Running a multilingual website can be pretty tough and as the owner, you will need to know quite a few things about SEO and how to make your content of good quality. One of the things that often set the translation of a website behind is some common mistakes that can be made while doing so.
Multilingual SEO can be a tricky process for everyone and when it comes to adapting your site and content for a global audience, you will need to keep quite a few things into consideration. Here are some very important SEO Translating mistakes you should avoid.
Not taking into consideration the quality of your content
A common problem that you see on many websites is that the quality of the content might not be as good as the translation. What this means essentially is that a company might be putting a lot of effort into translating their websites and their content but the content itself might just be bad.
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In order to avoid this from happening, you will need to make sure that the content you produce is relevant and interesting for the audience you are trying to reach and that you can keep producing it consistently in order to keep your audience interested.
Translating keywords word for word
There is truly no reason for you to translate the keywords that you use word for word. Not only is there a possibility that the translated keywords don’t have the same exact meaning, but it might also be that they are not as popular in their translated for.
What you should aim for instead is to work with your translator and make sure that the keywords that you are going to use are appropriate for the locals. Even if one of the sounds a little offensive of not compatible to their culture, you should definitely keep that out of your content.
Forgetting about the other search engines
Google is not the only search engine that people use online and you would be surprised to know that other search engines like Bing and Yahoo are popular with some users as well.
If you want to make sure that your website gains as many visits as possible, you will need to make sure that you use the right keywords and SEO tactics based on each country and market that you’re trying to reach.
Using online translators
While there is a plethora of free and paid online translation generators online, one thing is for certain; nothing can beat the translation of a real-life person. If you wish to create the best quality translation for your website and leave your customers pleased, you will need to make sure that you don’t use Google translate in order to avoid translation costs as you will end up with a website that not even a native speaker will be able to make sense of.
Not hiring professional translators to help you out
A mistake commonly made by many companies is that they don’t take the time to check the credentials of the person they hired to do their translation work. This can be a huge problem as the person might not have all the qualifications they mentioned and you might end up losing money and time on someone who is not a professional.
One of the ways to deal with this problem is by making sure to only hire professional translators from reputable freelancer websites online. The largest translation companies online also offer the chance for you to see the resumes of their writers and match you with those who will help you get your work done more effectively.
Not being able to communicate with your new customers
Even if you have managed to make everything correct when it comes to translating your websites, there is still another problem you might come across; communicating with your new customers. This might be something you hadn’t thought about, but since these people come from different countries and you have taken the time to translate your content into their language, it is only normal that they will contact you in their native tongue.
Not offering localized customer service can be a big problem for your business and you will end up losing a lot of customers that you worked hard on gaining. This can be even worse than a badly translated website and it can make all of your efforts go to waste.
Read: Conversion Optimization: Ways in Which to Help Achieve This
Not localizing your content
If you wish for your translations to be of the best quality, it is important that you take the time to localize the content you produce. What this means essentially is that your translators should always use words and phrases which are native to the region you’re targeting.
This will help you better connect with your audience and it will help your website look a lot more professional and approachable for the native speakers. For example, a common word difference between the US and the UK is the use of the word biscuits instead of cookies. You will want to take all these kinds of things into consideration and make your website as native-friendly as possible.
Read: The Impact of a Good Blog Design on Reader Retention and Engagement
Hiring non-native translators
The best way for you to be able to localize your content, is to make sure that the translators you hire are native speakers. When you work with a translation company, that is a lot easier to manage but if you decide you wish to work with professional translators individually, you need to be prepared and ask them for their CV in order to be sure that they are being honest about how well they know and can speak the language in question.
Not translating the entire website
A mistake that is very commonly made on many websites is that parts of the website are not translated into the different languages. This might either be because there is a new post or a new product that has been posted and you and your company only created the description in your company’s native language.
This can be a problem when you have customers in many different countries that are possibly waiting for you to create and upload new content. It can make them feel as if you don’t put enough effort into your website and they will be displeased to know that they are not able to understand what you just uploaded.
Translating into too many languages
While translating your website and your content into some languages can be very beneficial for your sales, it can surely be a struggle to keep up with every single language. If your company is not big enough, you will soon come to find that this will not only be difficult to keep up time wise but also financially.
Another thing to keep in mind regarding this point is that some regions will probably end up giving you far more sales than others. This might happen because a native market isn’t as interested in your products or services, because the product is too expensive for their region or even because it is not culturally appropriate for them.
Always double check your translations
Lastly, the best way for you to make sure that your content is SEO friendly and properly translated is to have someone who can double check your translations and make sure they are correct and appropriate for the locals. This is truly why working with professional native translators can be one of the best options for your company.
Which of these mistakes are you going to try and avoid doing from now on?
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