How to Improve Your Multilingual Website SEO

English is the most popular language online. It makes sense. American and English cultures are the most influential and dominant in the world. 

But the rest of the world is catching up. Nowadays, more than 41% of websites on the Internet are in languages other than English. 

The number is only growing.

Although an English-only website can still penetrate a foreign market, having a multilingual website that aims at multiple markets can give you a much better chance of doing so. What can you expect from a multilingual website? Here are just a few things:

• You can expect to reach 75% more users
• Increase your conversions by up to 70%
• Boost your sales by up to 100%.

Having a multilingual website, of course, isn’t enough. You need to make sure to put it in front of your audience. Here’s what you need to know about multilingual website SEO, starting with…

What is a Multilingual Website?#

In simplest terms, a multilingual website is a website that’s available in multiple languages. It allows users from different regions to access its content in their native language. That makes the website more accessible and user-friendly to users from different geographical regions.

How do you create a multilingual website? There are a number of ways of doing so. For instance, you can use a CMS (Content Management System) that allows you to localize your content automatically. Some top CMS platforms for localization include WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, and Shopify. 

If the CMS you’re using doesn’t have built-in multilingual support or you feel it's limited, you can install an extension or plugin that adds the functionality. Popular multilingual plugins include Polylang, Langify, and i18next, to name a few. 

For a more streamlined translation process, consider utilizing Computer-aided Translation (CAT) tools. These tools assist translators in managing terminology consistency and speeding up the translation process by leveraging previous translations and creating a more efficient workflow.

What Are the Benefits of a Multilingual Website?#

By 2027, e-commerce sales are expected to surpass the $8 trillion mark on a global level. Having a multilingual website can allow you to have a piece of that six-trillion-dollar pie by reaching audiences in their native tongue. 

Of course, that’s far from the only benefit a multilingual website provides. Other benefits of multilingual websites include:

• Increased Accessibility: Multilingual websites make it easier for users from different countries and regions to access the website in their native language
• Improved UX: Localized websites also provide a better user experience for users who are not fluent in English or any other language, for that matter. 
• Boosted Traffic: Having language content in multiple languages can attract traffic from users who are looking for products and information in their native language. 
• More Sales: A multilingual website often leads to increased sales by making it easier for users from different backgrounds and locations to purchase products. 

All in all, a multilingual website can be a valuable asset for businesses and organizations that want to reach a global audience.

What is Multilingual Website SEO?#

Multilingual website SEO refers to the process of optimizing a website that targets multiple regions and languages. It ensures the website ranks for keywords in multiple languages and geographical regions. 

When you’re marketing your product to users across multiple markets that speak different languages, you need to make sure your content is friendly to:

1. Native speakers;
2. Search engines.

Certain countries simply prefer looking up information, products, and services in their language. As Allan Formigoni, content manager at WeTravel, explained in a recent interview:

"I’m Brazilian, so I’ll probably Google something in Portuguese before I search for something in English, and a lot of people don’t speak English. In these countries, it’s easier to look for information in your language."

If you’re new to website management/e-commerce business ownership, it might be tempting to automate website translation completely. But this would be a mistake. Be aware that automated translation, while coming a long way in the last two decades, is not perfect. 

Often, they don’t make sense to native speakers and can be looked at as spam by Google. Having a dedicated multilingual strategy, 

How to Improve Multilingual Website SEO?#

To reach a wider audience, you need a fully thought-out, multilingual website SEO strategy is a must. If you want to enhance your online presence, attract people from all over the world, and increase sales in the process, here are a few steps you need to take:

1. Keyword Research for Each Target Language#

In SEO, you can’t start a campaign without doing keyword research. Identify your targets and start doing research for every individual language. Keep in mind that certain regions have different dialects and may use different words and phrases for certain products. 

Latin America has over eight types of Spanish. Just compare Chilean and Mexican Spanish, for example. These two dialects, although similar, have key differences in phonology, syntax, grammar, and vocabulary. 

A good starting point would be hiring a certified translator to help you develop seed keywords in the country-specific language. Luckily, all of the major keyword research tools allow you to research keywords in multiple languages, including People Also Search For.

2. Implementing Hreflang Tags#

Don’t be intimidated by the "big words" - you’ve surely seen hreflang tags before - you just didn’t know that was what they were called. Hreflang tags are code elements that help Google and other search engines understand the language of web pages. 

That allows them to direct users to the most relevant version of a website based on geographical location and language.

Hreflang tags are placed in a web page's section and consist of two attributes: hreflang and href. The first attribute specifies the language of the page, while the latter specifies the URL of the corresponding page in that language. 

As an example, let's say that you have a website with both English and Spanish content. Here’s how your hreflang tags would look like:

• link rel="alternate" href="http://yourwebsite.com/en" hreflang="en-us"
• link rel="alternate" href="http://yourwebsite.com/es" hreflang="es-es"

Herflang tags are also useful for different dialects. When you have an English website with content tailored for users in different countries - let’s say the US, UK, and Australia - your hreflang tags would look like this:

• link rel="alternate" href="http://yourwebsite.com/en-us" hreflang="en-us"
• link rel="alternate" href="http://yourwebsite.com/en-gb" hreflang="en-gb"
• link rel="alternate" href="http://yourwebsite.com/en-au" hreflang="en-au

3. Creating Unique Content for Each Language#

One of the main aspects of multilingual website SEO is creating unique content for each language. Even if your target audience is proficient in English, around two-thirds of them prefer to consume content in their language. 

Now, this means translating website content into different languages while making sure that the translations are 100% accurate and culturally appropriate. Each language version of your content should be tailored to the specific linguistic and cultural nuances of the target audience.

For this, hiring either a native speaker or an expert translator with multiple years of experience is not only important but necessary. Even mistranslating small phrases or misinterpreting a simple colloquialism will raise a red flag with the potential consumer. 

You simply can’t afford not to spend money on translation services. 

4. Optimizing Website Metadata#

Meta descriptions aren’t the end-all-be-all for SEO, sure. Google doesn’t list them among its ranking factors. Nonetheless, there’s a good reason why 75% of top-ranking websites have properly optimized meta titles and descriptions. 

They can increase click-through rates and, in the process, increase your website traffic - no matter the language. 

Make sure to use localized metadata for each language version of your website. That includes unique title tags, image alt tags, and of course, meta descriptions using appropriate keywords and phrases. 

5. Localizing Your Backlinks #

If you have even a passing interest in SEO, you know how important backlinks are. While backlinks as a whole are important, localized backlinks from websites that use the same language as your target audience. 

Here’s how to approach your multilingual link-building campaign:

• Research Local Websites: Identify websites in your target regions or languages that are relevant to your industry or niche.
• Outreach: Reach out to these websites for link-building opportunities. Explain the benefits of collaborating and how it can be mutually beneficial.

Conclusion#

With over 5 billion internet users, businesses today have a great opportunity to grow in foreign markets. Translating website content into different languages allows websites to connect with potentially millions of users who may not speak English. 

Just realize that simply translating a website isn’t enough in 2024. You must ensure that your content attracts native speakers of your target region. Furthermore, the content needs to be specifically optimized to rank well in search engines for different languages.