SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the process of driving traffic to your website organically on search engines. Major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing etc rank sites based on what their search engine would consider as most relevant to users. By driving traffic to your site, you get the first dib in business opportunity. It is like having your physical store at the most strategic location where human traffic is highest and thus your chances of landing a sale will be at its highest.
With SEO, the tedious task of pushing your site up the ranks is done organically. There are many methods to do it and it involves a lot of effort and time. However, since there is no payment involved (except for labour), this form of ranking is usually seen as more genuine than SEM or Search Engine Marketing which will rank site based on keyword purchases. It is also favoured by businesses because it is more cost effective and less expensive to implement compared to SEM.
We know in this internet age an online presence is very important. However, even with an online presence but having it buried under the myriads of sites available in cyberspace won’t do much good for your business either. Unless you are one of those giant enterprises, if you fail to rank, you fail to exist. And if you fail to exist, your business will go bust in no time.
Thus, the importance of SEO.
Now, if your local market is stagnant and the only way out is to go global, to explore the opportunities overseas, then International SEO is the one thing you should be doing.
International SEO involves similar methods and tools you have deployed to rank your site favourably locally. The huge difference here is the language. One of the important strategies of International SEO is Multilingual SEO. This includes the optimisation of contents and keywords in multiple languages for the different locations you are targeting.
If you are target search engine is Google, your objective is to have your website found and ranked high with Google. If you have done your homework and have been successful in ranking your site locally, does it mean that you can adopt the same strategy?
The truth is that Multilingual SEO strategy is not just about translating keywords that you have been using successfully in your local search engine ranking.
Obviously, your standard SEO strategy applies. But when you are targeting audiences in different countries, you will need to consider the language differences. These audiences you are targeting may have the same need and requirement as your local audiences but they are different. One most notable difference is the language they speak.
By having your website available in multiple languages will present you with new business opportunities as you expand your potential audiences and increase your chances of being ranked in those regions in their languages. But that is only part of the job. In fact, apart from languages, Multilingual SEO is also about getting right the cultural insights and being equipped with knowledge of local market, local buyer and searching habits.
As such, if you think that by simply translating your existing keywords, you would have done enough to rank, think again.
In Multilingual SEO, translating keywords is not enough. You have to first understand the search behaviours and habits of the local consumers. With this knowledge, you then review the search volumes of these keywords in order for all of it to make sense.
Having been in the translation and localisation industry since 1996, Lingua Technologies International is well-positioned to help companies implement their Multilingual SEO more meaningfully. This will help them improve their visibility and search engine ranking of their site in a whole new locale that engages their consumers in a different language. Together with our well-developed network of native linguists who are strong linguistically and experienced in internationalisation, we can help perform solid keyword research to ensure your probable success in your site ranking.
In conclusion, if you want to replicate your local search engine ranking success overseas, you have to localised not just the language but also consider other aspect such as local consumer behaviours, search habits, local search engines and their own set of algorithms and requirements. Consider the doing the following:
- Translating (localising) the content of your website into the target audiences’ languages
- Conduct keyword research with local linguist experts. After all, when it comes to SEO, ‘Keywords are king”
Last but not least, consider working with a linguistic company with the experience to help you achieve the above. Then you can be rest assured that you have done all the necessary. The rest, as the saying goes, will follow.