Content Translations for Multilingual Optimization
September 30, 2022
Optimizing your online presence for international SEO does require creating information for different countries and different regions as well as content translations in many different languages. The good news is that Google, which is America’s dominate search engine with a 92.47 percent market share, is also one of the biggest internet companies worldwide.
You can even instruct Google, Bing, and other search engines as to which countries you want to target in order to help the search engines serve the most suitable version of your web pages for your target audiences.
With numerous companies and organizations entering international markets, it is crucial that you identify where your audience is located and the language(s) those users prefer. Although it may take a little extra effort on your part, correctly optimizing your content for SEO is key for delivering messaging in multiple languages, correctly.
Targeting Methods for International SEO
If you are new to creating brand awareness in different regions of the world, your initial research should involve identifying the countries you plan to target (country targeting) and the languages (language targeting) that will be used to reach your intended audiences. For example, you may only be looking to target a specific language in a multilingual market. Or, you may choose to use a standard language (like Spanish) that has not been personalized to reach a wider group of Spanish speakers. Once geotargeting decisions are finalized, you can address creating and maintaining a successful multilingual presence.
Associating a country with a language, such as France with French, may be a practical language assumption. However, other countries like Belgium, which has three official languages Flemish, French, and German (with English speakers too), may require a more focused language strategy with versions for each specific region.
A successful multilingual strategy involves combining the geo-data collected from country targeting and the language data from language targeting to develop a content strategy that will help you reach international markets effectively. Whether delivered through your website, paid inclusion, or social media platform, creating well-translated versions of the information you plan to deliver online is necessary to ensure your brand correctly aligns with the user’s expectations. In addition, the proper website structure makes it easier for search engines to serve webpages once they are professionally translated for a target language.
Factors That Affect Multilingual Online Search
Due to different laws and regulations, currencies, market nuances, and cultural uniqueness, there are several important factors that affect multilingual online search results and your ability to maximize the potential of your messaging. Listed below are topics of discussion for troubleshooting and optimizing international SEO:
Domain URL – You have several options when it comes to the URL structure that will work best for targeting your audiences, such as a Country Code top level domain (TLD), General TLD with language parameters, or a subdomain or subdirectory of your existing website.
Content Translation – One of the biggest mistakes is to cut corners on content translation. Never use machine translations. These are often highly inaccurate and easily recognized when dealing with regional variances. The goal is to ensure the best user experience to drive the most organic traffic.
Language Tags – Hreflang tags are used by Google’s search engine and meta tags are used by Bing’s search engine to differentiate webpages of similar meaning in different languages. These HTML attributes specify the country and language targeted to avoid duplicate content penalties (e.g. - en-us vs. en-uk to uniquely deliver versions of English content).
Mobile Responsiveness – According to Statista, mobile search will account for half of the worldwide web traffic in 2022, so optimization is essential for those looking to communicate and do business internationally. Although the Internet seems to just be everywhere, you may need to upgrade your origin server to speed up mobile content delivery elsewhere.
Properly done, an international SEO strategy will correctly deliver your content and messaging to target audiences in the language(s) specified via your optimization efforts. By considering local customs, languages, and context ahead of time, you also can boost user engagement and improve your site’s search engine results to maximize your multilingual impact.
ProLingo Content Translation and Interpretation Services
If your organization is large enough to consider the need for international SEO, you likely already have an idea about the locations and languages that you plan to target. Nonetheless, for a seamless delivery of your online content, it will require a good amount of planning for both setup and specific language targeting. One thing that is crystal clear, each language version of you website or social media platform needs to feature high-quality localized content.
In today’s global environment, the capacity for multilingual communication has become essential. By adapting for cultural peculiarities, you will ensure your international audience will perceive the information as naturally an English speaking user. Where there are some countries that may require only a single tongue, others may have dozens of languages or regional dialects that are routinely used to conduct business. Here at ProLingo, we take the time to fully understand your needs for content translation and/or real-time interpretation services.
