SEO Translation and Localization
The Right Way!

How do your potential customers find your website? Thanks to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO refers to the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a page or site from search engines, like Google or Bing. Your company can spend lots of resources on branding so that your potential customers remember your brand’s name, google it, and the search engines show your site.

Then why use SEO marketing? Because branding, without SEO, doesn’t cast a big net unless your brand is already huge, like Nike, Adidas, or McDonald’s.

Here’s what you can do:

• Find out what your customers are searching online

• Figure out the terms they’re using for their searches

• Then, you write a piece of SEO content or create a page so that your company appears in the first organic result

And you’re golden! In the SEO world, the first result is known to receive most of the clicks. That means only one thing: SEO is vital!

But, what if you offer your products to a non-English speaking audience? Then things get more complicated, because you must translate your SEO efforts as well! In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of developing your SEO strategy in other languages, how we’ve done it here at MotaWord, the difference between SEO translation vs SEO localization, and more. Let’s get started!

SEO Translation vs. Localization

First, let’s get this out of the way: SEO translation and SEO localization aren’t the same thing, but in our experience, they work best in tandem. SEO translation and localization are often confused and sometimes even used interchangeably. They complement each other, but each has specific goals that require different approaches.

• SEO localization is the process of translating your content while considering and reviewing deeply the target language’s culture. In literal translations, your content may lose its meaning quite a bit. Translating a saying or an idiom that works well in the source language may not only lose its meaning but also could be offensive. The specific goal in localization is to translate the content in a way that speaks to the culture directly through the use of the right metaphors, wordplays, slogans, puns, and idioms.

• On the other hand, SEO translations have a specific purpose of getting the translated content to rank on the search engine results. It’s the best form of SEO-friendly website translation. Additionally, SEO translation is used to evaluate if the translation process makes sense in terms of SEO. For example, you might want a simple translation to test the waters in terms of traffic before translating your whole site. This is done because translations are usually not enough to be competitive, but they are enough to put you on the market.

That’s why we believe these two work great in tandem. For example, you might want to first translate your website, so you’ll be using basic SEO website translation. Once you identify the markets that are worth exploring in terms of traffic, you can proceed with SEO localization to get more specialized results.

Is It Worth It to Translate My Website in Terms of SEO?

The main goal behind localizing your website is to introduce your company, your content, and your products to other cultures. However, without SEO translation or localization, it is all pointless since language and details like hreflang tags or TLDs are what make you visible in search engines in other languages.

Also, SEO keywords in one language aren’t necessarily accurate for the target language. When your SEO keywords are translated, they lose all their function since their search rates change, and your website becomes irrelevant. In some cases, you might receive traffic, but keep in mind that it can be improved significantly with localization, especially if you have the help of native SEO experts.

The SEO of your localized website is a whole other process. You should work with a proficient SEO agency that will do the research and provide you with the equivalents of the keywords on your website in the languages you’re targeting. People don’t use the same terms to look for the same thing around the world, and some concepts aren’t universal.

Check out the table below to see how high-volume English keywords lose huge search volume when they’re translated into French. You’ll see that they have the same meaning but are not used as much. This is why SEO is important. Translation, even when correctly done, is not enough by itself.

Is Machine Translation Better or Enough?

Using machine translation to localize a website isn’t enough to achieve results in terms of SEO. Your website is not an ordinary webpage, so of course it won’t suffice. Your website is the face of your company to the world. So it should be localized by a professional translator who knows about the target culture. As the next step, an SEO expert should adjust the translation to the search habits of the target country by using high-volume keywords. It may sound a little expensive at first glance, but the cost is lower compared to paying domain fees for years.

How to Handle Multilingual SEO the Right Way

There are several things you must consider when you’re handling multilingual SEO. The best way is to follow these steps:

• Start with an SEO translation or a simple translation of your website. This will help you set your website for success. Keep in mind that the data you get from Google Search Console is only for reference. If you receive good traffic with just a translation, you’ll be able to receive much more with proper localization.

• Handle all the multilingual technical SEO aspects. In this step, you must take care of all the technical aspects of doing the translation, like setting the right hreflang tags, setting up canonicals the right way, setting up UI elements for customers to switch languages, and purchasing the right top-level domain in case you’re using them, among other things. It’s a good idea to set this up much before you start handling the localization.

