Multilingual SEO: Reasons why you need a multilingual SEO strategy

Think about it: when you want to search for something online, in which language do you type it? “In my native language” is what most of you probably replied. If your business targets countries that speak different languages, it’s impossible to reach all of them if your website isn’t optimized for them. Multilingual SEO allows your business to get your international audience and acquire new customers all over the world.

September 6, 2024

September 6, 2024

The Challenge of Multilingual SEO

Expanding your brand into new regions might seem easy, but it takes more than just copy-pasting translated content. To effectively communicate your content, you have to recontextualize and adapt it to different cultures, so translation tools alone aren’t enough. What your business needs is a strong multilingual SEO strategy. In this guide, I will explain what multilingual SEO is, who it benefits, and how, and finally how to properly do it if you want your business to reach global success.

What Is Multilingual SEO?

Multilingual SEO is the practice of converting your website content into multiple languages. Notice how it’s ‘converting’ rather than just ‘translating’? That’s because, while anyone can translate content, a Multilingual SEO Expert’s job goes way beyond this. Their strategy consists of optimizing your website content for multiple languages to ensure that each version is fully adapted to the search habits, cultural differences, and preferences of your target audience in that region so that it can be accessible to anyone using organic search.

What Are the Benefits of Multilingual SEO?

Why waste time, resources, and energy crafting great content if only a few people will be able to consume it? That’s what happens if you only optimize your content for local SEO; you miss out on a large portion of viewers that are your international audience. By localizing and translating your website, you can easily communicate with potential global clients about your products and services.

Multilingual SEO can help you drive more traffic to your website than a single-language site and have higher returns on your investment because you become accessible to a wider audience. You will not only be visible to them, but a well-structured Multilingual SEO strategy helps your website to rank well in search engines across different languages and regions.

A good Multilingual SEO strategy can help you surpass your competitors in your industry by accessing and communicating with a new segment of the global audience, improving your chances of appearing on the first page of search engines before them. Adapting your content makes you searchable in new markets and able to reach clients from different countries who will find your website through organic search.

Reasons Why You Need a Multilingual SEO Strategy

Now that you know what it is and the many benefits it brings, you might start to be interested in optimizing your website. On the other hand, you might think to yourself that you don’t need it, but here are a few reasons why almost every business would benefit from a tailored Multilingual SEO strategy:

Your Business Is Trying to Expand Abroad

If you want to target a foreign market, it will take more than just informing the country that your services are finally available in their region. Imagine you are a Spanish-speaking person and you search on Google for a solution to a problem in your native language. If the first result is a company that has their website only in English, you are going to ignore that suggestion, even if that might have been perfect for you. Or imagine even the reverse situation; you look on Google for a company to help you solve your problems and all the results that come up are in Spanish. That would be quite frustrating, no?

You Trade with Different Countries

Imagine running an e-commerce store that sells in both the United States and the United Kingdom. While the language is the same, customers in the U.S. want to shop in dollars, whereas those in the U.K. prefer to shop in pounds. To accommodate both, you can create two versions of the same page—one with the product’s prices in dollars and the other in pounds. Since these two pages are identical, Google will choose to show only one, so you need to implement a specific SEO strategy to indicate to search engines why both versions exist and which one to show to whom.

You Work in a Multilingual Country

Even if your business operates in a single country with one currency, you may still need to reach people who speak different languages within that country. For instance, in Canada or Belgium, there is more than one official language, and even if some people may speak both, the searches are going to be in more languages. If you want your website to show up first for all of them, then having more versions of your website translated can be highly beneficial.

The Role of a Multilingual SEO Expert

Avoiding Mistakes

As you’re beginning to understand, multilingual SEO isn’t a task that anyone can handle effectively. Fortunately, there are Multilingual SEO Experts, like us, who understand the best practices to help your business expand globally in the most effective way. Our expertise is invaluable to avoid common mistakes like poor translations or duplicate content, which could cost you part of your audience and potential revenue.

SEO Optimization

As experts, we bring deep knowledge of local markets and SEO strategies, guiding you through accurate keyword research and content localization. We identify your target languages and make sure you have country-specific solutions that translate your content and website’s technical elements, like SEO metadata.

Planning Your Multilingual SEO Strategy

Basically, we develop a comprehensive multilingual SEO strategy that includes keyword research, content optimization, and link building. A lot of concepts that you might be unfamiliar with, so if you want to know more about why content optimization is important for SEO or what link building is, and much more, check out our blog posts!

The Tools for a Multilingual SEO Strategy

Aside from translation tools, there are many others that you should get familiar with when putting a multilingual SEO strategy in action. Hreflang is an HTML attribute that specifies the language and geographic targeting of a web page. If you have multiple versions of the same page in different languages, the hreflang tag lets search engines know that these variants exist, ensuring the right version is shown to the right audience. While hreflang is a straightforward HTML attribute, mastering its use can be tricky, as John Mueller, Google Search Advocate, stated:

But experts know their way around it and can make the most of this tool. As mentioned earlier, the only difference between your pages might be the currency displayed, making them nearly identical. This is why it’s crucial to use the hreflang tag to inform search engines of the reason for these multiple versions. Hreflang tags help Google recognize the relationship between these pages and display the correct version in search results.

Start Your Multilingual SEO Journey Today

So, as you can see, expanding your business into new regions isn’t an easy task. It demands a carefully crafted multilingual SEO strategy done by professionals. By prioritizing localization, optimizing for local search engines, and developing a targeted marketing approach, you can ensure the best for your business.

If you think that your business relates to any of the points above, it’s time to invest in a multilingual SEO strategy to increase your audience across various markets. Still not sure where to start? Our agency offers a free website check-up to analyze what needs to be done and ensure your digital foundations are properly in place before you invest, so it’s time to request yours today!

Multilingual SEO FAQs

1. What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO is a set of techniques that can help your business be more visible in local search results on Google Search, Google Maps, and other search engines. This SEO strategy involves optimizing your online presence to appear and rank higher in local search results and making your business more visible to potential customers searching for products or services like yours in your area.

2. Does SEO Work for Other Languages?

All your SEO efforts lose their effectiveness when translated into another language. Specific elements, like target keywords, get lost in translation. The easiest way to not lose your work is to optimize your SEO for different languages and countries through a multilingual SEO strategy.

3. What Is SEO-Friendly Translation?

SEO-friendly translation means optimizing the translation of your website content to help it rank well in local searches. SEO translation converts your site content to other languages in a manner that performs well in search engines. SEO translation is the process of translating website content and adapting SEO elements to target foreign audiences and capture global search engine traffic.

4. What Is the Difference Between SEO Translation and Localization?

The goal of SEO translation is to convert your content from one language into another, while SEO localization aims to improve and adapt your content to a new culture. So, the key difference is that with SEO localization, you don’t just translate your content word for word but use multiple techniques to actually communicate it effectively.

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