So what's up with music on the internet, anyway? Too much of nothing at all! Most find the ubiquitous soundtracks on Myspace pages to be a nuisance, and major labels are going out of their way to keep the good stuff off the web entirely. But this is a problem of design and deployment. Sound and music can be the perfect accompaniment for your message. To get a better handle on this, lets look at music and the internet separately. Music is generally used in a few familiar ways. Broadly, music is a form of entertainment that triggers an emotional response in most people. Beyond the purely entertainment-oriented original music of pop stars, we're accustomed to hearing music on the radio, in TV shows and movies, as well as in the commercials and trailers that accompany them. These songs and melodies are selected from libraries of commercial or ?needle-drop? tracks, or composed as custom original tracks, exclusive to a particular product or message. Most custom music is found in branded settings, while needle-drop is commonly used where a generic underscore or soundtrack is acceptable.While the internet and www easily handle sound or video, it's primarily a text-based medium. Our reading there is non-linear: we don't just skip from site to site via links, we fluidly move between windows and applications as well. We frequently bounce over to Word or a Calendar program, cutting/pasting/dropping links into paper documents and emails as we jump around. We lean back to watch TV in our living rooms, but lean-in to our web browsers. So surfing the web has more in common with reading a magazine or newspaper than watching TV.Sound is a powerful, effective way to deliver messages passively, but the internet is an active medium. The majority of broadband web-users have high speed connections at work, but not at home. As a result, unexpected sounds are more of an irritant than attraction. Conversely, subtle roll-over effects, soft background sounds and effects that relate to things the user sees or does on your site entice users to pump up the volume. Emotional connections are key to making a point or selling a product, and music is one of the best tools to make connections. We aim to keep them tuned in, with the sound turned on, so they can receive your transmissions.
Here are some rules to get us there...
Location, Location, Location!
So what makes music work (or not!) on a website? Location, location, location! The user's environment and the music's location within the site define whether the music is heard at all. Stick a generic music loop on your opening page, and you virtually guarantee that no one browsing at work will hear your soundtrack at all. Those who haven't already hit the mute button, will do so once your music begins to play unbidden and unexpectedly. On the other hand, music serving as accompaniment for a Flash display piece, will always be heard because it's appropriately tied to a message that user clicked-to-get. A good rule of thumb is to tie music to actions, and avoid ?push? sound like the plague.
Branded Sound is More Effective... and More Useful
Everyone knows the NBC chimes by heart, and most of us can identify popular jingles in 3 notes or less. That's what makes a jingle aesthetically good or bad! But from a functional perspective, flexibility and uniqueness matter. NPR's familiar theme song for All Things Considered has been around for over 30 years, and yet it remains fresh because the sound designers vary instrumentation, beats and delivery. Same old song, delivered differently each day! Custom, branded sound is exclusive to the entity commissioning the composition, so it can function as a logo on the web.
Get Out of the Loop!
The only thing more annoying than a loud, unexpected blast of bad music is an endlessly repeating loop of loud, bad music. Heck, even GOOD music gets old after a few laps around the track! Any sound deployed on the web must be level-balanced against the sounds and music users actually want to hear; in other words, any un-bidden sound louder than songs in their MP3 library is bad sound. Loop that bad sound (with or without the hitch in the beat from selecting the wrong loop-point) and you've guaranteed your visitors will hit the mute.
Where There's Motion, There's Sound
In the real world, things that move make noise. The same is true in cartoons and conventional animation. Everyone knows that music is a good emotional trigger, but it's also a most sophisticated framework or grid to tie motion elements into. Animators and designers frequently select music that fits the mood and attitude of the message, then key events and motion to the beat. If things are moving, music is almost always appropriate.
Don't Mix Metaphors: The Web is NOT TV
Music is ubiquitous on TV and the radio, in programs as well as commercials. Music on the web is an application and as such it's rare. Flash sites and animation live somewhere between these worlds however. With that in mind, a safe assumption would be that wherever there is motion, sound (and often music) can enhance it. Music fits when you have lots of visual action, or animated characters, because such pieces aim to be passively viewed, and emotionally engaging. Music is less useful when you're asking the visitor to read or interact (roll-over sounds are ideal cues for navigation and enticing voice-overs can nudge a visitor back to a previously opened page however).
Translating Your Web Site
Much time, effort and money goes into web site localization. A professional web site localization project can involve:
* Finding good translators (or a good agency) * Choosing the correct target language 'flavors' for your target markets (e.g. European Spanish, Latin American Spanish etc.) * Protection of HTML and other code * Localization of graphics * Text extraction from program-driven areas of the site * Change detection for frequently changing web sites * On going localization of changed pages (without retranslation of the whole page)
Simply translating the site, regardless of how professionally this is done, does not guarantee that your site will be seen by the global audience you expect.
In the same way that search engines should be at the forefront of everything you do on the English site, this same ethos must be used on the translated versions of your site.
Ideally, the planning for global search marketing should start before the site is first localized, but if not it is important to know what steps can be taken to rectify the situation.
This article describes the process of bringing visitors to your multilingual web site. Typical Multilingual Search Engine Optimization
Most Global organizations have a search-engine-optimized web site that they then localize, ignoring the optimization of the localized sites.
Most webmasters are not employed for their linguistic skill and therefore the localization of the site is a painful and intimidating process. Following this process, entering the further unknown area of search engine optimization or multilingual pay per click management is ignored or actively avoided.
