What you can learn from foreign SEO

Search engine optimization is the process of increasing a websites ranking on search engine. If you think that SEO in English is a hard thing to do, what about SEO in other languages?  Have you ever thought of reaching audience in foreign countries such as Japan or china or India? Those countries do not have English as their main language and thus, it is advisable to consider doing foreign seo so that you can reach audience in those countries.  Optimizing your site for foreign language can enable you to reap big rewards by capitalizing on growing, untapped markets.

Internet usage is increasing at a rapid rate amongst non-English speaking people. Research has revealed that less than 27% of web users speak English. And in fact, majority of Google searches are done in other languages. Similarly, research has shown that people are reluctant to buy goods online if they can’t read about them in their native language. Therefore, preparing foreign SEO for your website will do you a lot of good.

Unfortunately, marketers around the world have been reluctant to take advantage of foreign SEO. And while there has been stiff competition on keywords in English, the same case cannot be said about keywords in other languages.  Therefore, translating your website into other languages can be easy and since there is little competition, it won’t take you a long time to climb search engine rankings.

Translating your site into foreign languages can take a lot of time. It pays to be patient and get the right translation. You do not want poorly translated sites as those can be a huge turn off to users. The right knowledge matters a lot in foreign translation.  Research your target market, find the right keywords and check out the foreign competition. This is to ensure that your site is not lost in the translation. Below, we will look at some of the things that you need to learn from foreign SEO.

Research your keywords, don’t translate them

As you start doing your foreign SEO, it is advisable to research on the keywords to use as opposed to translating them from English into the new language.  Of course, if you are not well knowledgeable in SEO, you can hire a specialist to handle the project. However, if you are on a stringent budget, you could do SEO by yourself and instead, hire translators to handle the language part.

Although translating English keywords into foreign language is possible, it does not always work for the purposes of SEO. This is because in foreign language, people use different terms to look for the same thing. Therefore, it is advisable to do a research to find these terms so that you can accurately find the keywords that work.  

Before you look for keywords in the foreign language, it is advisable to use English terms first then ask a native speaker for suggestions. That way, the expert will be able to pinpoint the keywords used in their local areas.  Also, note the difference between dialects. One term may mean on e thing in a certain language and have totally different meaning in another language. Therefore, paying close attention to dialects will do you a lot of good.

Luckily, online tools such as Google Adwords can enable you to find keywords in different locations and languages based on their popularity. And just like SEO in English, search for keywords would be an ongoing process as all search engines regularly change their alogarithms.

Find a great domain name

When building a brand new site for your foreign SEO, it is advisable to find a great domain name. You should choose a domain name that not only matches with the kind of business that you do but also, resonates with the local community. This is important for it will make the keyword acceptable in those areas.  

Optimize by country and not language

When doing foreign SEO, it is advisable to optimize content by country and not the language. This is because search engines classify websites according to their relevance in different regions and not the language.

Target the right search engines

As you look to do SEO in a foreign language, it is important to target the local search engine. And although Google is the biggest search engine in the world, it is not the most popular everywhere. Countries such as South Korea, Russia and china predominantly use local search engines that are more accommodating to their local languages. Therefore, it is advisable to target your search towards those search engines.  

Build in-country links

When doing link building, it is advisable to create in country links. This means that you should find authority sites in those countries where you can link your site from. That way, you are likely to get noticed by Google with ease.  

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.