Translating your website: 5 tips

8 July 2020

Your current website is scoring well on Google and potential clients in your country are able to find you. But now you want to go abroad. In what way? Amongst others, by translating your website. How do you do that and what should you definitely keep in mind? We share 5 tips with you.

Tip 1 | Translate the content on your website to the language of your target group

People like being addressed in their own language, and that includes your potential clients and website visitors abroad. Don’t just translate to the more generic English if you’re translating your website – unless, of course, the official language of your target group is English. Be bold and pick the languages of your target group. This might be an investment, but it will pay off by reaching your potential clients more specifically.

> Find out more about translation.

Tip 2 | Don’t forget to translate the keywords

The current texts on your website have probably already been optimised for Google. You have done your keyword research before: which words are your potential clients looking for in Google? By carrying out multilingual keyword research you will get a good view of what your target group is searching for – including your target group abroad. So make sure to carry out multilingual keyword research. The translator will be able to use these specific keywords in the website texts. This way you will not only make your current website score well, but your translated website as well!

> Find out more about global SEO.

Tip 3 | Translate other website elements as well

Other than translating the website content and incorporating the keywords, various other website elements should be translated as well. For example:

  • Links
  • Meta description
  • Page titles
  • Menus
  • Header and footer
  • Alt texts of images

It is advisable to use keywords in these translations as well. Google likes them very much!

Tip 4 | Make sure the internal links are referring to the right translated page

Don’t forget to adjust the internal links in your content to the right translated pages. It would be sloppy if a link on the new Spanish web page still referred to an English web page. Make sure you check every link to see if they refer to the correct page.

Tip 5 | Pick a new domain, subdomain or subfolder for your translated website

Discuss with your website builder whether creating a new domain for the translations of your current website or opting for a subdomain or subfolder is best suitable for you. There are several advantages and disadvantages to these options. Your website builder can tell you all about it.


Would you like to discuss the possibilities for translating your website?
Please contact us. We would be pleased to help you!

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Website translation: 5 tips | LinQuake translation services

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