Human factors are becoming increasingly important in search-engine-optimized texts. Worldwide. The secret to successful SEO copywriting is keywords and content that perform at their peak in their respective target markets. Along with an understanding of the search habits of local individuals. As well as how they “tick.”
Really good originals: A ‘gift’ for people and machines
The fact of the matter is this: Websites or online shops have to be found before they can influence anything at all. No matter which language they’re available in or which market they’re targeting and which search engine are used. The crux of the matter is simple: Not everyone searches for content in the same way. “To google” is not a verb in everybody’s language. China is a good example: A search engine called Baidu leads the pack there, holding a muscular market share of 60 percent. Russia is another: The mostly widely used search engine there is Yandex, a search engine that emulates Google, Russian style, and is constantly expanding its service range. When SEO copywriters sit down and begin to adapt a website into another language, they initially have to think about the culture of a specific country in general. And the online search culture in particular. One other key factor comes into play in the latter considerations as well: the quality of the content on the original website.
A thorough, three-step SEO check: control, identify, optimize
Therefore: Before we at Leinhäuser adapt web content into another language and for a different online-marketing region, we closely examine the original content from the point of view of a SEO copywriter. This means one thing: We determine whether the original texts have been SEO optimized in a way that they will achieve a good ranking in the domestic market. Namely: Did the SEO copywriters use the relevant keywords? Is the content unique? And on top of that can the texts be read well and enjoyably on all end devices? By Google & friends. And by users.
These days, SEO copywriters have to be able to write for search engines AND people. This is where our translation work goes into action: with an analysis of the website and the social media content per word. Special on-page and SEO tools help us perform this job. Along with a marketing agency that closely examines the quality of the texts in terms of human SEO factors. In the process, we control the performance, identify problem areas and optimize the quality of the original content when necessary. We then get down to brass tacks: the optimal adaption of the SEO content into the desired language. The most critical factor in the success of this work is the precise briefing of our translators. Or to be even more exact, our intercultural SEO copywriters.
Best briefings: This is how texts can function in every language from the very start
To ensure that translated content really holds the attention of users in the target market, we at Leinhäuser employ specialist translators who are native speakers and have market-specific SEO expertise. But that is hardly all. We also conduct a detailed briefing with SEO copywriters regarding relevant country-specific keywords and requirements. The briefings are rounded out by precise instructions about the technical specificities of a country. Namely, the search engines that dominate the market and the ranking criteria that must be fulfilled. Our biggest trump card in this work is our vast pool of intercultural expertise. And our proven network of SEO copywriters who live and work in the target country. These are individuals who understand just what type of quality that keyword research and texts must have to achieve good rankings. And to command the attention of people in the country.
Simply good: This is how online texts can be read well and enjoyably
The practice of keyword stuffing, that is, the packing of tons and tons of keywords into a text, is no longer what makes good SEO content. The opposite is actually true. Google recently began to systematically sanction such behavior. By contrast, the readability of texts is becoming an increasingly important factor for search engines and users. This means that texts must be written in such a clear way that people will understand the content. And the search engine must grasp the context of the content as well. The following rules help our SEO copywriters produce readable texts:
- Avoid foreign words
- Explain technical terms
- Use short sentences
- Shun run-on sentences
- Avoid massive blocks of text
- Use subheads
- Use bullet-point lists
- Use natural language
Looking toward the future: This is how texts sound good online
All of these skills will not simply ensure that online texts are readable. They also ensure that they sound good, too. We’re talking about voice search. With the help of this technology, users can pose questions to search engines and have the answers simply read aloud to them. This is a trend that is forming into a giant wave.
The bottom line: Internationalization means intercultural communication
The job of tapping new target markets and establishing an online presence there always boils down to communicating with people. It is a form of communications that is performed among equals and is aimed at being correctly understood. No matter whether the goal is B2B or B2C, it always comes down to H2H: human to human.
The job of our SEO copywriters is to ensure that a website will be found in the target market. It can be found if the right keywords are used in the right position and to the optimal degree. In addition, the adapted texts should answer users’ questions in an understandable language and offer solutions. If all technical AND human SEO factors are taken into account, the content of a website and social media will serve as a good interface between people and machines – around the world.
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2017
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