Search engine optimization is a very important field that plays a major role in driving traffic to your website. It increases your brand visibility and awareness. But with the emergence of high levels of competition, you need to narrate yourself in such a way as to sell.
With the current scenario, internet is an ocean and most of the things are already there. It’s all about how creative you are that measures your brand value.
For example, Airbnd, is an international travel and tourist platform that facilitates in booking accommodations and travel commutations. The SEO localization strategy that they incorporated in their marketing boosted their organic traffic to a great level. In the year 2018, their localized SEO strategy for localized terms, and translations tailored to specific areas helped them to surpass the traditional hospitality competitors worldwide.
Thus, the above case exemplifies the power of a creative approach ie SEO localization. To shed light on SEO localization strategies let’s delve deeper to achieve successful optimization efforts.
What is SEO localization?
SEO localization is a strategy that is practiced to ease up the marketing process regionally. It improves the search visibility organically in each targetted area as it provides a native comfortable experience to the native users
It is more than just content translation where you will entail your entire brand message inline with cultural aspects and search preferences of targetted audience. It caters end to end from optimizing targetted keywords, content quality, meta tags, URLs, and internal. External links, image alt texts, etc. It also includes regionally pertinent pictures, currency preferences, and local metaphors and idioms.
What are the benefits of SEO localization?
Your possible customers are all around the world and if you are not popping up in their SERPs in the top you are losing a major advantage. Some benefits of implementing a strong SEO localization strategy are
- Targets local customers: 60% of SEO is all about keywords whether it is local or international. When you are targeting a local customer base embedding local terminologies for marketing your product or service would drive local traffic for that particular keyword.
- Better local user experience: Many customers prefer to interact and use their own language. Localized SEO helps in providing a better user experience. Catering with the local language and correct SEO strategies helps to increase conversion rates and gathers quality leads.
- Build credibility and international growth: Website localization is a way to increase credibility locally and slowly helps in emerging as a global brand. A bad ranking of your website locally can act as an eye-opener for your ranking globally. Better ranking would gain you better domain authority which in turn makes your website powerful.
How to perform SEO localization?
To win international markets SEO localization is a booster for a successful online presence. The various components of SEO localization include
Keyword research for the local market
The goal of keyword research is always the same. To drive relevant quality leads to your website. It may be either a long tail or short-tail keyword.
For local keyword research, firstly you would translate the existing keyword in that particular language. Apart from this, you will also look for keywords specific to that area as well. This could be effective if you add in definition to each keyword to provide an idea for its purpose and document it as a glossary. After taking down this list you would have to streamline the list with local experts.
The purpose of the whole process is to give the relevant keyword to your translator who can include the words in the particular context smoothly without changing the sense. This kind of proactive approach boosts global and local SEO campaigns to a great extent.
On-page SEO for local:
On-page SEO is a mixture of the whole structure and feel of your website presented to the target audience. For localization, you need to optimize the whole structure of the website. This ensures that your website is viewed by the right kind of audience.
On-page SEO also includes optimizing the hreflang tags of HTML elements of your website. These elements will enable your search engine to recognize the language and area that’s been targeted. Thus, helping in segregation and presenting the relevant web version to that area.
URL optimization:
Localization and optimization of URLs with proper keyword insertion and structuring play a very important role in visibility in local searches. For example, the brand IKEA uses ikea.com/DE for german and ikea.com/US for America. This helps search engines index your content to the right locale.
Crafting and optimizing localized content:
You need to reach the right audience with a solid tagline and business message is the primary goal of localization. The approach you need to implement first is to analyze your target audience and understand their pain points. You need to have a deep understanding of their local customs, key trends, etc.
Secondly, translate your content in line with cultural norms. This can be done with the help of an expert to make it sound authentic. Later on, fix the translated content and make sure it sounds in the right sense.
Right before launching scan the copy for any issues to avoid bad experiences. And at last, promote your translated web copy on various digital and social platforms.
Translate the rest of the essential elements:
People before clicking your page would browse search engine results pages. Make sure to translate the following contents into the target language properly before publishing
- Title tags and meta descriptions
- Image alt tags
- URLs
Google SEO localization:
For boosting the growth of your business local citations play a major role, especially in local search engines. More than 86% of customers rely majorly on local businesses so these local business listings are very important.
The instant result may look dimmer initially but a quality and reliable citation is trustworthy for Google and successful backlinks.
Similarly, consumers prioritize connecting businesses locally. It is estimated by Google that year on year there is 500% raise in searches for “near me” phrases. So it’s turning out to be mandatory to get quality local backlinks from other websites to drive more traffic. Hence forming a quality link building also plays a major role in Google SEO localization. Local link building majorly targets quality visitors increasing meaningful interactions and sales.
Schema markup and structured data:
The organic search schema markup is a trendsetter in local SEO. It is more than the usual SEO aspect and gives you a competitive advantage by assisting search crawlers in understanding landing sites and displaying relevant information in SERPs.
Integrating schema integration provides a raise in organic traffic click-through rates which is vital for local SEO success.
Leveraging social media platforms:
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn can boost your online visibility and attain higher ranks in SERPS. Utilizing these platforms to distribute SEO-friendly content which is combined with localized content, trending topics and localized hashtags of that particular area can help you boom large in that particular area.
All of the platforms are professional forums and having an optimized profile helps you in ranking higher. Also, joining the local groups and crafting local-focused content helps in increasing the brand visibility.
Analysis of strategy:
Finally, it is also important to measure whether the performance of the implemented SEO localization strategy. Measuring the key performance indicators, conversion rates and ROI helps in finding out whether they work or not.
Based on the above analysis you can improvise the SEO localization strategy then and there which makes your brand more visible in the targetted market which in make your brand emerge as an international brand.
FAQ
what are translation and localization services?
Translation simply involves converting the texts from one language to another without changing the actual concepts. On the other hand, localization is even more deeper in which you will be adopting the entire culture and authenticity to sound even more familiar
What is SEO translation?
Converting the entire web copy with the adaptation of even minute SEO elements to target internationally. This would capture the global search engine traffic to a great extent as it involves transcreating everything from titles to meta tags.
Who needs local SEO?
Any business that is looking to expand globally by targeting a specific local market needs local SEO. Specifically local SEO benefits those who are service providers like electricians, plumbers, designers, etc
What is meant by localization?
Adapting a piece of content to a new region from translation to cultural and imaginary aspects is called localization
How to localize SEO to maximize your global capital?
Mastering the SEO aspects of each aspect for each languages of your website can make it help to maximize your global capital.
Signing off:
“Google loves you only when everyone else loves you first”
– Wendy Piersall
SEO plays a major role in any business to make people fall in love with your business and gain popularity whether it’s internationally or locally. It is indeed gaining localized popularity it is a bit tricky and challenging. It won’t be possible to reach that level of being an important player in each translated local language without a proper SEO localization strategy.
SEO localization is beyond word-by-word translation. It’s a translation of your brand voice from one culture to another without affecting the originality.
With high-quality content in multiple languages, your website can be super cool in the international market. This is a powerful digital marketing strategy to internationalize your brand and multiply your revenue 100-fold.
Want to go global? At ICOS Global we handle all your language localization services that emerge as a hit to reach a new level of market.
Talk to us to get your free SEO localization strategy!
To know about language localization Read here