Because many search engines now pay close attention to the links that lead into and off of a web
site, hidden links have become more popular. However, they should not be used under any circum-
stances, because the ultimate result when your hidden links are discovered is that your site will be
penalized by the search engine. And anything that reduces your site ranking or has the potential to
affect the ranking in a negative way should be avoided.Spamming a search engine for any reason is never a good idea. And you can be penalized even for
inadvertently spamming, so take the time to learn what techniques could lead a search engine to
believe that you’re intentionally spamming it. Then, avoid those techniques no matter what might
lead you to believe that spamming a search engine might be a good idea.Considerations for Multi-Lingual Sites
Creating SEO-optimized content for a multi-lingual web site presents a whole new challenge for
SEO. Needing a multi-lingual site is a good problem to have. It usually means that you have cus-
tomers in multiple countries. However, it also means you have to double or triple your SEO efforts.The good news is that optimizing your foreign-language web site is very much the same as optimiz-
ing your English one. You just do it in a different language. Here are some guidelines that should
serve as reminders of what you should plan to do during the SEO process: Translate keywords into the new language.In some cases, you won’t be able to trans-
late your keywords into a matching word in another language. In that case, you’ll need
to choose new keywords.
Translate existing web content.Again, translations can sometimes be squirrelly. Unless
you’re an expert in the language to which you’re translating, hire someone to do it for you.
A bad translation could cost you more in lost traffic than the services of a good translator.
Apply all of the same SEO rulesto your foreign content that you’ve learned for your
English content. Just because the language is different doesn’t mean that the search
engine or the search engine crawler is any different.
Include the proper linksboth to and from your English site to your foreign-language
site, but also include the appropriate links to English on the foreign-language site.
Make language options clearly availableon your web site. If these options are not clearly
marked, your foreign visitors could miss them, and then you’ll lose visitors before they’re
fully engaged in your site.SEO is really no different in any other language than it is in English. The biggest concern when
translating your site to another language is the actual translation. The SEO efforts are essentially
the same, but getting the language wrong could cost you just as much as not having a foreign-
language site at all.188
Part II SEO Strategies
75002c12.qxd:Layout 1 11/7/07 9:41 AM Page 188