Whether your business is already global or about to launch on a worldwide scale, a key component of your growth strategy is producing valuable content that reflects the right tone and nuances of the target market.
And it is hard work.
Following the Covid lockdowns, lots of companies around the world underwent digital transformation and in doing so, many of them realized the possibilities of taking their businesses global.
These days most companies realize that online machine translation doesn’t give them the quality and accuracy they need for negotiating important business decisions.
No matter what path
your content takes
- from writer to multilingual audience it usually begins in one language.
Let’s have a look at the different types of content and how it can be optimized so as to reach and be read around the world.
Optimizing for Global Visibility
Attracting international users to read about your brand or product is the first step in converting them, and thus an important step in content strategy.
SEO strategies
, at an international level, are complex and challenging.
-
Translated websites must feature the right keywords across languages.
-
Content goes much deeper than text that lives on landing pages.
-
Optimize tags and meta-data specific to your target audience.
But there’s so much more to global search engine optimization.
Where is your company logo on your page? Upper left placement is common for sites in languages that are written left-to-right. Arabic and Hebrew are among seven other modern languages written right-to-left script, therefore, in addition to the language content all product descriptions, images, labels, icons, and more should be mirrored to ensure targeted customer comprehension.
Choosing the right platform to promote or facilitate communication in different counties is very important.
Understanding local search engines and delivering content that gets ranked among them, is an art and a science.
Image source:
Botify
On-site contacts in target countries are a huge asset, though not always possible, especially for companies, new to the global game.
Experts
can help you navigate international search engines and work to get your content noticed by new audiences.
Copy and paste translation, done carelessly, has a negative impact in most international search results.
In China, for example, the content must fall in accordance with the censorship laws and paid advertising requirements of the major search engine Baidu. Don’t assume that if Google likes it, Baidu or Weibo will too. The distinctions between platforms can make the biggest differences in
SEO
.
Hire local writers to translate your content. Luckily, there are quite a few platforms that make hiring local talent easy, so don’t opt for shortcuts!
Optimizing Your Outreach for Global Reach
Every email you write, you tailor it to the recipient. Pretty simple. For emails that must cross the language barrier, it’s extra important to have the recipient’s experience in mind. In the translation process, the meaning of words is often lost, so composing an
email must be done
with consideration to details.
Salutations are the first thing they’re going to read so be sure to address customers with sensitivity to their culture.
For example, in the U.S, it’s a nice personal touch to address someone by their first name, whereas, in Japan, introductions are made with last names plus the word san. An effort should always be made to convey these etiquettes.
Avoid idioms, slang and colloquialisms. Edit your email carefully, before it undergoes translation; these phrases are often overlooked and taken for granted.
Translating conversion buttons like “Sign Up” or “Subscribe” may be obvious. Don’t forget to translate the statements that pop up when clicked. Loading, and please wait, and redirecting must be readable, so the user doesn’t impatiently change his mind.
Optimizing for Global Interactions
When your business takes the international stage, you want some international applause. Earning good reviews from multilingual users and then managing the reviews appropriately requires strategy. Brands can be built or broken upon customer feedback and testimony.
Encourage multilingual users to write reviews by streamlining the submission process. Nobody should have to learn to use it. It’s helpful to provide simple options. The first is an open-ended review- where they can free-write their comments or respond to questions provided. The second is a close-ended review, where users can click on the button to like or vote things.
Responding to reviews when they come back is essential. Again, hiring a local manager or virtual assistant is your best bet here. Don’t just rely on translated words. Speak to your local customers the way they can relate to.
Similarly, businesses must pay close attention to the content that is getting shared that mentions their brand and respond appropriately. Use aggregate software to collect reviews, address concerns and answer questions, build international business relationships and thank customers.
Social media profiles should be accessible to multilingual users. Most companies collect feedback from their social media, so they should optimize their profiles in multiple languages to encourage multilingual engagement.
Say you make your business website available in the local language and it’s optimized with good content. Make sure it directs users to
social media
profiles in their local language as well. It’s unhelpful when a user reads only French and clicks to learn more about your business, and your profile is in English.
Content that’s worth reading is one thing. Content that
everyone
can read is another. Once it’s out there, content undergoes a very typical process, from which we anticipate and track its success. It gets discovered; it’s well-received and then it gets shared.
Content worth reading is cleverly catered to its readers. Content worth sharing is usable, understandable and valuable across multiple platforms and languages on a global scale.