International brands aim to stand out in the crowd with innovative techniques that make them more visible to multilingual audiences. One key element of success in this department is keyword translation. Using the right keywords for your websites can mean the difference between making it or failing to launch in the global marketplace.
Since consumers in various markets all speak different languages, it’s essential to translate your SEO keywords along with the other content of your website into multiple languages to improve your visibility in international searches.
In this post, we look at how keyword translation works and how it forms part of a multilingual SEO strategy!
What’s the Big Deal with Keyword Translation?
Keywords are the terms that people use when they’re searching for something online. Because these words and phrases help search engines understand what exactly consumers are searching for, they’re fundamental in SEO.
This means that any business working on optimizing its international rankings must incorporate high-value keywords in its optimization process. It’s the only way search engines can rank your website for relevancy, which is how consumers will find your website. Any good keyword research tool like Ahrefs can help you identify keywords worth ranking for.
After you’ve identified valuable keywords that you want to rank for, it’s time to translate those keywords into other languages. Again, you’ll need to perform research to determine which languages you’ll target, but this is subject to the search volume for these keywords in the foreign markets you want to target. Another consideration to keep in mind is the translation complexity. While there are direct translations for some keywords, others might lose their meaning when they’re directly translated. To effectively translate these terms, you need cultural insights and an understanding of linguistic nuances.
Translating Existing Keywords vs. Creating New Target Keywords
Naturally, your keywords need to cater to the linguistic and cultural needs of your target market. This means that you’ll need to translate your existing keywords if you’re targeting a market that speaks another language. Keyword translation drives more organic traffic, improves brand awareness in the new market, and boosts sales in a new territory.
However, as mentioned earlier, direct translations don’t always work as these translations don’t capture cultural or linguistic nuances. The solution? Localizing your keywords, which combines translation of your keywords and a refining process that ensures the keywords fit with the local context.
You can also work on new keywords for your target audience, especially if consumers in the new market use search terms that aren’t part of your original keyword list. This is why multilingual keyword research is a fundamental aspect of global expansion.
Tips to Reach Global Audiences Through Keyword Translation
The first step you should take is to conduct keyword research, list your existing SEO keywords, and then include new keywords in the target language that you identified through competitor research. You can also research which search engines are used most frequently in the new market, as each engine has its own ranking requirements. Once you have a list of keywords that you need to rank for in a new market, here’s what to do next:
Translate and Localize Your Keywords to the Target Language
If a direct translation of your keywords doesn’t capture the meaning in a local context, you might need to localize the translation. This step might require rewriting some keywords to include local colloquialisms and slang so they resonate better with the target audience.
Perform a Viability Evaluation of Your Keywords and Local Search Engines
Running your keywords through a keyword research tool can give you valuable insights into aspects like search volume and keyword difficulty. It’s also a great way to get clear on search intent and determine whether or not consumers in your target audience are searching for similar terms.
Refine Your Keywords for Search Engine Optimization
After you’ve evaluated your localized keywords, you might need to adjust them some more. This could include creating longtail keywords or modifying your web page to be compatible with your translated keywords. At this point, engaging with localization experts can really be beneficial in your plans to localize your web content and keywords.
Wrapping Up
As you expand into the global marketplace, you’ll need to adapt your website for new target audiences. You’ll also need consumers in international markets to find your website through local search engines, which is why keyword translation is essential in search engine optimization.
Although a direct translation of your existing keywords might be a quick solution, this approach isn’t efficient for all situations, especially in cases that call for the localization of your existing keywords.
One of the best ways to improve brand visibility and drive organic traffic is to adapt your keywords to fit the local context and target market. This includes using cultural references, slang, and specific jargon within your localized keywords.
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