5 Multilingual Website Best Practices

A few years ago, say 10 years, talking about multilingual website best practices might have resulted in a very different blog article. SEO, while it had already made its entrance, was a little-known element to the average human being. Indeed, it was a practice that most businesses had little idea about.

Today the situation is quite different. It is no longer a new, fancy buzzword, the kind that some people use and the rest of us struggle to understand. No. It is everywhere; on LinkedIn, in marketing seminars, in Forbes articles, and so on.

SEO has become a necessity for businesses, regardless of size and industry type. It also became a challenge for all who relied on old-school marketing strategies. But most of all, it has become an opportunity for those looking to break into the global market.

At Optimational, one of our specialities is SEO services for multilingual websites. In doing so, we are helping companies grow and benefit from a strategy that cuts through the internet noise and the language barriers. So, as we have an idea or two on the subject, here are some of what we consider the best practices for you to take advantage of as well.

What Is a Multilingual Website?

According to Google, a multilingual website is one that offers content in several languages, regardless of where exactly you sell your products or services. There are many global companies that still only offer content in English or in their local language.

Imagine you have an eCommerce with the option to display your menu, pages, etc. in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French; this would be a clear example of a multilingual website.

When does it make sense to translate into multiple languages? When you want to go global and expand your customer base. In other words, to improve your website’s organic traffic and thus close more deals. Moreover, it positions you better against the competition and allows your content to perform better, making it more appealing to users and potential prospects. 

Learn more about how multilingual content works.

#OptimationalTip: To better clarify: Multilingual and bilingual are similar terms but not the same. If your online content is only available in Portuguese and Spanish, that is an example of a bilingual website.

Multilingual Website Best Practices for SEO

Without further ado, here is what was promised.

1. Getting Started: Define the Best Strategy

There are three key components to understanding how to best prepare your multilingual SEO strategy. 

• When to do it: The best time to start was yesterday. The second best time is today. By this, we mean managing time efficiently, and understanding that every second is valuable. What you are looking to do, others are already doing; so starting with the translation and localisation of your content should be at the top of your to-do list.
• Identify the markets you want to target: You can choose markets where your competitors are well established, or you can look at uncharted horizons. The former will put you as a challenger in a proven fertile territory, requiring a more aggressive strategy. The second will challenge you to find your niche, maximise the industry awareness, and expose the consumption needs of your potential customers. It may be more of a slog at the start but on less contested terrain.
• Plan the steps: This is a long task, even for the local language. So, set small milestones in your content localisation plan. Make it possible to follow and measure them. It is preferable to advance gradually but with visibility of the partial results, rather than waiting to have everything ready for the launch. Otherwise, it would be like walking blind; you would lose valuable time—and budget as well—without knowing if the process steps are the most convenient.

Why do you need all this? To determine what kind of SEO services for multilingual sites you need. Plus, to understand which countries you need to localise your content for. 

2. The Technical Side Matters (a Lot)

Choose your CMS carefully and strategically. Select a platform that can do what you need it to do. In other words, one that is user-friendly for your team and intuitive to navigate for your prospects. Also, one that allows for the changes you require now or perhaps later (as far as you can foresee), etc. And most importantly, one that enables the addition of as many languages as you deem necessary.

For this, bear in mind one of the basic and most important multilingual website best practices: To localise according to countries, not languages. This way you can, for example, offer content in Portuguese for Brazil that feels more natural than a version for Portugal. 

A quick tip: Analyse whether it is better to create new pages for each language, under the same domain, or to set up a domain for each one of them.

Finally, think about how users will get to the content in their local version. Will they automatically land on your site’s version according to their browser’s default location? Or will they arrive at the main site and then be able to choose the language via a pop-up window? Do you plan to include a drop-down feature for manual switching?

#OptimationalTip: The language choice and when it is best to translate or localise depends on your goals. To explore options, you can look at other multilingual websites as examples. However, as every company is unique, the best option is to seek advice from professionals.

3. Get the Most Out of Tools and Integrations

The many available technological tools can make your life much easier. Not only that, but they can also help you cut down on costs and optimise time. All this, without compromising the quality of your content and the reputation of your site.

One of these options, which will facilitate the translation task, is the integration of the CMS with the translation software (or CAT tool) used by your language service provider. What is this for? So that your linguistic partner receives the material to be translated directly. This will be inserted into the software automatically and split into smaller units (called segments). As a result, the translation will be faster and less prone to errors. 

