There’s no denying globalization has shrunk the world, and the internet has created a massive playing field for business. There are around 8 billion people globally, and among them, 5.18 billion people use the Internet.
The international market for your content is enormous and remember: most of the global population doesn’t speak English. In fact, according to Statista, less than 26% of web users search, read or write content in English. Whereas, more than 60% of all websites are in English, which invariably and implicitly means that a large fragment of web users is underserved.
Source: https://www.statista.com/chart/4140/low-diversity-of-languages-on-the-web-hinders-accessability/
In the 21st century, the competition is global, and if you want to maximize the chance of your website being found by international audiences, it’s high time you consider multilingual SEO. Wondering what is multilingual SEO, how it works, and how you can ace it? Well, here is our owner’s manual on what this Tower of Babel in SEO is all about!
What is Multilingual SEO?
Multilingual SEO is an SEO technique where you optimize your website for different languages, so users can easily find it through organic search. Regardless of user location, language, and search engines, multilingual SEO can help global businesses ensure their content reaches the target audience without any hiccups.
Why is Multilingual SEO vital?
To understand everything about this versatile SEO technique, let’s consider the case of our very own search engine giant- Google. Yes, you heard that right! Did you know that although Google is headquartered in the States, it drives more than 90% of the global traffic and is used in every nook and corner of the world?
In fact, millions of US companies in the States sell their product and services abroad. Prominent brands like Apple, Ford, and Walmart rely on international markets, and English isn’t the only language that gets them there. If you want to reach new demographics that don’t speak your language or English, localizing your content won’t be enough to reach new customers. That’s where multilingual website SEO comes into the big picture.
With Multilingual SEO, your website can be easily found by people who speak different languages. It’s like opening the doors of your online shop to customers from all over the world. When your website speaks the language of your visitors, it creates a sense of familiarity and trust. People are more likely to stay and explore your content if it feels comfortable to them. Your business can cater to diverse linguistic markets, and you can increase your ROI by opening the doors to a new and untapped customer base.
In a nutshell, multilingual SEO can help you to:
Build brand awareness globally
Increase brand authority
Enhance business outreach
Improve organic traffic
Increase impressions on SERPs
Get more new query counts
Stretch the CTRs and more
Best Practices for Multilingual Website SEO
Wondering how to optimize your website for multilingual website SEO? Here are some surefire tips!
#1 Use Hreflangs:
Hreflang is a simple tool that enables websites to signal search engines about the language and regional targeting of the page. You can use Hreflang tags to make your website serve the appropriate content to users based on their location and language preferences, prevent duplicate content issues and enhance user experiences. This can improve your search engine visibility, increase organic traffic and improve ranking in international search results for a more effective and targeted global SEO strategy.
#2 Use Dedicated URLs
For multilingual website SEO, it’s always better to have dedicated URLs with language indicators. These URLs differentiate your pages from one another, so Google doesn’t confuse your content for duplicates and harm your ranking negatively. Consider using country-specific domains (like .fr for France) or subdirectories (like yourwebsite.com/fr) to target specific regions. This helps search engines understand your target market better. Using a dedicated URL for each language can help search engines recognize the languages of your content and redirect users searching for your product/service to your website.
#3 Translate Your Meta Data
In addition to your website content, you also need to translate your metadata to reap all the benefits that multilingual SEO has to offer. Primarily meta-data includes the elements of the code of your website, like the title tags, meta descriptions, and meta keywords. The four main types of metadata include:
Source: https://atlan.com/what-is-metadata/
Search engines use meta-data to crawl your website and deliver previews to readers. Thus, if you want your website to rank higher in different demographics with multilingual website SEO, ensure all your meta-data is translated.
#4 Create a rock-solid keyword strategy
When you are devising your keyword strategy, ensure to have a list of the top-ranking keywords in each market. Believe it or not, translating a list of keywords won’t work. You need to localize keywords or adapt to the unique language of the market. To do so, ensure to do vivid keyword research that is a thorough culmination of the following components:
#5 The redirection direction
Never redirect users automatically to an international version of your website. Instead, you can make them pick the version they want. For instance, if you have your website in English and there’s a Chinese user on your site in Germany, ensure they don’t get automatically redirected to the German version due to the location. Instead, you can use a language toggle to facilitate your users to pick the language that suits them.
Conclusion
The internet is a grand bazaar of languages teeming with potential customers from different corners of the world. Around 70% of small businesses don’t have an SEO strategy in place, which means they are flying blind. Do you want to be one of them or want to expand your digital storefront in the multilingual maze of the digital realm? If you agree to the latter option, multilingual SEO is your ultimate compass for conquering new linguistic territories and unlocking unprecedented opportunities. Need help with multilingual website SEO? Reach out to the professionals at Forix SEO now!
Let Us Get the Results You Want
The key to outranking competitors and reaching the top spots in Google really comes down to a comprehensive SEO strategy and a tremendous amount of effort. We have found a way to package both – simplifying SEO for our clients. Our team of experienced SEO professionals can help you achieve the outcomes you want at a reasonable price.
