As companies continue to look for ways to make their websites more relevant to users, expect Geolocation to become increasingly popular. Geolocation allows websites to display dynamic content based on a user’s location.
Geolocation on SEOracle
Because I get visitors from other countries, I decided to add links to Google Translate my blog to the visitor’s native language. So, using the free GeoHTML.com GeoMarketing plugin for WordPress, I was able to create HTML snippets on my blog that are visible based on visitor location.
*** Note: While the WordPress plugin makes it easy for WP users, you don’t actually need WP to take advantage of this tool. With a GeoHTML.com account you can simply grab the snippet of code you are given and use it on your website or blog.
I first used Google Analytics to see where most of my visitors from countries where English is not the national language.
So by looking at: Visitors > Map Overlay
I was able to see that I get visitors from India, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden.
With this information, I went to Google Translate to generate a message in several languages (Hindi, German, Dutch, and Swedish) to inform such users that the site was available in their country’s official language, and using the same tool, I was able to generate these versions of my site.
Then, using my free GeoHTML account, I created an ad campaign which would display a message offering visitors from these countries the option of viewing my site in their official languages.
With this set up in the admin, and a couple of easy copy-pastes, I am now able to give visitors the option of viewing my site in other languages, depending on their location (while it’s true that these visitors may very well already know enough English to comprehend everything on my site, it’s possible they know others who may benefit from reading it in another language).
Geolocation has many potential uses
This is of course, only one use of Geolocation. My website is purely informational. Retail website can use this technology to display products relevant to a user’s location (ie. during winter, someone in North Carolina might be in the market for something different than the person from California). Large new organizations can use this to show visitors information relevant to their location.
Implementing Geolocation is amazingly simple
Signup for a free GeoHTML.com GeoMarketing account, take a look at the plugin, or view the video tutorial they provide on YouTube.
Further Reading
