LEAP’s Head of Language and Culture, Vandana Pankhania took to the stage at the Digital Marketing World Forum in Amsterdam to bust the myths about localisation and SEO. She also wowed the audience with LEAP’s ‘Think Culture First’ approach to multilingual SEO. Get a peek at some of the insights, and request a one-to-one to find out more.
Myth 1: Just translate your keywords
You’ve researched the best keywords for your source market so you can translate them to optimise content for your other markets too. Right?
Wrong! Each market has its own ‘search culture’. Simply put, translated keywords won’t give you search terms that rank well in any other market.
Myth busting example
We created a scenario for one of our travel clients to illustrate the effectiveness of LEAP’s ‘Think Culture First’ approach to multilingual SEO.
The challenge: reach multiple audiences around the world and make sure the message resonates in all lead markets and in Spain in particular.
In some cases, you might luck out with a simple translation. There’s only one way to say, “low-cost flights” (vuelos baratos). However, if you wanted to win bookings from Spaniards hoping for a “last-minute holiday” you’d need to know whether to tempt them with “vacaciones” or “viajes de última hora.” Make the right choice and you’ve increased your average monthly search. Get it wrong and you’ve missed your target.
The LEAP Approach
To truly optimise content with multilingual SEO, LEAP leveraged the expertise of our Spanish SEO experts in Spain. First, our team identified the leading search engine in Spain – Google. Then, we developed a recommended list of keywords for Spain based on actual average monthly searches.
If you were led astray by the keyword translation myth and took the direct Spanish translation of the UK travel-related keyword “travel ideas” as “ideas de viajes” you’d get fairly disappointing average monthly search results. But if you took the LEAP approach, you’d know that people in Spain are instead asking “dónde ir de vacaciones” (“Where to go on holiday?”). The correctly optimised keywords would greatly boost your average monthly searches.
Myth 2: Same language, same keywords
Can we use the same keyword list in markets that speak the same language?
No. Remember, each market has its own ‘search culture,’ so we can’t assume that the same keyword list can be used across markets even if they speak the ‘same’ language. After all, we Brits take a holiday while our American friends go on vacation. LEAP’s multilingual SEO experts can identify the more subtle cross-cultural nuances.
Myth 3: Just Google it
Google might be the most famous search engine in the US and UK, but it attracts only a fraction of users in other key markets. Google falls short in China when compared with Baidu. In South Korea, people look for information and inspiration on Naver. Search engine platform popularity can change from region to region and over time.
When you’re investing in a multi-market campaign, it pays to consult with LEAP’s multilingual SEO experts first.
Wondering if the LEAP approach can improve your results?
Ask for a one-to-one meeting with Vandana.
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