This is directly interconnected with the previous article where I mentioned the need for many language versions, and why translations are so absolutely crucial for every personal portfolio website, but basically also for most types of other websites in general. This little secret is actually no big thing, but webmasters, especially native English webmasters, tend to greatly underestimate its advantages, and impact on SEO; Its importance is usually completely ignored!

The secret is that most people, and those much wanted stock image buyers, search the internet for images using their own mother tongue! Image buyers don’t prefer English language when they search for images they want to purchase! That's it!

Simply, to assume that image buyers search for images mostly in English is totally WRONG!
It is the most common mistake that English speaking webmasters make. Really, no matter how strange it may be, believe it or not, it is like that! The absolute majority of image buyers don’t use English when they search for images!

Don’t get me wrong. Those image buyers may be very good speakers of the English language, but if they have a choice of using their own native language they do so without any hesitation, and almost always! If your website doesn’t contain that particular language, it won't be indexed by search engines for those targeted keyword(s) or phrase(s), and thus you will lose some of your possible image buyers! All of that just because you were not able to satisfy their need for searches in their mother tongue.

Remember, you need to pick your visitors first because that is absolutely crucial. To pick them, means to attract them, and make them go from the search engine result pages (SERPs) to your personal portfolio website, so that they can become buyers and purchase your images. If you fail here, those people, and your possible buyers will be lost; Probably forever. I hope that is not what you are looking for. Or is it?! Are you looking to lose possible image buyers? Do you want to voluntary donate your image buyers to competing websites? That is exactly what will happen if you fail to have your website translated to as many languages as possible. Basically, you will indirectly send possible image buyers to the websites of your competitors. Just recall in your mind how search engine's result pages (SERPs) look. Have you ever seen any empty spaces there where individual items of search results are enlisted? No. There are always some pages listed in the results. If your pages are not listed there, some other pages are listed there for sure, such as pages from your competitors that are occupying places where your website could be positioned. Is that what you want?

Just imagine some Slovak speaking buyer doing online searches for stock images of "gold bars". If you think he will input "gold bars pictures" or a similar phrase to the search engines, you are wrong. It is more likely that he will use "zlaté tehly obrázky" instead or something similar, which will be basically the same as "gold bars pictures", but written in his mother tongue, Slovak language. If your portfolio website contains stock images of gold bars available for sale, but your website is not translated to the Slovak language, then there is almost zero chances that your website will be listed in the search results for the "zlaté tehly obrázky" Slovak phrase, thus you will lose visitors, and also possible image buyers. But if your website is translated to Slovak, chances of it being listed in search results are much higher, and so are your possibilities of picking up a buyer from the search engine's result pages (SERP).

I already mentioned, image buyer searching for images in his mother tongue may actually be a very good speaker of English, or he could be a “good enough” English speaker that when he lands on your personal portfolio website he will be able to further communicate with you in English. Such as contacting you through a form on your website, discussing details about his purchase, or other things concerning your stock images. But if you lose him in first part of the chain, the crucial moment of catching him from search engine result pages (SERPs) in his mother tongue, no other parts of the chain will follow! That much wanted image buyer you are looking for with your personal portfolio website will be lost from you. Probably forever!