Multi-Language Website: Why It Matters for SEO and Multilingual Marketing
Why a multi-language website is the base of multilingual marketing: multi-language SEO basics, examples of multilingual websites, content strategy and social media tips for reaching customers in their own language.
Multi-Language Website: Why It Matters for SEO and Multilingual Marketing
A multi-language website is the base of any multilingual marketing plan. Your ads, emails and social posts can speak a customer's language, but if the page they land on does not, the visit usually ends there.
The guide below covers why a multi-language website matters, the multi-language SEO basics that get each version found, real examples of multilingual websites and how to promote them. The Internet has opened up a whole range of possibilities for businesses looking to reach their customers. Nowadays, whenever you are thinking of making a purchase, your first instinct is likely to go online.
Either you search for a company online, or visit their website directly. Searching for a business online has become the most common method among customers worldwide.
Businesses must therefore have a website, even when their target customers are based locally. It serves as an online showcase of their products or services, and is the perfect port of call for their target audience.
Itâs a good practice, but thereâs one mistake many companies always make, and thatâs only making their website available in one language, for example, English.
Why Every Business Needs a Multi-Language Website
A multi-language website opens many doors. English is the most widely understood language, but its comprehension around the world is often overestimated by businesses.
Not every one of your international clients may be able to understand your website if it is only available in English. It is obvious what the result of this will be: fewer sales, fewer customers, and a decrease in profit.
You will lose site traffic and leads - the last thing you want when trying to reach out to new customers. One sure-fire way to increase your traffic and avoid unnecessary losses is to contract the services of a professional website translator.
Donât worry, your content doesnât have to be available in every possible language. All you need is several translated versions of your material in the languages spoken by most of your clients, allowing them to learn more about your brand without any unnecessary hurdles.
A multilingual website is just as important as effective email management when it comes to dealing with international clients. In Kit's email automation review, the importance of emailing your customers, and keeping them engaged is highlighted.
Email automation plays a key role in conveying your message to your audience, as well as generating traffic towards your website.
However, even when you have perfected your emailing system, if your site offers information in only a single language, thereâs a chance you will still lose a large number of potential customers.
If your target customers cannot understand your services because itâs in a different language, they arenât likely to use your company. Most of them will give up and look for another that they can relate to, itâs just human nature.
People will simply move on, and in such a competitive market, you must find a way to stop your visitors from leaving, and searching for alternative options provided by your competitors.
Your customers are waiting to read your website in their language, so donât miss out on improving their user experience with the following strategies and pointers:
Carry Out Customer Research
So, youâre thinking about expanding. Fantastic! But letâs pause for a moment, because a little prep work now will pay off big time later. Thanks to the magic of the internet, your storefront is now open to the entire world.
Hereâs something every successful global brand knows: customers feel most comfortable - and are most likely to buy - when you speak their language. Localizing your website is a powerful move for exactly that reason.
You understand the âwhy,â so letâs tackle the âwhere.â Who are you trying to reach? Before you bring in a professional translator to weave their magic, letâs first get inside the minds of your future customers.
You need to find out what channels they use, so you can connect with them. There is a world out there waiting for your professionally translated multilingual website, but first, you must learn more about sales opportunities abroad, and the market thatâs open to you.
Also, donât forget to read up on budgeting and annual planning.
Look for growing demands from customers and product shipping patterns. It may be hard to push towards a new market for some companies, but you can use analytical tools to help you fine-tune your strategy.
Whatever the case, the first step towards developing the perfect market strategy before entering a new market is undertaking some research.
Invest in Your Website
Many companies arenât willing to invest in website translation, yet the cost is often modest next to what the business already spends on ads and campaigns that send visitors to the site.
Translating your key pages makes every other marketing channel work harder. If you decide not to translate your website, you may be alienating many potential customers who wonât know about your brand.
Multi-Language SEO: The Basics
A translated page only brings visitors if search engines can find it and show it to the right people. Multi-language SEO comes down to a few decisions you make once and then apply to every language.
- Pick one URL structure. Country domains (example.de), subfolders (example.com/de/) or subdomains (de.example.com) all work, but mixing them makes a site harder to manage and harder for search engines to read.
- Add hreflang tags. They tell Google which version of a page serves which language or country, so a reader in Montreal sees the French page and a reader in Toronto sees the English one.
- Translate the metadata. Titles, meta descriptions, image alt text and URL slugs need the same care as the body copy, because they are what appears in search results.
- Research keywords per language. People in each market search with their own words, which is why multilingual keyword research comes before translation rather than after it.
- Let visitors choose. Offer a visible language switcher and avoid forcing a redirect based on location, since a traveler or an expat may want a different version.
Getting these right is the core of multilingual SEO services, and it is what turns a translated site into a multi-language site that ranks.
Examples of Multilingual Websites
Public institutions are some of the clearest examples of multilingual sites, because they have to serve every citizen in the citizen's own language.
The EU has 24 official languages, and EU nationals have the right to use any of them to communicate with the EU institutions.Source: European Union, Languages
The European Union's portal publishes in those official languages, with a language selector on every page. The Government of Canada's site runs in English and French side by side, and the Swiss federal administration publishes its portal in the national languages and in English.
Wikipedia takes a different route. Each language edition is written by its own community rather than translated from English, so the same topic can have a longer article in German or Spanish than in English, which is a useful lesson for any multilingual content strategy.
