Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Tapping into the US Hispanic and Latin America Market with SEO

Tapping into the US Hispanic and Latin America Market with SEO

The Hispanic population in the US is growing at a fast pace and anyone who's anyone in the search marketing world knows that in order to boost business online, it's essential to target this market. In addition to US Latinos, targeting Latin Americans is also a good idea. There are over 500 million people in Latin America and certain online markets there are already booming.

The Hispanic population in the US and Latin America are incredibly diverse culturally and linguistically so it's important to understand what works on a larger scale. Some words can offend people in one country and be flattering in others. The key is to know your market well.

Popular Search Niches in Latin America and the US Hispanic Market

Google has 72% of the search traffic in Latin America so if you are targeting Latin America specifically make sure your SEO tactics are meant for Google. The most popular and lucrative markets for SEO in Latin America are travel, local classifieds, finance, retail, and automotive.

While Latin America and the US Hispanic market trail behind other groups in terms of online population, they are growing fast and a larger percentage of them use search engines. Furthermore, Latin Americans tend to spend more time online than the average person and in the US, 89% of Latinos use the search engines.

Marketing research for the US Hispanic market shows that Hispanic people are turning to the internet to find information and answers to a number of questions they have. Hispanic internet users like personalized, engaging content. When trying to target the Hispanic market in SEO, it's helpful to target certain geographical locations or groups because of the vast cultural differences amongst Hispanics. What works for Mexicans in Virginia probably won't for Puerto Ricans in New York.

User generated content is very popular amongst both US Hispanics and Latin Americans so it's helpful to tap into this market. For example, Yahoo! Answers is a very popular website where Hispanics search for answers to their questions to common questions generated by other users.

Mobile phones are very popular amongst both US Hispanics and Latin Americans. In the US, 61% of the Hispanic population uses mobile phones and there are 250 million mobile phone users in Latin America. More and more Latinos are accessing the web via their mobile phones thus mobile-specific applications and advertisements are a great way to increase leads amongst Latin Americans and US Hispanics. Try to use very general language and keywords if you are targeting a diverse group of Hispanics, avoiding colloquialisms.

With the Hispanic market it is particularly important to tie your offline and online presence together. Companies with a heavy offline presence and ad campaign who tie that to their online presence are typically very successful with Hispanics. Hispanics tend to search for and buy products that they hear about offline.

Keep these tips in mind when planning an SEO campaign targeted at the Hispanic market. Online advertising for the Latino market is expected to grow tremendously in the next few years. Expand your business by targeting this growing niche, with which simple, engaging advertising and dynamic keywords can go a long way.

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