Incorporating SEO in Translation to Maximize Your Reach

Global expansion is no more a dream for small and medium-sized businesses since digitization has broken the money-related barriers of reaching a global audience. Now, even a small firm with a limited budget can target any country’s market, and that too without making the expansion a money-guzzler. 

Having plans to expand globally and doing it, in reality, are two different things. From understanding the culture of the foreign market to complying with the foreign law; every step taken by your firm to reach a foreign market should be perfect; otherwise, your venture can turn out to be a disaster. And two such aspects of global expansion we are going to discuss in this blog post are SEO and Language Translation. 

While expanding globally, most firms think SEO needs to be done after building a new website. But if you optimize your SEO after the completion of translation; you might have to go through extensive rework, and this will delay your product launch, website launch, or ad campaign publishing date. 

So, to make you reach the global market impeccably, we have come with some of the best tips and steps that you can use for incorporating SEO into translation without wasting time, money, and effort. 

The Traditional Approach of Translation

Nowadays, an increasing amount of companies are becoming aware of the importance of a local language website instead of considering the entire world as an English-speaking population. This is another reason why the need for a certified translator is increasing in every industry, and website translation along with document translation services are becoming a new normal. 

If you go by the Common Sense Advisory Report published in 2004, you’ll get to know; 75% of internet users prefer to buy products from a website in their native language. Along with this, another important finding of the report is ‘60% of the internet users never buy any product or service from an English only website.

So, we can say a firm operating on a global market with an English-only website is no longer a viable option; especially if that particular firm is planning to compete with the local players in the chosen foreign market. 

The traditional translation approach included narrowing down the entire focus to word-to-word translation. But, now, firms have begun to realize the perks of localizing their website for the local market. And since all the firms can’t have an in-house translation team; outsourcing a certified translator or opting for document translation services has become quite normal for all the firms. 

Because of such a shift in the thought process of firms regarding translation; firms are now shifting from word to word translation to adapting the new content to engage and resonate. This helps firms target the global market under their sleeves to compete with the local players more effectively. And this is what is known as transcreation; where the marketing message is transformed to fit into different languages and cultures while keeping the pristine message of the campaign intact. 

But just relying on localization and transcreation is not enough to get tangible results from your efforts since the customer must find your website on the internet. The only way to do it is to increase your ranking. 

Incorporating SEO Into Translation

The first thing you do to reach a new market is to translate your website, existing and upcoming articles, blog posts, press releases, and marketing campaigns into the local language. But during translation, you must use your current SEO strategy to get better results. 

For example, you have chosen a translation company providing document translation services. In that case, you must give special instructions to the translation company regarding the use of new keywords instead of existing ones. This will be necessary because the keywords you have been using in your English-only website might not be effective in the new market. 

In addition to this, you must mention keeping the pristine form of the keywords (that will be useful in both the markets) intact even after the translation. Even converting a word from singular form to plural form can push you back in the neck-wrenching race of targeting the right keywords. All these aspects of SEO and translation must be kept in mind by the certified translator you have chosen. 

One Vendor or Two?

When it comes down to incorporating SEO and translation into the workflow; a big consideration is working with an SEO-based translation firm or opting for an SEO firm and a translation firm. 

The latter one is an ideal option since with SEO experts and a certified translator, you get the best of both worlds. This might require a little bit of extra effort, but it will be worth it. All you have to do is to keep both the SEO team and the company providing translation service on the same track. 

An SEO company is good at optimizing your website for the new market. Still, the quality of their translation service is not at par; especially when you compare it with what is offered by authentic/professional translation companies. So, choose the best of both the industries (SEO and translation); align them together with a simplified strategy and begin on the right foot on the global market. 

Targeting a foreign market and instead of being confined to your own country might sound; like a fascinating idea but this doesn’t mean becoming successful on the global platform is easy. Just like a product launch, marketing campaign, and increasing the workforce; you should keep SEO and translation in mind while expanding globally. 

By choosing a translation company for your digital presence and optimizing your website and content for the foreign market; you increase your chances of better competition with the local players. Therefore, incorporate your updated SEO strategy into the translation process and witness your business becoming a global player.