Find a Content Writer in Other Languages
If you are ready to enter a new market, itâs time to translate your content. You can contact an online translation agency for custom SEO writing services or original content in your language of choice.
Original content is a great strategy, since it is written in a way that your customers will really understand.
Luckily, our team of native linguists includes many professional copywriters working in a wide variety of languages.
Multilingual Marketing Beyond the Website
Once the site exists in several languages, multilingual marketing carries the same message into the channels that bring people to it. Search ads, email campaigns and social posts each need their own localized copy, not a word-for-word copy of the English.
A good multilingual content strategy decides which pages and campaigns every market gets, and which ones only matter in one country. Our multilingual digital marketing team plans that mix, and our multilingual social media management service runs the local channels day to day.
How to Make a Website Multilingual
Making a website multilingual is a sequence of decisions more than a single task. Working through them in order keeps the cost down and the result consistent across languages.
- Choose the first languages. Start with the markets where your visitors, orders and support requests already come from, then add languages as results justify them.
- Set up the structure. Pick one URL structure and a multilingual setup in your content management system. WordPress sites often use a plugin such as WPML, and our WordPress translation team works with it.
- Translate the whole journey. Pages, menus, forms, checkout steps, error messages and metadata all need a native-language version, ideally reviewed by a native speaker through website translation services rather than machine output alone.
- Connect the versions. Add hreflang tags and a visible language switcher, then test every version on mobile and desktop.
- Handle the paperwork separately. If a registry, court or consulate asks for an official version of a document you publish, such as company papers, order a certified translation with a signed certificate of accuracy. Webinars and live events can add interpreting services in the languages of your audience.
Multilingual Email Marketing Starts With the Landing Page
Multilingual email marketing only converts when the page behind the click is in the same language as the email. A subscriber who reads a French subject line and lands on an English page usually leaves.
Localize the subject line, the preview text, the call to action and the legal footer for each list. For subscribers in the EU, consent and unsubscribe wording also has to meet GDPR. Our multilingual email marketing team builds those campaigns, and a professional translation review keeps each version accurate.
5 Tips to Promote Your Multilingual Website on Social Media
The prominence of social media has meant that more and more online spaces are developing multilingual websites, further connecting our global community.
Given the widespread use of social media for various purposes, using it to your advantage can prove valuable, particularly in promoting your translation companyâs website.
Global businesses havenât truly given in to globalization if they donât have content available on their website in multiple languages.
A translation company comes in here: it can take a business with global dreams and make them a reality.
Other clients are on social media with more specific translation needs, like translating a brochure into multiple languages for non-English-speaking clients.
These clients are waiting for translation companies on social media - all it takes to reach them is a little promotion.
Here are our key suggestions that will help you make full use of promotion on social media.
Use Appropriate Hashtags as in the Local Language
As one of the most useful ways of connecting with others on social media, hashtags are invaluable for business promotion.
Hashtags also connect the X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram communities, are easy to click on and make finding related content a snap.
When promoting your multilingual website on social media, use the right hashtags to ensure you connect with your target audience.
For instance, hashtags like #language and #translation are basic, catch-all hashtags that identify your purpose.
Looking for clients in a particular sphere? Add hashtags like #French or #MiddleEast.
Showcase Your Translated Content
Your clients will want to know about the content your company has translated before.
Do they need a full project brief?
No, but they will want to see an example of your quality and the type of work you do.
Client testimonials and examples of what youâre capable of help promote your translation website on social media in a professional, credible way.
Stay Connected With Your Audience
Social media is called social media for a reason.
Businesses of any kind that donât take advantage of how it can bring people together are missing out on one of the biggest advantages of social media in the first place.
Client or not, multilingual websites on social media need to respond to mentions and say hello to new followers.
Promote Blog Content
A business blog, like this one, should be informative and professional. It should contain information that is helpful to an audience, not just promotional material.
Sharing this information on social media can give potential clients a way to connect with your translation service website via non-promotional means.
The result is a relationship that isnât wholly based on marketing and instead shows a business in a more useful, credible light.
Use Language in Your Favor
Finally, what better way to connect with global clients than to post in multiple languages?
A translation company that tweets or posts strictly in English or another language isnât showcasing its wide range of abilities.
Just as a multilingual website operates, itâs important to consider diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds when extending social media outreach.
Itâs also worth noting that the client base for translation is not confined to one linguistic group.
For instance, there could be Korean customers seeking translation into French or Spanish-speaking clients targeting the Japanese technology market.
Variety is the spice of life.
When translation company websites in social media promote their language skills, content repertoire, and connect with potential clients, theyâll find social media success sooner rather than later.
If you want to reach a wider market by translating your website and social media content, we could be the perfect match for you. Get in touch for more information or a free, no-obligation quote today.
Be Careful About What Content You Are Publishing
Itâs a great idea to translate your website, but make sure you are careful about what you publicize and share in other languages. Unless you can speak the language itself, you must be careful that you arenât posting or sharing offensive information.
The best way to avoid this is to source your content from professionals, and be sure to have a native speaker check over your website first.
An effective website translation can be the perfect way to boost your business. Just like all other marketing strategies, it is a simple but effective technique to increase traffic to your site.
It is a very worthwhile investment, and will significantly improve your user experience. We hope that our tips have helped you prepare your business for the global online market!
Ready to take your customer reach to another level? We are a boutique translation agency specializing in website localization and SEO writing for businesses.
We always work with certified native writers and translators, guaranteeing you quality content every time.
Get in touch for a free, no-obligation quote today!
