Multilingual SEO and Localisation

Posted by Ahmed in General on Oct 31st, 2010 | 6 comments

To make your SEO as successful as possible in foreign markets, you should consider properly localising your websites for the regions you are targeting. Here are a few tips to help you get started with multilingual SEO.

Localise your content

The first step in multilingual SEO is to ensure your content is properly localised. There are two steps to achieving this. The first is to ensure that your English-language content is well-written and relevant to your target market. You should also ensure your content is culturally appropriate for the regions you will be publishing in. Remember that content that may be perfectly acceptable in the UK or USA, may cause offence in other parts of the world. This not only applies to your written content but also to the images and other multimedia elements on your website.

Once the English version of your content has been properly optimised for your target market, it’s time to get it translated. If you’re working on a tight budget, you could try one of the many online translation services, like Google Translate. These can give acceptable results, but they will never be completely accurate. A far better approach is to use a professional translator. This will ensure that all the nuances of your text are properly translated and idiosyncrasies, like metaphor and abbreviations, are accurately dealt with.

Translate keywords carefully

When it comes to keyword translation, you can’t rely on a service like Google Translate, or even a dictionary. To make sure your foreign-language website is optimised for the correct keywords, you need to have your keyword list looked at by a professional translator. They will also be able to help you with keyword research using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool and other language-specific keyword tools.

Use country-specific domains

Remember that Google operates versions in over 100 regions. So, for your multilingual SEO campaigns to be successful, you need to be targeting the local search engines. Your rankings in these will be greatly improved if you host your website on the relevant ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain). For example, if your website is aimed at the Spanish market, use a .es domain (e.g. www.yourdomain.es). Your local search rankings will be boosted even further if you also host your foreign domains on servers located in the target country.

Building back links

It’s important to get as many back links as possible from websites within your target country. For example, if you have a .es domain, your rankings in ‘Google España’, and other local search engines, will be improved by getting back links from other .es domains. The principles for achieving this are just the same as your link-building efforts for your English websites. You should also research any local web directories which might be worth submitting to. As with any web directory you are considering submitting to, check to make sure it is well-established and has a decent PageRank. As with English-language SEO, links from directories are no substitute for good quality editorial links on contextually relevant websites.

You should be able to identify possible link partners in much the same way as you do with your English-language websites. Usually this involves analysing your competitors’ websites and targeting the websites where they have placed back links. You may need the assistance of a professional translator to assess the quality of the websites you propose to target and to help you draft e-mails to website owners.

Social media

You can use local social media marketing in your target regions for building links and driving traffic to your website. Again, the principles are the same as with your English-language websites. For example, submit your foreign-language website to relevant social bookmarking sites within your target markets. Find local blogs, especially those with the same ccTLD, and regularly leave comments or offer to provide a guest post in exchange for a back link. Try to find forums that are relevant to your website’s audience and start posting.

The techniques of multilingual SEO are much the same as those you would employ on your English-language websites. Remember that good SEO starts with well-written, relevant content. If you get this aspect right in your foreign-language websites, you stand a good chance of success in your SEO efforts.

About the author

Christian Arno is the founder and Managing Director of Lingo24, a global translations service and localisation provider. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has 130 employees spanning four continents and clients in over sixty countries.

Contact Lingo24 with a translation request mentioning www.topnotchseo.co.uk before 30 November 2010 and receive a 10% discount on your first order.