International SEO: tell Google about your localized website

Search engine optimization is different for every country and getting it right is so important for your business! The research you did on your English content does not carry over when you translate it into a new language. So, let’s have a look at what SEO is all about and why native translators are the key to your international SEO strategy.

To start with, by targeting audiences outside your main market, you are able to broaden your reach and increase your conversions. However, each country has its own culture, which means you have to gain a deep understanding of the target audience in order to properly optimize an English website for the expected SEO results. It might sound daunting at first, but once you understand how important international SEO really is, your company will not only see higher traffic, but also sales conversions.

Perhaps you are expanding into a country where people are bilingual, but communicating in local language would make your audience feel more secure and, consequently, more likely to buy. But in order to do this successfully, the content produced for your SEO campaigns must be relevant and focused on keywords and the local market. Therefore, having your website localized means that people from other countries can easily understand your content and relate to your product.

Is Google enough?

One of the most important things you should remember when running international SEO campaigns is that even if your website ranks high in Google, this doesn’t mean that they will rank high on other search engines such as Baidu (China) or Yandex (Russia). This is why you need to ensure that all of your targeting strategies are tailored to the specific search engine of the country or region that you are trying to reach your audience on.

Also, Google uses a system called RankBrain which tries to understand the content on your website and determine what it is about. This means that instead of having keywords stuffed throughout the page, you should focus on creating quality content that will help your audience find exactly what they need without trying to trick search engines into raking you higher for irrelevant terms.

Native translators are the answer!

Usually, driven by the cost, companies rely on machine translation for their website content. However, it is important to note that this will result in some negative SEO results, as this will not be perfect. Machine translations tend to very literal and can result in some awkward sentences. If you want your content to read well and sound natural, you should always have a native speaker to translate or check the translation before it gets published. This will not only make your message clearer, but it will also make your brand more appealing to your target audience.

International SEO is a constantly changing field and it can be difficult to keep up with all the changes across multiple search engines. It is a tricky game, but if you get it right, your business will see the benefits. Your SEO strategy should be tailored to your business needs and one of our experts can help you with that! Our dedicated team will work with you on creating an SEO plan that ensures Google sees your site as relevant for anyone around the world. Ready to implement your own SEO strategy?

Get in touch and we’ll take your brand to the next level.