Local SEO Language Considerations for European Countries

Europe is an astonishing spot afloat of each sorts of cultures, languages, and customs which makes doing SEO somewhat antithetic to doing SEO successful accidental the United States.

From the English speaking United Kingdom to multilingual Belgium and everything successful between, it's a fascinating portion of the satellite that has truthful overmuch imaginable if the close resources are successful place.

We person a fig of planetary resources to assistance planetary SEOs optimise their sites for antithetic languages and locations to make the champion idiosyncratic experience.

For the purposes of this article, I privation you to get into the mindset of  SEO being hunt experience optimisation, alternatively than hunt motor optimisation.

Serving your people assemblage the incorrect mentation of a leafage based connected state oregon connection targeting tin not lone ruin the hunt acquisition of adjacent the astir prepared site, but tin mean the quality betwixt converting and not converting.

This station volition beryllium highly utile for brands with a beingness successful Europe, oregon those looking to expand successful the European market, or adjacent those brands already successful Europe but privation to grow into respective different countries

Why Multi-Language SEO is Important

Europe arsenic a continent contains a myriad of antithetic languages and cultures, and each state has their unsocial taste ecosystem. Language successful peculiar varies importantly from state to country.

Some countries — similar the UK oregon Germany — person 1 official language, but are composed of respective antithetic dialects. The mode a Londoner speaks is vastly antithetic to idiosyncratic from, say, Liverpool.

On the flipside, different countries similar Belgium oregon Switzerland person vastly antithetic communities speaking precise antithetic languages but are agreed nether 1 communal nationality. So, SEO successful these countries requires keyword probe and contented strategy successful some Dutch (Flemish) and French.

With that successful mind, a multi-language SEO strategy is important for immoderate concern looking to grow into this portion of the satellite — a portion wherever ecommerce penetration is exceptionally high. The United Kingdom, for example, has the highest percent of ecommerce adoption at 92% with the remainder of Europe rapidly catching up.

… Western Europe boasts the highest stock of full European e-commerce turnover for 2020 …”

— 2021 European Ecommerce Report

This successful itself presents a commercialized accidental to put heavy successful having not conscionable an English speaking SEO strategy, but a strategic multinational and multilingual strategy.

In summation to this, according to Webinterpret, determination are 2 different precise captious concern cases to see erstwhile deciding to put successful a multilingual SEO strategy:

• Only 54% of Europeans tin clasp a speech successful different language
• 9 successful 10 similar to bargain successful their ain language, if fixed the prime

And so, although much than 50% of Europeans are multilingual, they’re inactive acold much comfy with transacting successful their ain section language.

When to Use Local Language SEO

There are 2 instances wherever connection considerations go a portion of your SEO plan.

1. Countries that talk aggregate languages

In this case, you privation to people the close connection region.

For example, Belgium has chiseled Flemish (Dutch) and French connection communities.

Switzerland — with French, German, and Italian, and to a lesser grade Finland (with a 5% number speaking Swedish arsenic a archetypal language) — besides fits this mold.

2. Countries wherever the connection is lone spoken successful that country

Denmark, Poland, and adjacent Turkey are large examples. Each state has their ain unsocial connection that’s spoken lone wrong their ain borders.

From acquisition having worked with teams successful different languages, this tin person an interaction connected the roles and responsibilities of SEO’s, from specialists to a much wide flexible all-rounder (which is thing English autochthonal speakers astatine times could instrumentality for granted).  

To assistance adjacent further, Google has documentation on managing multiregional sites arsenic well.
 

Multi-Language SEO Considerations

There are 2 main avenues to take, depending connected what you’re after:

1. Country targeting
2. Language targeting

Country targeting identifies the state that a idiosyncratic searches from. It involves much than a elemental translation to lucifer the connection of the state of wherever the searcher is located.  

My workfellow Susan offers this large illustration successful our implicit guide to planetary SEO: An American institution wishing to grow successful the UK won’t request to interest overmuch astir transcript (for the astir part) but things similar sizing conventions and currency indispensable beryllium addressed.

Language targeting, connected the different hand, targets users based connected the communal connection they talk irrespective of their geographical location.

Take Spanish — oregon adjacent French — for example, which is spoken successful dozens of countries each implicit the satellite …    

Each has its pros and cons, and should beryllium considered depending connected your situation.

It’s champion signifier to not automatically redirect a idiosyncratic to a definite connection mentation of your website conscionable based connected location… You can, however, connection the proposition to translate.”

Other SEO Language Considerations

#1. URL Structure

There are 3 ways to acceptable up your planetary site:

1. ccTLD (Country codification top-level domain)

These domains typically notation to a circumstantial state and should look rather familiar.

Here’s an illustration domain name: domain.se.

“se” in this lawsuit stands for Sweden.

Other state codes include:

• .uk = United Kingdom
• .fr = France
• .eu = European Union

The ccTLD is simply a website of its own, truthful whitethorn necessitate much clip and attention. It’s not a subsection of different site, similar we’ll spot with subdomains and subdirectories.

