ComScore has released their round up of the top search properties for October and it comes as no surprise that Google is topping the list once again.
What the big surprise is, however, is how much more people are using search to get at the things they are looking for.
Here are the facts: in September, Americans conducted 9.4 billion searches. In October, that number increased to 10.5 billion searches. That is 1.1 billion searches more — and those are just in the USA.
So what does this mean?
What does Google, Wikipedia and Cisco have in common? Other than being highly recognisable brands, they all have websites that speak in many tongues. In fact, these sites offer content in over 35 languages.
As the French would say, “Incroyable!!!”.
How can you determine what language strategy you should follow for your website?
For new websites, you need to be sure who you are trying to do business with. If you are only interested in doing business within your neighbourhood — or expanded neighbourhood, then employing a single-language strategy can make sense. But when you want to sell your goods to folks in other countries, you need to make selections based on different criteria that makes sense from a business point of view.
One of my colleagues had an interesting story for us today.
Six years ago, a grand old house somewhere in Germany, was being restored. That house, as it turned out, used to belong to her grandparents.
Six years ago, a woman went browsing through an antiques store and came across an interesting leather portfolio, containing souveniers, many photos and a wedding contract. She thought it was interesting, and was surprised to have found it, such interesting pieces of some strangers lives.
Even though the leather pouch was lovely, our buyer didn’t really have a need for it and placed it out of sight, out of mind, somewhere in her house.