best bet is to have a native speaker translate one page of copy. Remember, you can squeeze a lot of pertinent information on that one page, and you don't have to worry about using all your keywords. It's best to have the basic information about your products and services, translated into the one language that suits your unique customer base. You can even deploy a PPC campaign in your chosen language to gain more exposure.
2. For medium sized sites of 30 to 100 pages, we suggest the sub-domain multilingual solution

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Best Techniques for Applying Multilingual Properties to Your Web Site

For the past two weeks, CMS Buffet, the Toronto SEO company has been sharing best practices for taking your Web site multilingual. Our first article (Take Your Web Site Multilingual) covered how you will see a greater return on your online investment by making your site available to consumers in more than one language. Our second article (Best Multilingual Solutions for Your Web Site) offered the best available solutions for successfully translating your site. Now, we move on the most successful techniques we've found for seamlessly applying multilingual properties to your site without sacrificing your competitive search engine rankings.

1. Google Translate: We've been championing this option as the easiest and most efficient way to deploy one or more additional languages to your site.
   
2. Translate one page on your site, a summary of your products/services into an alternate language
   
3. Create a sub-domain that focuses on your second/third/alternate language
   
4. An entirely separate domain for your site in an alternate language
   
5. Session-based switching between two or more languages
   

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Find the Best Available Multilingual Solutions for Your Web Site

Last week, we talked about the benefits of translating your Web site into multiple languages, particularly those that are spoken by many of your customers. This week, we are discussing the best available options for translating your site from English. You want to ensure your translated text is cogent and readable in the languages you choose; the last thing you need is your multilingual clients reading page after page of gibberish!
Following are some of the best options we've found:

1. Using Google Translate
   Google Translate is a handy add-on for any site because it creates a drop-down menu that allows visitors to select an alternate language into which each page is automatically translated.
2. Translating only one "important" page of your site (i.e. Services)
   The one page on your site that contains the most valuable information is translated into another language. You can accomplish this by having a native speaker translate the text. Keep in mind that your CMS platform must support Unicode for this option.
3. Multilingual options are mandatory
   Here in Canada, federal, provincial and local government Web sites must provide access to users in French and additional languages. The alternate languages must be accurate translations to accommodate a wide variety of users.
4. The site owner is fluent in more than one language
   When the site/business owner is comfortable speaking to his or her clientele in more than one language, it makes sense to translate the site into those languages. The site owner can choose to translate one page, a selection of pages or the entire site.
5. When you want to attract a specific clientele
   Many online businesses need to focus on attracting a certain clientele for their products and services. Some examples would be restaurants specializing in ethnic foods, real estate agents/lawyers who may cater to immigrant clients, hotels in tourist destinations like Cuba or Mexico looking to entice Canadian customers.

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