2. Subdomain

Continuing with our Sweden example, a subdomain whitethorn look thing similar se.domain.com.

The country-specific contented is simply a portion of the main website astatine large.

3. Subdirectory

The subdirectory besides places the contented connected the basal domain. Here’s our example: domain.com/ie/.

So, which URL operation should you use?

As my workfellow explains: “If you opt for the state targeting, usage ccTLD. For connection targeting, usage the subdirectory.”

#2. Sitemap

Your sitemap tin play a relation successful your SEO targeting.

Be definite to support your sitemap up-to-date and close with connection considerations. This besides means submitting your sitemap successful the close language!

#3. Hreflang

The hreflang tag is important for a mates of reasons. Not lone does it assistance with your multilingual SEO, it besides helps to forestall duplicate content.

Although hreflang tin unrecorded successful the sitemap, it doesn’t person to. It tin besides unrecorded connected the leafage itself.  

And so, you’ll privation to guarantee the close hreflang tags are implemented.

Recommended Reading: Does Your Site Need Self-Referencing Hreflang Tags?

Hreflang Language Codes

Here are the hreflang codes for assorted European languages from hreflang.org:

And the codes for European countries:

#4. Currency

In bid to make the champion hunt acquisition imaginable (and truthful marque the idiosyncratic consciousness comfortable) it makes consciousness to merchantability products successful the searcher’s autochthonal currency.

For example, if your lawsuit is successful the UK past merchantability successful Pounds (£). If your lawsuit is successful Norway, past Norwegian Krone (kr).

This successful crook volition summation the likelihood of conversion.

#5. Intent of a Keyword

Perhaps the astir important portion of planetary SEO and connection considerations is the contented itself.

Just similar with immoderate different SEO contented penning project, the existent penning process shouldn’t statesman until capable probe has been done.

To start, arsenic a truly bully workflow, driblet successful a caput word into seoClarity’s Topic Explorer to hunt our 28+ cardinal keyword information set.

Better still, you tin filter by state to uncover hunt volumes connected a state by state basis.

(Keyword probe for “trainers” successful the United Kingdom.)

Once you’ve identified the word you privation to optimise for, usage Content Fusion, an AI-driven contented optimizer, to assistance with penning the content. You’ll spot questions to reply and suggested topics to see successful your transcript to amended the relevancy and readability of that peculiar portion of content.

The large portion is that Content Fusion covers not lone the large languages specified arsenic English, German, French, Spanish and adjacent Dutch, but besides covers each 4 Nordic languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish).

This is cleanable for the multilingual SEO squad and tin beryllium scaled crossed aggregate countries.

Since antithetic words successful antithetic countries person antithetic meanings, it’s recommended to enactment with a translator if you’re not a autochthonal talker yourself, different you whitethorn extremity up with a mislaid successful translation moment.

In the United States, the word “sneakers” is really “trainers” successful the UK. In France, it’s “baskets”.

Even a azygous state tin person immoderate confusing terminology if you’re not a native. Take for illustration the word “boots” successful the UK SERPs. Rather than a merchandise word it precise overmuch is simply a branded word referring to the pharmacy/retailer alternatively than footwear, which is semantically precise different.

Recommended Reading: International SEO Keyword Research for Enterprise Brands

Another contented information is connection structure.

For example, successful French, a connection I speak, the noun mostly is archetypal before the adjective. Here’s an example: “voiture rouge” (i.e. reddish car). Some words are either feminine oregon masculine, which is akin successful Spanish. This doesn’t beryllium successful English.

Then you person different important connection constructs unsocial to that peculiar language — German and Finnish travel to mind. However, afloat disclosure, I americium by nary means an adept successful either language.

#6. Technical SEO

Technical SEO doesn't conscionable use to a home-grown tract — successful fact, with a multilingual site, determination are chances that you bash person technical SEO issues.  

To assistance adjacent further, here’s a speedy database of immoderate method spot checks to run:

• Confirm that you’ve translated the meta rubric and meta description
• Double cheque the location page, class pages, footer blocks, checkout page, and default messages to beryllium definite everything’s translated, too
• Again, cheque that your hreflang tags are decently configured for each language

Conclusion

Expanding into a caller marketplace tin pb to large ROI for your business. Just beryllium alert of communal champion practices for multiregional oregon multilingual websites truthful you tin reap the benefits and decently execute your SEO strategy.  

Plus, you tin leverage an SEO platform to streamlining your integrated hunt strategy (and growth).

seoClarity supports planetary teams across the satellite — here’s however we hole you to spell global:

• AI contented optimization successful 11 planetary languages, specifically successful English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, and each Nordic languages
• International keyword probe with 28+ cardinal keywords crossed 170+ countries
• Rank tracking crossed 180+ countries
• A dedicated Client Success squad with an ever-growing squad successful Europe