Google Translate has introduced a new widget that can be placed on websites to let visitors translate text content into a language of their choice (assuming it’s one of the 30-odd available). While it might seem like a very convenient and easy way to get your pages translated, let’s take a moment to discuss why this isn’t a viable solution to your international SEO needs.

First off, the translation is done by machine. True, Google has added humans to their translation services as you may have heard, but it’s really a network of volunteer and professional translators available to translate documents upon request (it’s a take it or leave it offer system). The new widget relies on computers to do the work (as do big G’s other translation tools).

Machine translation has improved in recent years (but not always), but it’s still no match for what a human can do with language. There are many linguists working not only at Google but at other facilities around the world to improve the programming and abilities of the computers to translate, but human language is a complex and far from completely understood ability. Word for word translations of content are pretty readable with today’s technology, but they’re still not natural sounding text and will occasionally leave words or phrases untranslated.

The other problem with the widget is that, well, it’s a widget, and a widget does not equal SEO. Simply giving website visitors the ability to translate your page into a language of their choice is not doing anything to increase your visibility in foreign search engines or a good long-term strategy. It also does not show that you’re really in their market and able to meet their needs.

Your customers and industrial partners abroad will need your international websites to be sites designed for their regions and markets, with content produced by humans that encourages them to stay on your site and contact your company. You’ll also need all the traditional SEO techniques that create search engine visibility and long-term website success. Although fun and a bit exciting, Google’s translate widget is not what your professional site needs.

But that’s not to knock it completely. What Google is trying to do, by offering translation tools and access to human translators (if you’re going to use one, by the way, be sure to check out their background to see if they’re really the right translator for your content), is to open up all the information on the web to as many people as possible. Most of the content online is published only in one language, usually the native language of whoever created it. That leaves billions of other users unable to access that because they don’t know the language. With this widget, Google is at least giving website owners a way to make their information a little more accessible to others around the world. You may very well find that for your site, such a widget could have a purpose in the short term.

The widget is not a recipe for long term SEO success, but it is a nice sign that Google is still working very hard to bring information to users, no matter the original language.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 4:22 pm and is filed under International SEO, Website Content, translation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.