Studies indicate that 60% of all Google searches are in English. That means there is another 40% audience that remains untapped. If you want your content to reach a global audience, you must also optimize it for foreign languages. But with different languages spoken in different parts of the world, it can be hard to know where to start.
Fortunately, multilingual keyword research can help you overcome this challenge. It can help you know the terms and phrases people use to find products and services in your niche. In this guide, we will take you through the process of implementing multilingual keyword research in a way that will enable you to reach a global audience.
What Is Multilingual Keyword Research?
Multilingual keyword research helps you optimize your content for local and international keywords, widening your reach. It requires more than translating keywords from one language to another.
Unlike traditional keyword research that focuses on a single language market, multilingual keyword research targets different languages while considering cultural, linguistic, and search behavior in the foreign market. To do it effectively, you will need to understand the language and the context of the keyword deeply.
Importance of Multilingual Keyword Research
Multilingual keyword research has several benefits. These include
A Global Audience
The world is now a global village. While your business can be located in one locality, you can easily reach a global audience. However, you should reach out to people in the language they speak and understand. Multilingual keyword research will help you tap into the international language market.
Enhanced Visibility
Nowadays, Google offers localized answers to search queries. When you optimize your site for local queries, it improves its visibility in the local search result pages. This can result in more traffic from different sources.
Improved User Experience
If your site displays localized search results and metadata in the user’s language, it will greatly improve user experience.
Get a Competitive Advantage
Most businesses usually focus on their market and ignore foreign markets. By optimizing your site for local seo, you can stay ahead of the competition.
Steps to Multilingual Keyword Research
There are several steps you need to follow when doing multilingual keyword research. These are:
Identify the Target Market
With thousands of languages spoken in different parts of the world, you must start by determining which market to target. Consider the number of people who talk about the language and whether they want to buy your products.
Use data from Google AdWords and competitors to determine which market to target. Consider also whether to go with a generic language. For instance, should you use Spanish for the Mexican market or a local language?
Do Keyword Research
After identifying which country and language to target, it is now time to do keyword research. Consider search behaviors and the popular search terms for your particular keyword in the foreign language.
Some top keyword research tools for this step are Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz. You can also look at Google Analytics to see the keyword performance and behaviors in that particular region.
Use Native Research Tools
As we noted earlier, you should avoid doing direct translations of a keyword or relying on AI tools to do the translations. This can often lead to wrong, inaccurate, or even offensive translations. When you use such words on your site, they can harm your reputation or performance.
Therefore, you should instead focus on using resources in your native target language. These include the local search engines, keyword tools, thesauruses, and dictionaries to find the most appropriate keywords. You can also work with copywriters and SEO gurus using the native language to help you find a keyword to target.
Perform Competition and Market Analysis
Another step when doing multilingual keyword research is to perform market and competition analysis. This will help you determine who your competitors are, their target keywords, and their performance. You will also need to review the market trends of the keywords.
Some of the tools you can use to do market and competition analysis are Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz. You can also use Google Adwords, Bing Adwords, and Google Search Console to check your competitors and current performance.
Group Your Keywords in Priorities
After getting a list of keywords to target, you should group them according to your goals, budget, and audience. Some of the metrics you can use to group your keywords are:
- Volume
- Relevance
- Trends
- Keyword difficulty
- Conversion rate
- Cost per click
Consider also focusing on longtail keywords that have lower competition.
Consider Search Intent and Context
Search intent is the purpose or goal of a keyword. It can be categorized as informational, transactional, navigational, and commercial. Context refers to any additional information that affects a user’s query.
These include the search location, the device they are using, location, and personalization. When you understand a keyword’s search intent and context, you can create content that matches the user’s needs.
Adapt Content and SEO to the Region
Another step in multilingual keyword research requires adapting the content and seo strategy to the region. This involves translating your content and localizing it to meet the linguistics and cultural nuances of the market.
Remember to also optimize your content for SEO, such as including the keyword in the title, meta description, etc. You must also change and ensure that the domain name, URL structure, and sitemaps reflect the target market.
Use Hreflangs tags
To show search engines that you are targeting a certain region and language, remember to use Hreflangs tags. Ensure that your landing pages are in the targeted language. Optimize on-page elements using the targeted language.
Conclusion
When doing multilingual keyword research, the most important thing is to ensure localization instead of keyword translation. By doing so and following the above tips, it’s possible to create content that resonates well with your foreign audience. Remember to keep monitoring your keyword performance and adapting your SEO strategy accordingly.
