Language Industry Technology and Marketing

Sitting in a somewhat bleak conference room across from a CEO of a respectable Language Service Provider… I get the once-over and the eyebrow raise gesture as he exhales a sound similar to that of someone pondering a calculus problem.

“So you tell me SEO isn’t a money pit?” says the CEO, “You say you can increase my revenue just like that with this SEO thingamabob… and make it rain multi-coloured marshmallows?”

When I realized he was actually being serious (save the marshmallow comment), it hits me, I finally understand the reason why people tend to think of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as a money pit and how wide spread the scepticism about SEO really is.

Ok, the aforementioned situation was fictional but the way I came to the realization that most business owners are sceptical of SEO was a lot less interesting, so bare with me and let me vent my creative writing at your expense.  I’ll get to it from here on in…

SEO is definitely not new but it has taken an increasingly important role in the marketing strategy of companies realizing that there are an exponential number of people on the internet to which their product or service offering would satisfy. What I liked to refer to as the “untapped market”.  Let me break it down in simple English for those who need to know the basics.

When someone uses a search engine (like Google) to perform a search, they expect quality results. Your company is most probably a quality result, or you would at least like it to be. SEO enables your website to be found before your competitors by placing you higher in the result list for a given search, thus making them more apt to click on your website link and providing you with the chance to make your impression on the prospect before your competitor. Easy enough?

Awesome, let’s continue. What? Sounds easy? Yeah, I admit it does. Oh I see, you’ll just get your web designer to do it for you? Here’s the reality…

The chances that the general web designer dude in the next cubical will be knowledgeable enough to provide strategic SEO for your organization are pretty slim. Why you ask? Thankfully, this is my blog and I have some answers. And just for arguments sake, let’s ignore the Supreme Being we’ve all employed at one point in time that can do it all, thanks.

Well, let’s look at it from a translation industry mindset. If I were a translator (I’m very much not) and I could provide French to English translation for the IT sector, I would be supplying services based on my expertise and knowledge.

If I were requested to provide French to English translation for the Finance sector, I may be able to get through it, do a decent job, but sincerely we both know, there will be a difference in terms of quality. A translator specialized in finance may have been able to provide a more accurate translation. We must remember, there are those who serve niche markets and we need them for that reason. They are specialized.

Now, understand that there are dedicated companies that provide SEO services because it’s not simply the ability to understand HTML , .NET, PHP or the likes. It’s the in-depth understanding of how the primary search engines (Primary being, Google, Yahoo and MSN) work individually and together, and what they deem important in your website’s code, content and other variables to be able to provide your site as a quality query result for a search engine user. More so, the tricky part is it has to tie into your overall marketing strategy seamlessly.

So yes, companies will end up paying typically pricey monthly fees (ranging from 1, 000 – 10, 000 dollars / month) to an SEO company because SEO is a specialized service and a niche market. The fees that you pay out are fine so long as you feel you’re getting your money’s worth. Enter the big gray zone of doom.

If you have not set up specific objectives for your SEO efforts, made it known to the SEO gurus you’ve hired and calculated your requirements for conversion (return), then it will be quite difficult to measure or quantify the results of any initiative.

For example, you may be first in Google search results for your desired keywords, but you can hear the crickets chirp in terms of traffic to your site. Worse off, your money is unidirectional – on the way out. What’s the deal?

Unfortunately it happens all too often. These situations typically come to light when there’s a miscommunication or misunderstanding between the customer (that’s you) and your SEO provider.  If your SEO company/consultant is simply agreeing willy-nilly to the search terms or keywords you want to be found under without performing research for you, there’s potentially a problem.

“Real” SEO companies or consultants will invest their time. They will be able to direct you to which key terms (keywords) you should be using to obtain maximum results for a given industry. They will research various elements including your competitors and their strategies among other things. The research often involves SEO-specific tools to verify everything from the number of monthly searches performed in the primary search engines for a specific keyword/key phrase to the trends of keywords over time. Moreover, they will have many more tools at their disposal than you know. They will use them to guide you through the process and ensure that you get results for your desired objectives.

A general timeline to start seeing real movement is approximately 2 months once the strategy has begun to be implemented.

So I suppose I should get down to answering the question at hand… No, SEO should never be a money pit if it has well defined objectives and is carried out correctly. Remember it involves you and your SEO provider to work together so ensure that you have a good trusting relationship.

If you’re concerned your SEO is not working or feel like, you’re… dare I say it… “getting hosed like a bad dog”, let me know. Let’s engage in a dialogue privately or through the comments and I’ll address your concerns objectively and let you know whether you should (or if I should on your behalf) speak to your SEO company /consultant about your SEO efforts.

As FYI – Some convenient free tools for SEO:

www.google.com/analytics | Traffic Summaries and statistics

www.google.com/trends | Search Trends

www.google.com/webmasters | General webmaster tools

Naturally, there are many others also available on the web…

Additionally if you would like to perform a preliminary verification of your site’s SEO, contact me by clicking here to obtain LinguaCounsel’s SEO Checklist.

Welcome to the Language Industry Technology and Marketing Blog.

I found that through my experience in Sales and Marketing roles for leading technology providers in the language industry, I have a very interesting (and knowledgeable) perspective about the available technology that enables the language industry players to propel themselves into the future while effectively and efficiently backing up their talents and professional know-how.

I have also found through the same experience and roles, that many of the Language Services Provider’s are at complete (and I say this kindly) loss, in terms of which technology best suits their immediate and future needs.

Additionally, I’ve found a striking number of phenomenal companies over the past 8-10 years who have the tools, have the talent and know-how but lack the ability to successfully market their expertise to a global audience and in turn increase their revenue exponentially.

With that said, I come to you with honest, potentially harsh, opinions, perspectives and guidance for technology and marketing.

I do very much invite you to write to me, ask questions and give feedback. You’re questions will make this blog, more beneficial and more of a resource than a man, in an industry, simply yapping off at the virtual gums.