Multilingual Search Engine Marketing

Much time, effort and money goes into web site localization.

In the same way that search engines should be at the forefront of everything you do on the English site, this same ethos must be used on the translated versions of your site.

Ideally, the planning for global search marketing should start before the site is first localized, but if not it is important to know what steps can be taken to rectify the situation.

This article describes the process of bringing visitors to your multilingual web site.

Most Global organisations have a search-engine-optimised web site that they then localize, ignoring the optimisation of the localized sites.

Most webmasters are not employed for their linguistic skill and therefore the localization of the site is a painful and intimidating process. Following this process, entering the further unknown area of search engine optimisation or multilingual pay per click management is ignored or actively avoided.

There are two common misconceptions around web site marketing for multilingual web sites:

1. Optimize the English site then translate it well and it will be optimised in-language.
Multilingual search engine optimisation is often ignored because of the belief that if the English site is optimised for search engines, the language sites will be too. This is not the case.

2. For PPC, simply translate the ad copy and keywords.
Imagine a set of English keywords for a site selling a glass replacement service for cars. The marketing specialist or PPC executive would use their knowledge of the industry and the language to expand out a set of keywords that a user might type in to a search engine. They might come up with terms such as 'vehicle glass replacement', 'car windscreen fixing', 'windshield repair' etc. For this simple service there are a multitude of ways of describing the window, the vehicle and the replacement service that spawn a large number of keyword combinations. A good translator would take each one and translate to the most common, most sensible alternative in their language. Unfortunately, this will lead to a reduction in keywords. Windscreen and windshield may translate to the same common term in French. Replacement and repair may translate to the common term used in French for glass replacement. This is not what is required.

If a site is simply translated with no regard for in country search engines, it will support an English language searcher arriving at the site and then switching to their desired language. However, it will not readily support a user finding your site in their language.

It is these new customers finding your site on foreign search engines that will bring the most incremental business from the localized site.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps that can be taken to ensure the site remains searchable in language. However, similar to your English site, in order to maximise the return on investment from the localized sites, outside help may be required.

Simple steps
Find a quality localization company.
Ensure you ask for examples of web sites that they have localized before and have your in country people (if you have them) validate the translations on the reference sites.
Get your page-by-page keyword glossary translated and approved FIRST.
Much effort went into the generation of keywords for each page of the English site. Your English pages are rich with these keywords. Put the same effort into the translation of these keywords. This should be done first, before any localization of the pages begins. These translations should be approved by your in-country marketing representatives if you have them, or be double-checked by your translation company (using specialist marketing translators) if not.
Ensure the site is professionally localized.
The site must be well formed (no broken HTML or other code), be translated well, and must not contain broken links (links to pages that have not been migrated to the language site and therefore throw an error). Quality localization requires a quality localization company using specialist tools to protect page code, and to check it once the localization is complete.
When translating the web site, use the keyword glossary ELECTRONICALLY.
Do not leave it to chance. Your translation company should be using the translated keyword lists in electronic glossaries so the translators are automatically prompted with the approved language version of the keyword whenever they are translating an English equivalent.
Following these steps will ensure that the site gets the basics right and can be effectively indexed on the correct keywords by the engines. However, to ensure you are getting the correct prominence on the search engines, you need to read on.

Advanced Multilingual Search Marketing
If you want to perform in your foreign markets, and fully capitalise on you localization investment, you will need help with the following:

Engine-Specific Optimisation
This involves the identification of important engines by country for your target market. Google is not necessarily the dominant player in all countries. In China, for example, at the time of writing, you won't find Google in the top ten sites. An engine called Baidu is by far the most used site. In order to identify, and then optimise and monitor for these engines you will require support from external specialists.
Pay Per Click (PPC) in each locale
PPC is the fastest method to achieving search engine prominence in any country. Using PPC you can instantly achieve success, but unless you have the expertise you can instantly waste large amounts of money. In order to generate PPC keywords (this is not simply the list of page-by-page keywords) and manage your campaigns you will need outside help.
Link building campaigns
In the same way as you have build vast numbers of links to your English site, the language version is a rich and often untapped source of links. Again, outside help may be required, either with or without the use of your in-country marketing team.
ROI Tracking
The great thing about your search campaigns is that using the latest analytics tools you can determine exactly where each internet order has come from. You can track which keyword was used on which engine and tie these back to the profit you received for the order. ROI tracking is essential and it will determine where next month's focus will lie for your in country search engine spend. ROI tracking must be applied to localized versions of the site.

Conclusion
We hope this article has shown that there are some basic steps that can be taken during the localization process that will start the search engine optimisation process on the right track. These basic steps will fall easily into place if your localization company know the details of search engine optimization. Make sure you test them out.

Remember that the cost of getting it right is minimal compared to the lost opportunity of getting it wrong.

Search Laboratory specializes in Multilingual SEO and PPC Management.