“We used this reputable translation company to translate our website but we don’t show up in the local search engines… What did it go wrong?“ This is something I hear from clients who want to market non-English countries through the web all the time. They usually find the process gruelling and expensive.

Website localisation is the practice of creating a local version of a website for a different country/language. Literal translation is not recommended as the translator may translate the content with words that are not going to include the most researched keywords in that particular market. To avoid this issue, the translator needs to have some knowledge of SEO and use some techniques in order to make the copy SEO worthy. Here are some tips and examples anybody can use to make the process much easier.

Things You’ll Need

• Local Keyword research. You can use a number of tools in order to find the keywords more used by internet searches for the language/country targeted. There is a number of tools in the market for the English language but for others there is nothing best than Google Keyword Tool where you can narrow down terms by Language/Country.
• A spreadsheet that will include the list of the most popular and effective keyphrases to target for a specific page in the respective language and that will have to be interspersed throughout the translation. That is what we can call the Target Phrase Selection. The average number of keywords is 2 / 3.
• Original English content
• Fluency in reading and writing in both English and the language targeted

How to localise

1. English content.

Read the English content attentively.

2. First translation

Review the target phrase selection for the document / page. The aim is to include at least twice a two word keywords and once 3 word + keywords. Proceed with the translation in a natural language and with the keywords from the target phrase selection in mind, including them when opportunities arise.

EXAMPLE:

English version

“How to… “ guides

I need to connect several computers to the Internet

View guide

My wireless network does not cover my whole house

View guide

View all

Spanish version

Guías de cómo:

Conectar varios ordenadores a internet

Ver guía

Mi red inalambrica no cubre toda mi casa

Ver guía

3. Use headers

A keyword in Headers gives more weight in terms of relevancy than a keyword in content. It is therefore recommended to try harder to include keywords in the headings.

English version

Extended range with no dead spots:

Embrace Wireless N, the Wi-Fi technology that keeps its promises

Visit our microsite >

Spanish version

Rango inalámbrico extendido sin puntos muertos:

Adaptate con Wireless N, la tecnología inalámbrica que cumple sus promesas.

4. Keywords review

Once the first translated version is done review once again the target phrase selected. Using ctrl F in word for example is a good way to find them easily and count the keywords in the translated document.If one or several of the keywords do not appear at all review the content and try to include the missing keywords. If you feel that it would damage the user friendliness of the page to include one of the keyword you can review the best options. You should have a number of related phrases ready in your keyword research to be able to cover a wide range of communication needs.

EXAMPLE:

Targeted Keyphrases

compartir banda ancha configuracion inalambrica

router inalambrico n

rango inalambrico extendido

Spanish version with targeted keywords

Compartir banda ancha: Conectar varios ordenadores a internet

Ver guía

Extender rango inalambrico en toda mi casa

Ver guía

A Spanish native speaker will get the same message from this translation but additionally we have added two of the keyphrases within the first two sentences. We have added the terms Compartir banda ancha in the first sentence what is directly related, and rephrased the second sentence by using a grammatical variant of the third keyphrase (rango inalambrico extendido - extender rango inalámbrico)

Tips & Warnings

• The final version should feel natural and engaging for the end user.
• Remember to keep your target audience in mind when editing. In other words do not use language that will not be readily understood by your potential prospects.
• Don’t be afraid of thinking out of the box. Creativity is essential for localising.
• Follow SEO friendly content guidelines but don’t get obsessed about them. Search engines understand linguistic semantics so if a targeted keyword does not fit naturally a variation may be used.
• If the document translated includes a link to another page try to include keywords in the anchor text of the link (e.g. wireless routers rather than click here to see…).

For more information about localisation and other multilingual SEO issues visit http://www.multilingual-seo.com/

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