There are two common misconceptions around web site marketing for multilingual web sites:
1. Optimize the English site then translate it well and it will be optimized in-language.
Multilingual search engine optimization is often ignored because of the belief that if the English site is optimized for search engines, the language sites will be too. This is not the case.
2. For PPC, simply translate the ad copy and keywords.
Imagine a set of English keywords for a site selling a glass replacement service for cars. The marketing specialist or PPC executive would use their knowledge of the industry and the language to expand out a set of keywords that a user might type in to a search engine. They might come up with terms such as 'vehicle glass replacement', 'car windscreen fixing', 'windshield repair' etc. For this simple service there are a multitude of ways of describing the window, the vehicle and the replacement service that spawn a large number of keyword combinations. A good translator would take each one and translate to the most common, most sensible alternative in their language. Unfortunately, this will lead to a reduction in keywords. Windscreen and windshield may translate to the same common term in French. Replacement and repair may translate to the common term used in French for glass replacement. This is not what is required.
If a site is simply translated with no regard for in country search engines, it will support an English language searcher arriving at the site and then switching to their desired language. However, it will not readily support a user finding your site in their language.
It is these new customers finding your site on foreign search engines that will bring the most incremental business from the localized site. How to Localize a Site and Remain Search Engine Friendly
Fortunately, there are some simple steps that can be taken to ensure the site remains searchable in language. However, similar to your English site, in order to maximize the return on investment from the localized sites, outside help may be required. Simple steps
1. Find a quality localization company.
Ensure you ask for examples of web sites that they have localized before and have your in country people (if you have them) validate the translations on the reference sites.
2. Get your page-by-page keyword glossary translated and approved FIRST.
Much effort went into the generation of keywords for each page of the English site. Your English pages are rich with these keywords. Put the same effort into the translation of these keywords. This should be done first, before any localization of the pages begins. These translations should be approved by your in-country marketing representatives if you have them, or be double-checked by your translation company (using specialist marketing translators) if not.
3. Ensure the site is professionally localized.
The site must be well formed (no broken HTML or other code), be translated well, and must not contain broken links (links to pages that have not been migrated to the language site and therefore throw an error). Quality localization requires a quality localization company using specialist tools to protect page code, and to check it once the localization is complete.
4. When translating the web site, use the keyword glossary ELECTRONICALLY.
Do not leave it to chance. Your translation company should be using the translated keyword lists in electronic glossaries so the translators are automatically prompted with the approved language version of the keyword whenever they are translating an English equivalent.
Following these steps will ensure that the site gets the basics right and can be effectively indexed on the correct keywords by the engines. However, to ensure you are getting the correct prominence on the search engines, you need to read on. Advanced Multilingual Search Marketing
If you want to perform in your foreign markets, and fully capitalize on you localization investment, you need to consider the following:
1. Domain
Geolocating your site in Google's eyes involves more than changing the language. Changing the language does not guarantee that your site will appear in local searches. You should consider the domain. Some companies build a .com website, with folders or sub domains for several languages (IBM) whereas others build local versions of the site using the top level domain of each country (Nokia). The first option can be cheaper and easier to implement because it means that you can use one content management system for all content on one server. However the top level domain gives Google additional information that will provide weight in the search results.
2. IP Address
Google maps the IP address to the country and when looking for relevance in search results, will score locally hosted domains higher than non-locally hosted. In other words, it is better to host the French version of your site in France. This can be awkward and expensive, so you need to consider whether you are able to beat your competition without this. It is not the only factor that Google considers so do not think that this is essential.
3. Webmaster Tools
It is now also possible to select the geographic location using Google's Webmaster Tools. But for now only full sites can be geolocated, not individual folders, although that is promised for the near future.
4. Links
In the same way as you have build vast numbers of links to your English site, the language version is a rich and often untapped source of links. Local links from local domains in the local language are important. You may need outside help for this, and again, the question is what you need to do to beat your competition. As with English SEO, links are a major part of success.
5. Engine-Specific Optimization
This involves the identification of important engines by country for your target market. Google is not necessarily the dominant player in all countries. In China, for example, at the time of writing, you won't find Google in the top ten sites. An engine called Baidu is by far the most used site. In order to identify, and then optimize and monitor for these engines you will require support from external specialists.
6. Pay Per Click (PPC) in each locale
PPC is the fastest method to achieving search engine prominence in any country. Professional multilingual PPC allows you to quickly succeed in a foreign market, but is also a fantastic keyword targeting method so you can discover the most powerful keywords in your target language. Running a PPC campaign may also not require the full localization of the web site which can be an expensive exercise. It is often effective to localize only a landing page. However, ensure your landing pages are culturally optimized because they are critical to gather conversions.
Conclusion
We hope this article has shown that there are some basic steps that can be taken during the localization process that will start the search engine optimization process on the right track. These basic steps will fall easily into place if your localization company know the details of search engine optimization. Make sure you test them out.
Both Grant Cambridge & David Mcevoy are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Grant Cambridge has sinced written about articles on various topics from Keyboard Synthesizer, The Internet. Great pictures need great sound. makes Internet, Multimedia and Interactive applications bigger, better and more powerful with custom audi. Grant Cambridge's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.
David Mcevoy has sinced written about articles on various topics from Depression Cure, Aquarium Fish and Fitness. Dave McEvoy writes for Search Laboratory who are Adword experts with years of experience in Multilingual . For more information please come and visit. David Mcevoy's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.