Having dedicated my career to the Hispanic online market, I am proud to be part of the National Dialogue on Improving Federal Websites. The Dialogue launched this week and is a two-week conversation meant to generate ideas for improving how the US Government communicates online. I have volunteered to be a discussion catalyst to help spark ideas on how the government can better serve Spanish preferring Hispanics and global audiences with limited English proficiency through the Internet.

What can you do to help?

1. Join the online conversation, submit ideas and vote on ideas that you think are worthwhile
2. Participate in a real-time discussion on the topic this Monday, September 26th at 1PM EST
3. Spread the word to your networks! You can use this link http://bit.ly/r764OI and if you use Twitter, the hash tag is #dotgov.

I look forward to your ideas and appreciate your help in making US Government websites better for US Hispanics.

Recognizing the importance of the Hispanic population in the United States, the FBI engaged Captura Group to develop and implement a Hispanic online strategy to achieve the following key objectives:

• Build awareness and trust for the FBI among US Hispanics
• Educate online Hispanics on how and when to contact the FBI
• Produce and distribute resources to educate Hispanics on common fraud and crimes

Hispanic Online Solution

To most efficiently achieve the objectives of the campaign, Captura Group worked with the FBI to develop a Hispanic online strategy that consisted of two main elements:

1. FBI Spanish Website: A Spanish language experience was created on FBI.gov by leveraging existing technology.

The landing page includes the following components:

Home page outlining the FBI’s mission, high level information about contacting the FBI and recent blog posts

Contact the FBI page that contains detailed instructions for contacting the FBI
Spanish language blog we used existing FBI content to develop a weekly

Spanish-language articles featuring tips on how to avoid common fraud and crimes

2. Hispanic Digital PR: We leveraged our Contenido Latino Hispanic content syndication platform to place Spanish-language FBI articles on leading Hispanics websites.

FBI Spanish-language article on Univision.com

Results

The FBI’s Hispanic online strategy was launched on January 20, 2011 and has proven to be extremely successful in achieving the objectives set forth above. To date, the Hispanic online strategy has driven the following results:

• 150,000 page views on the FBI’s Spanish website
• 24 Spanish language articles developed and published
• Over 200 placements of Spanish-language FBI articles on leading Hispanic websites including Univision.com, MSN Latino, AOL Latino, Terra.com and many others.

Although some may find this post a bit self-serving, I feel that this story is reflective of the massive influence Hispanics are having on the United States. Indulge me while I tell you about the evolution of our company from a Hispanic digital agency to an agency that now executes both Hispanic and general market work.

A passion for Hispanic culture and the Internet was the catalyst for founding Captura Group in 2001. When we started, the Hispanic online market barely existed. Today, Hispanics account for 14% of the US online market and are leading the way in their usage of social media and mobile technology. Our company grew up with the Hispanic online market and we have had the privilege of helping great companies, government entities, and non-profits reach this growing and vibrant segment.

A couple of years ago, we had the opportunity to present a Hispanic social media strategy for one of our clients, GobiernoUSA.gov. Our presentation caught the attention of the higher ups at GSA (the government agency that manages GobiernoUSA.gov) and we were asked if we could also support the English language social media for USA.gov. In a world where general market initiatives have tended to shape Hispanic initiatives rather than vice versa, this request was quite refreshing and rewarding.

We said yes, and just like JLo, we crossed over. Since then, our Hispanic business has flourished and we have also been able to diversity the company and provide “general market” services as well. Captura Group continues to be a leading Hispanic online marketing agency, and we now execute world class “general market” digital services under the brand Measured Voice.

There has been significant debate on this blog and within our industry about the future of Hispanic agencies. From where I sit the future is bright. Thanks to the Hispanic market, Captura Group was in a position to cross over and become stronger. As US Hispanics have become even more important, the same is the case for Hispanic agencies as our work gets more visibility among key decision makers.

Hispanic marketers not only work with the nation’s largest minority, they also offer a unique set of tools that are becoming essential in today’s marketplace. Hispanic agencies understand how to communicate in multiple languages, across different levels of acculturation and to a group of people from varied countries of origin.

In essence, we understand how to market in today’s America.

Just like JLo does.

Last week, GobiernoUSA.gov, the official portal of the US Government in Spanish, unveiled a new site design with new and improved features. The new design is based on user testing, usability best practices, and feedback gathered from a public dialog called “Your Voice Matters”. The redesigned GobiernoUSA.gov makes an already valuable resource for the Hispanic online community even better.

What’s new

Look & Feel – The new design is strikingly simple. Online Hispanics can now navigate a wealth of official Spanish language government information through an intuitive and elegant interface designed to help visitors find the information they need most.

Enhanced Search – Users can search for official Spanish language government information with GobiernoUSA.gov’s new search engine that is up to 9 times faster the previous version. The 5 most popular daily search terms are displayed on the GobiernoUSA.gov home page.

Original Timely Content – Up-to-date content is now front and center, with clear home page links to timely government resources on most sought after information and GobiernoUSA.gov’s original Spanish-language articles. It’s now easier for Spanish speakers to find GobiernoUSA.gov’s plain-language easy-to-understand stories on timely and relevant topics such as the features of the new green card, what to expect from an airport security screening, or summer safety tips.

Useful Tools – The new “Útil y rápido” (Useful and quick) section of the site gathers links of the government’s most compelling and useful Spanish language tools on one easy to navigate page. Visitors are one click away from checking their social security balance, calculating credit card debt, and evaluating their health.

Social Media Channels – Spanish preferring users can now easily engage with GobiernoUSA.gov through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, RSS and a widget all accessible from the “Connect with Government” bar on the bottom of each page.

What’s to come

Continuous User Testing – While this is a huge leap forward, GobiernoUSA.gov is now poised to keep getting better. By emphasizing search and making it easier for users to find what they are looking for, GobiernoUSA.gov is gathering data that will enable it to provide better services to the Hispanic community in the future.

Challenges, Dialogs, Contests – Just as user dialogs played a huge part in this redesign, GobiernoUSA.gov will continue to collaborate with the Hispanic community through challenges, dialogs, and contests to guide future improvements and services.

Mobile Apps – GobiernoUSA.gov’s English language sister site, USA.gov, has received a lot of attention for its mobile app store, highlighting mobile friendly services from different government agencies and programs. There are currently very few government mobile apps in Spanish, but we expect that to change soon, especially given the recent Pew report demonstrating that Hispanics are significantly more likely to access the Internet from mobile phones.

An extremely valuable resource for the Hispanic community

If you’re not already familiar with GobiernoUSA.gov, now is a great time to check it out. The GobiernoUSA.gov team is dedicated to connecting with the Hispanic community through a strong cultural perspective. We’re convinced that there is no better resource for Spanish preferring Hispanics seeking to interact with the government.