Adding content in different languages

[nicolebd]

I have a site which offers free printable greeting cards in English. I have noticed that many people find the site from other countries with keywords in foreign languages. The bounce rate from these countries is high since presumably they leave when they realize that all cards are in English only. I was thinking of providing some greeting cards in different languages. I was thinking of offering each language in a subfolder which is only have the cards in that language but the content will either be in English or an automatic translation per IP. I do not plan to translate the content into different languages only the cards. What is the best way to do this?

[RyanKent]

I was thinking of offering each language in a subfolder which is only have the cards in that language but the content will either be in English or an automatic translation per IP. I do not plan to translate the content into different languages only the cards.

Based on your wishes, the proper method would be simply to add a translate widget to your web page. You would NOT want to add additional folders for content which is translated by any form of automatic translator as that violates Google's guidelines.

If you wish to have a human translate the content, then you are welcome to add language folders. The content would then be viewed as unique by Google and shared in their search results. If you attempt to display automatic translate in the same manner, you would likely incur a Google penalty.

[nicolebd]

Thanks for your reply.

I realize that I didn't explain my question clearly. In the language folders I won't have any text but only images. Each image contains text (birthday wishes) in the language of that folder which is why I can't use the regular images. My goal is to get traffic for these languages via Google images only. The only translation that I plan to do is for the alt tags and page title. There will be no other text besides a link to the other languages.

Does that make a difference at all or anything I should be aware of regarding seo for google images in different countries?

[RyanKent]

Hi Nicole,

Your situation adds an interesting twist. First let me share I do not have personal experience with this particular situation where the images contain translated text and the only text which is being auto-translated is the alt tags and page title. If anyone else has experience with a similar situation please jump in!

If I am understanding you correctly, the main site might be NicolesGreetingCards.com, and you may offer a Spanish folder such as NicolesGreetingCards.com/es for your Spanish cards.

On the main site you would have a "Merry Christmas" greeting card, where your /es folder would have a "Feliz Navidad" greeting card. Assuming my understanding is correct I would share the following feedback:

• Google focuses on country-specific content rather moreso then language specific. Spanish in Mexico (/mx) is not the same as Spanish in Spain (/es). The same is true for English as US English is not the same as UK English. I would recommend offering a folder for each country rather then each language.

• Your country folders should not only adjust for language but for all local factors. For example currency, measurement systems, laws, customs, etc.

• My inexperienced guess is since you are performing very little translating it would be safe to use the automatic translations, but I would recommend using Mechanical Turk or a similar outsource worker approach for translations. It is exceptionally cheap and easy to use.

• It seems you really should have some actual text as content. Whatever images you offer should ideally be searchable. Some types of cards I have seen are "Happy Birthday", "Happy Birthday from Son", "Happy Birthday from Wife", "Happy Birthday from Father", etc. The addition of those categories or minimal amount of text would help users locate the cards they seek. This text would require translation as well.

• Be sure to use the language meta tags for translated content. Google should mostly pick up that /es is for Spain, but you want to provide all the proper signals to be certain they handle your content properly.

Good luck!