In a globalised world, there is an ever-greater need for communication. It goes without saying that expanding into new markets can bring new customers. How can your brand reach those lucrative new markets? SEO translators are the solution you need.
Reach a wider audience. New customers and higher sales. That’s the aim. SEO translators can help you get there. Companies that invest in SEO translation services are better placed to break into foreign markets and reach new consumers.
What do SEO translators do?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) helps increase a website’s visibility. Why is this important? Well, if nobody can find your website, they won’t buy your product. SEO helps push your site to the top of search engine rankings. When people search for a typical term related to your business, with good SEO, your site is one of the first results. If you’re expanding into new markets, you may need to translate your site into other languages. If you don’t have SEO translation, you probably won’t reach the customers you’re aiming at.
What makes #SEO translation different? Read more to find out Share on XGood SEO translation can help the translation rank higher on search engines in the target country. If the website ranks highly, it receives more traffic, to help you drive sales.
But SEO translation is more than just translating the text from one language to another. SEO translators understand how websites rank on search engines. They know about keywords and how to use them for best effect. SEO translators speak your language, the target language and the language of SEO. They know about writing for the Internet and ways to use social media.
Companies that invest in SEO translation services are better placed to break into foreign markets.
How can SEO translators help you?
Many SEO translators offer a range of services to make sure your translation investment achieves all its potential. These often go beyond simple translation. There are freelancers offering services like marketing translation, bilingual copywriting and transcreation.
Bilingual copywriting for SEO
To make sales, you need to get people excited about your product or service. And you need your target market to know about you. To do this, you need them to be able to find you. That’s the SEO bit. You also need to be able to talk to them in a language they understand. To build familiarity and trust. That’s where the bilingual copywriting comes in.
Some SEO translators also have copywriting skills. They use this to write well-crafted blogs that also help websites rank more highly. This is where SEO translators who also offer bilingual copywriting come into their own. You can explain what you need, and they can craft it in the target language. They use their understanding of SEO to make sure the copy does what it needs to do. Read Gwen’s article about domains for multi-lingual websites where she explains why you don’t necessarily need to translate everything.
If you’re expanding into English-speaking markets, simple translation isn’t enough. As we said, an important part of this expansion is content and engagement. Not everyone has the skills to be a copywriter. Using a professional translator who has trained in SEO and copywriting means you cover all bases. Bilingual copywriters can produce SEO-optimised content for blogs and websites in your target language. Some even also offer social media or community management services. The mix of professional translation and an understanding of SEO is a winning combination for your business.
Transcreation
If your business expansion includes marketing, you might want to think about transcreation. For the lowdown on transcreation, check out Gwen’s article “What Is Transcreation? Is It Different to Marketing Translation?” Transcreation is a combination of translation and copywriting. It’s particularly suitable for marketing texts where a simple translation will hit problems of cultural specifics. A good SEO translator/transcreator goes that extra mile to give your brand the visibility it needs across cultures.
The mix of professional translation and an understanding of SEO is a winning combination for your brand.
Who uses SEO translators?
Everyone who wants to be found by customers in foreign markets! But, let’s use the travel industry as an example. Travel, particularly in Spain, is booming right now. Figures for 2017 show an increase on 2016, which was a record-breaking year. A survey by Deloitte shows 70% of companies in the sector are seeing continued growth throughout this year. In Andalusia, Lonely Planet named Seville the best city to travel to in 2018. Visits to the region stood at 10.6 million in 2016, 12% up on the previous year. For more information about how SEO translation is important for tourism, read my blog “What Marketing Translators Can Offer the Travel and Tourism Industry”. It’s an industry with wide-ranging translation needs. This can include marketing materials, brochures, website content, menus and travel guides. But it’s no good if nobody can find what you produce because it’s buried on page 11 of Google. Or if they can find it, but there are mistakes caused by non-native translators or Google Translate. The Norwegian Olympic team learned that the hard way when their grocery order included 15,000 eggs thanks to a Google Translate error. You could say the details got scrambled. If you’ll pardon the pun.
What should you look for with SEO translators?
An understanding of SEO: check out the SEO translator’s own website
SEO translators are business people like you. They also need to be found by potential customers. One way to do that nowadays is by having a website. So, check out your SEO translator’s own website. They’ve probably got a blog and perhaps a portfolio page. If you’re looking for more information about getting a translation, read “How to Get a Translation – Complete Customer Guide”.
Accreditation and professional memberships
First of all, make sure your translator is accredited. What does this mean? Accredited translators will be members of professional associations such as the ITI, MET and CIoL. They are likely to have qualifications in translation such as the Diploma in Translation from the Chartered Institute of Linguists or a Masters in translation. Professional translators usually work and specialise in certain fields. For example, Gwen specialises in legal and marketing translations and I specialise in tourism and fashion. For more information, read “Why You Should Use Accredited Translation Services”.
A secret weapon in your internationalization strategy: SEO #translation Share on XProfessional but small-scale is best
If you need translation into multiple languages, a translation agency has certain advantages. They can provide a pool of translators across many different languages, as well as project managers and production teams. But, if you need translation into one or two languages, think about going small-scale. Independent freelancers can provide excellent value for money and personal service. They have more flexibility to tailor the service to what you need. Whatever you do, don’t be tempted by bargain-basement options, they’ll cost you more in the long run. Check out “10 Reasons Why You Should Use Professional Translation Services and not Google Translate” for more information.
What can SEO translators offer? If you work with independents like The Translator’s Studio, the answer is: a lot. With a combined 18 years’ experience, we can offer translation, SEO copywriting and transcreation. Get in touch for a quote.
Good article Lucy, I believe that SEO for translators is very important, maybe it is the most important thing for business, many posts write of it everywhere, and it is good to focus on it. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks
I’m glad you enjoyed it, thanks for taking the time to comment.