Conquer the web: why you need SEO translation and localization

Translating a web page and optimizing your content for search engines in a foreign language, are two separate things requiring different techniques. By combining both you can reach new international audiences and grow your online traffic.

SEO translation is the translation of online content on a website or blog, by taking in consideration its ranking in search engines. A good ranking in search engines means higher traffic on our website and also a greater exposure of our product or service to potential customers.

A well defined international SEO strategy, allows us to create a greater impact on our communication and to reach our target audience more effectively. Someone who is interested in our products or services and finds our website is more than halfway to a potential sale.

When we try to apply SEO strategies in a foreign country, we have to take into account that conventional translation is not enough. We need to tailor our content for search engines, but at the same time we have to keep the quality and interest of our texts because we’re writing for humans.

If you already use SEO tactics in your native language and if you want to replicate this strategy in other countries, you have to go beyond the conventional translation. When translating titles, tags, meta tags and keywords to another language, you must take into account several cultural factors that may influence the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Why is SEO so important?

Nowadays, you can’t escape it! Publishing online content allows you to promote your company or brand and it also allows you to establish yourself as a credible voice in your industry.

But when you write for the web, you need to take into account two main factors: you have to think about what is interesting to your target audience, but also to adopt the best optimization strategy for search engines.

You can have the best website in the world with the most interesting content, but if no one can find it on Google, Bing or Yahoo is as if it doesn’t exist.

So those who write the most interesting texts to a particular audience and also adopt a great SEO strategy will be on the right track to promote their products or services and therefore to increase sales.

Differences between localization and SEO translation

Localization is the translation of a website and to pay particular attention to the different meanings and cultural references in other countries. For example, Toyota launched the MR2 model which means “mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-seater”. In France the name of this vehicle had to be shortened to MR, due to the similarity of pronunciation of MR2 with the French word “merdeux” which means “shit”.

Another car model that had to be renamed in Latin markets was the Mazda Laputa which means ‘the whore’ in Spanish. Launched in 1991, it was described by the Japanese factory as designed for “maximum utility in a small space and to ride in a smooth and comfortable way”.

A professional translator knows how to clearly identify a bad translation in its native language and avoid misunderstandings and even prevent you from getting a bad reputation by detecting potential offensive messages. Thus, localization goes beyond conventional translation because it adapts ideas and meanings to another culture and avoids different interpretations of the intended original message.

SEO translation is something completely different, because it’s not intended for readers but for search engines and algorithms classifying the relevance of our pages. Keywords, titles, tags, scripts, messages and all the attributes of pages should be translated to the target language.

Thus, when a foreign user searches for your product or service in his or her language, your website will appear higher in the search results. The application of SEO translation techniques, allows you to reach new markets, new customers and of course sales.

Combining localization with SEO

Besides the SEO translation, your website needs obviously to be well localized. If your site has a high bounce rate, when users leave your page quickly, it means your website can be classified as less relevant in some search terms and its position may fall behind n the search engine ranking.

A good website translation needs to bring together localization for the texts to meet the target audience quality expectations, but it should also have its content optimized to rank in high positions of the search engines, so your business can be found online by potential customers.

Before starting your SEO translation

As we have seen, an international SEO campaign is complex and requires time. Often people search similar terms when looking for different things, so a good translation must take into account cultural differences and linguistic nuances between different countries.

Keyword research is essential to optimize the results of online campaigns and it should take into account different terminologies, such as idioms, slang, etc. Optimizing other metadata is also crucial, such as the page title, meta description, etc.

Many companies and brands chose to localize their website with a good translator and then have it analysed by SEO experts in the target language, to optimize the content for the web. This is too expensive.

Lingfy provides highly specialized translators in Marketing with excellent SEO knowledge to optimize texts for foreign audiences and to research and advise on the best ways to approach your target markets.

Curious how quality translations could help your organization reach new international customers? Get an instant quote at Lingfy.com or drop us a line at hi@lingfy.com