But the benefits do not end there; CAT tools enable data storage for reuse in case of repetition—and such repetitions will incur a lower fee. 

Additional useful plug-in options are SEO extensions suitable for multilingual sites. They give you visibility of how efficient your SEO strategy is, from content production to publishing. They also enable you to make quick, on-the-fly adjustments. Examples that some bilingual websites leverage are Yoast and SEMRush Writing Assistant, among others.

Learn more about SEO plugins.

4. Localise Everything—But Stay Consistent

Localisation of content is not important: It is essential. If you want every section of your multilingual website to be relevant and of high quality, then consider localisation as a fundamental part of the optimisation process. Let us highlight a few important aspects of this matter.

Localise Everything Possible, Necessary, and Convenient

This is one of the most basic practices for multilingual websites. The elements should be in accordance with the local culture and language because you are providing a product or service that must make sense in each particular market. Consider press articles, link building strategies, currencies, figures, addresses, date format, and more.

Localise the Visuals 

Consider the influence culture has on colour choice, element layout, text orientation, and overall design. For instance, some cultures value minimalism more while others consider it “empty.”

Keep Your Brand Identity

Yes, you have to localise, but also maintain consistency. A coherent site advocates for simple and effective usability, by allowing the users to learn usage patterns. It also increases the search engines’ trust—by preventing them from perceiving an inorganic site structure. For example, introducing a new logo could be an inconsistent change.

Try to Make It Symmetrical

That is, if your website originally has 12 pages, try to make sure you localise (or at least translate) those 12 pages as well. This ensures consistency and shows empathy for your new users. They might not understand why you have only translated a few pages for them and not the whole site.

Start with What You Have 

Translation and optimization take time. Therefore, making a multilingual website that complies with SEO is a slow process and must be done carefully. You do not need to wait until you have absolutely everything localised to start uploading it. You can start with the content that is ready, as long as you commit to updating your website as soon as possible.

#OptimationalTip: Do not mix multiple languages on the same URL. Search engines determine the language by analysing the content of each page. And they also consider it for ranking purposes. So, do not make Google go crazy.

5. Choose the Right Linguistic Partner

Another essential best practice for multilingual websites is to get expert help.

If you think about the alternatives you have to get your translated content up and running, you will see there are several options. To make it easier for you, we list them below:

• Setting up an in-house translation team: This is an option that could ensure quality, consistency, and accurate portrayal of your brand’s voice. However, hiring a team of professionals, with knowledge in multiple languages and expertise in different fields and types of texts, can be quite costly.
• Hiring freelance translators: A more cost-efficient option. However, you will need to find the right professionals for each language pair. Also, they should have experience in your industry/type of content. And, most importantly, they must have available time whenever you need them. Cheaper, but a more gruelling task.
• Enlisting the help of bilingual people: Perhaps some members of your staff are bilingual. But, how well do they know about industry-specific linguistic conventions? A non-professional is unlikely to have knowledge of CAT tools, quality control processes, or project management. Nor of updated language rules, grammar exceptions, or SEO for multilingual sites, etc.
• Using machine translation (MT): Google Translate can be a useful instrument but it does not replace the human touch. The MT cannot distinguish context, attitude, or type of speech. Nor does it know when style can be more relevant than a perfect linguistic exchange. And, mostly, it does not know about your brand. Thus, it can result in a poor customer experience. 

The Perfect Match: What You Need and Fits Best

Teaming up with a translation and localisation agency is the best alternative if you consider the following elements:

• Fair budget
• High-quality results
• Time efficiency
• Professional project management
• Multiple languages
• Knowledge of various industries and text types
• Consistency and mastery of brand voice
• Multilingual website SEO

By collaborating on a permanent basis with the same language partner, you ensure that your business needs are understood, a clear interpretation of the style guide, and consistency across texts and languages. Plus, you will not have to worry about hunting down each professional, estimating timelines, or checking availability.

Final Thoughts: Multilingual Website Best Practices to Shine and Thrive

There are many aspects to consider when starting the internationalisation process of your website. However, by starting with the correct localisation of your content according to SEO, you are already a long way down the road. 

It will be a long process, which requires time, budget, and experience. But if you handle it with the right tools and strategy, you will move forward without having to retrace your steps and redo it all over again. We hope this multilingual website best practices guide will help enlighten your next steps.

If you are seeking a team of professionals who are willing to get to grips with your business’ linguistic needs to provide you with the best SEO and language solution, contact us today.