SEO for Multiple Languages
When it comes to SEO there’s a lot to think about with multilingual SEO adding yet another layer to an already complex topic. That said, the more traffic you drive to your site, the more chance you have of boosting brand visibility and ultimately, ROI. So, multilingual SEO is an important step to take, particularly for global brands with a multinational audience.
What Exactly is Multilingual SEO?
Multilingual SEO is all about optimising content for different languages for the search engines. With a well-rounded and carefully thought through multilingual SEO strategy, people in different countries will be able to find your website in their native language. Multilingual SEO therefore opens up a much wider audience and provides a multitude of opportunities for growing brands.
For example, English is the third most spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. So, wouldn’t it be good to tap into other audiences too? Here’s how:
Step 1: Understand Your Audience
In order to put together the best SEO strategy, you must understand your audience and acknowledge that search habits can differ from country to country. Use Google Analytics to see where your site visitors are coming from and then adapt your strategy accordingly. For instance, take a look at social media usage and put together an off-site SEO strategy. Research which platforms are most popular and note various audience demographics.
It’s not a simple job of translating your content either. You need to think about products and how they can be used in the country you’re selling to. Perhaps your content needs to be re-worded or re-written even to be culturally appropriate. Writing content that’s irrelevant to an audience will boost bounce rates which can in turn lower SEO rankings.
Step 2: Avoid Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is a big no-no in the world of SEO. So, according to Google’s best practices, you should use dedicated URLs that include a language indicator. The indicator allows search engines and users to identify the language from the URL alone and will help ensure your website is SEO compatible. You can also use hreflang attributes. These are used by Google to help determine both the language of the page and which region it is intended for. Don’t worry, there are translation solutions that can help you avoid adding your own code.
Step 3: Stick to One Language Per Page
Search engines want to deliver content that provides a good user experience to the consumer. Pages that are left quickly or appear confusing will not have high rankings, so think about the structure of your page and include clear headings and subheadings. Don’t be tempted to translate as you go and include a mishmash of languages on one page as this could result in a poor user experience which could lower your overall SEO rankings.
Step 4: Translate Your Meta Data
Translating the body content of your website is all well and good, but you also need to translate your meta data to help you rank better for the new country you’re targeting. Unfortunately, this is not always straightforward. What might be considered a keyword in your language might not be a keyword for your translated site, so you need to conduct fresh keyword research for each country you wish to target. Yes, this is time consuming, but it’s better to get things right from the start to save resources down the line.
Speak to Whitefish Marketing today for all your SEO and multilingual SEO needs.
