Tuesday, March 26, 2013

How to Reach International Readers

I found a way to reach international readers, no matter what language they speak.  This month's top ten countries outside of the United States are Germany, Sweden, France, Poland, United Kingdom, Russia, China, Ukraine, Spain and Mexico.  There are two reasons why my overseas visitors now account for 30% of my audience.  Just follow these suggestions to expand your international reach:
  1. Say it with pictures.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  It doesn't matter what language your readers speak.  If you have a quality picture at the top of your story, it will attract viewers from all over the world.
  2. Add a Google Translate widget.  I like the one I use because it shows flags for the individual countries and this tool makes it easy for international readers to connect.  You don't have to be a rocket scientist to install a widget.  Just follow the step-by-step instructions and your international readers will be able to read your stories in their native tongue.  Click here for help.
The one problem I identified with my new audience is that my international readers have no way to share feedback and add to the conversation.  There appears to be a solution:  install Google Translate to your comments section so your readers can comment in their own language.  I will be working on this for my blogs as soon as I have some free time.  I use Disqus to track my comments and it helps me keep in touch with my readers.  If you also use Disqus and want to install Google Translate to your comments section, here is the link.  Click here.

Please share what you are doing to reach out to international readers in the comments section below.  And if you happen to be reading this blog message in your own language, please come back soon and send me a message when I have Google Translate installed in the comments section.  I can't wait to hear from you.

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