Can Translating Your Website Increase Your Business?

If you have a global business, you probably already have an online presence by means of a website, a social networking profile, or something similar. Now, the Internet has users from all over the globe, and if you have noticed it on your website statistics, you know that many of these customers belong to countries that do not have English as their first language. Therefore, if your product or service can benefit these customers, you might want to consider presenting it to them in their native language.

For example, a content-based website or a website that drives all of its revenue through advertisements and affiliate links should definitely be available in a number of languages. After all, “5 cool things you can do with your iPhone” would be just as interesting for an English-speaking individual as it would be to a Frenchman who doesn't speak English. In fact, not having such websites translated would be a bad strategic move on the part of their owners.

Websites such as online retail stores; websites providing reviews of movies, restaurants, and hotels; and online tutorial-based websites can greatly benefit... Read Full Article»

There’s no sense having a Web site if no one can find it, and for most business owners looking for new prospects, that means making sure your site ranks well in the search engines. On Google’s first page of results for your keywords, preferably in one of the top three positions.

The secret to ranking well boils down to one simple equation: tight on-page search engine optimization plus backlinks equals ranking well. I’ve talked about on-site and on-page SEO before, but I haven’t talked much about backlinks — what they are, how they work and why they’re important. That’s the focus of this column.

In my Sept. 26 column, “Relevance, reputation key to pleasing Google,” I explained what Google and other search engines look for.

One of the ways Google determines that your site is “relevant and reputable” is by your link popularity: In-bound links to your Web site, or backlinks. The more backlinks you have, the better, especially if they link to you as an authority and are considered “relevant and reputable” themselves. Read Full Article »»

CNN President "Really Afraid Of" Social Networks
By Doug Caverly - WebPro News

Over the years, there have been more than a few arguments about whether online news sites are killing newspapers. Now, due to some almost startling comments made by the president of CNN, it looks like the next round of old media-new media disputes might concern social networks and cable news organizations.

According to the AFP, Jonathan Klein's remarks on this subject were in no way ambiguous. He said at Bloomberg BusinessWeek's 2010 Media Summit New York, "The competition I'm really afraid of are social networking sites. That's an alternative that threatens to pull people away from us."

Klein then explained, "The people you're friends with on Facebook or the people you follow on Twitter are trusted sources of information. . . . Well, we want to be the most trusted name in news. We don't want the 1,000 people you follow in Twitter. . . Read Full Article »»