• Start localizing your website’s SEO efforts. This is the last and most important part. You’ll need to hire an agency or professional to handle the local SEO for that specific country.

In MotaWord’s case, we hired SEO specialists to handle our efforts in different languages, most notably in Spanish, French, and German.

Some of MotaWord’s Numbers:

Now let’s take a quick look at our website’s numbers. Here’s a breakdown of what happened:

• Our traffic increased inside the United States to be over 15% from the United States. When we translated our site into Spanish, French, German, and other languages, it increased our traffic inside the U.S. significantly, which was honestly surprising.

• Of course, other countries didn’t stand behind. For example, we receive around 7% of our overall traffic from Brazil, 6% from Turkey, 4% from Germany, 2% from Russia, Italy, France, and the UK, and many more. And it keeps increasing.

• In our specific case, we’re receiving more traffic from countries where there’s a high interest in immigrating to the US, law firms, and more tips. So our traffic from Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and many others increased.

Now, let’s talk about the rules we followed to localize our site.

Three Rules of SEO Localization

These are some of the rules we stuck to throughout the process of translating and localizing our website. We don’t know if it’s a recipe for success, but it worked for us exactly as intended. Still, you might want to take notes and apply changes to your actual strategy to tweak the benefits to your needs.

1. Pay Attention to Keyword Research

Just because a term is searched for a lot in one language, it does not mean it will be popular in the other. To have the perfect keywords in your SEO translation process, it is crucial to factor in cultural differences. Terms do not necessarily have to have direct equivalents in other languages.

During your SEO keyword research, it is a good idea to create term bases in your source language, look for relevant keywords, and create bilingual translation glossaries for all your findings. It’s a good idea to hire a specialized translator with SEO expertise in the specific target language to achieve the best results. That’s exactly what we did!

2. Do Not Forget About The Titles

Having good and eye-catching titles is also extremely important in achieving great success in your SEO efforts. Titles are used by search engines to categorize the text. They are the very first thing that your reader sees and directly affect your website’s CTR.

First impressions do count when it comes to increasing engagement, and it is crucial to do your research while deciding on your titles. For that same reason, SEO title localization is also very substantial. It might be even more substantial than the translation quality of your article, since the title will be the first thing your client will see and will potentially search for.

3. Metadata Optimization And Tags Are Crucial

Title tags and metadata descriptions are crucial for SEO, especially in multilingual contexts. The title tag influences both user click-through rates (CTR) and search engine rankings, so selecting the right keywords tailored to each locale is key. Metadata descriptions serve as summaries beneath the title in search results and can impact CTR as well. Both need to be localized to reflect regional language nuances and search behaviors. Beyond translations, it's essential to use technical SEO elements like canonical tags, hreflang tags, and proper TLDs for specific countries. Canonical tags help prevent duplicate content issues across multiple language versions of the same page. Hreflang tags signal to search engines which version of a page to display based on the user’s language or region, ensuring content is shown to the right audience. Additionally, choosing the correct TLD (e.g., .de for Germany, .fr for France) helps search engines understand your target market, boosting your page’s local SEO performance. In multilingual SEO, translators must not only adapt content but also consider these technical aspects to ensure proper ranking and visibility in each target market.

Professionally Localized Content is Everything

When it comes to multilingual SEO, simply translating your content isn’t enough. To truly thrive in international markets, your content must be professionally localized. MotaWord has experienced firsthand the benefits of SEO localization. By localizing our website into several languages—Spanish, French, German, and more—we’ve seen remarkable growth in traffic across multiple countries. Our traffic from the U.S. increased by over 15%, and we now attract more visitors from countries like Brazil, Turkey, and Canada. This success is a testament to the power of professional SEO localization in driving organic traffic and expanding your global presence.

If you're ready to take your business to international markets and boost your online presence, MotaWord’s localization services can help. Let us tailor your content to the needs of each market, ensuring you not only reach your audience but also rank highly in search engine results. Contact us today to learn how we can help you succeed in the global digital landscape.