Stop doing SEO translation, start doing SEO localization with Maria Scheibengraf

Search with Candour - SEO podcast

Maria Scheibengraf joins Jack Chambers-Ward to explain why localization is so important for your international SEO strategy.

Direct translation just doesn’t work for SEO. You need to take culture and nuance into account when it comes to your international SEO strategies.

Maria explains the common problems that many agencies and SEOs face with multilingual SEO and how to get SEO localization right. Follow Maria Scheibengraf

• Follow Maria on LinkedIn
• Follow Crisol Translations

Resources

• Maria's companion blog post
• Book recommendation: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer
• The Nike 'Am I a Bad Person? ad

Sponsors

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Chapters

• 00:00 Start
• 00:00:34 Intro
• 00:01:37 Sponsor: SE Ranking
• 00:03:45 Sponsor: Optmyzr
• 00:06:39 Welcome to the show Maria Scheibengraf
• 00:08:06 Why is SEO localisation so important?
• 00:11:00 The flawed workflow of SEO translation
• 00:15:10 Direct translation doesn’t work
• 00:16:21 Localisation is so much more than language
• 00:20:33 Book recommendation: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer
• 00:20:53 High context vs low context communication
• 00:22:06 British humour vs American humor
• 00:24:00 The importance of technical SEO in localisation
• 00:27:25 Understand what devices your audience are using
• 00:30:00 Common problems with SEO localisation
• 00:36:35 Linguists should learn SEO skills
• 00:40:30 When should SEO localisation be involved in the process?
• 00:41:09 The ideal international SEO workflow
• 00:44:35 How NOT to convince Germans to buy your products
• 00:47:45 How to budget for SEO localisation
• 00:49:20 Reuse resources to save time and money
• 00:51:45 Reframe your unique selling points to different cultures
• 00:54:05 Understanding cultural-coding
• 00:55:32 Be mindful of your messaging in different cultures
• 00:57:10 Marketing is still about evoking emotions in your audience
• 00:58:00 Even emotions are culturally coded
• 00:58:37 ‘Am I a bad person?’ Nike ad
• 01:00:34 Individualistic vs collectivist cultures
• 01:02:58 Search behaviour is becoming more conversational in English
• 01:05:05 AI is not trained on minority languages
• 01:06:58 Adapt your language to cultural standards
• 01:08:12 Even small changes in language can make a big difference
• 01:09:12 Don’t say ‘please’ in your Spanish content!
• 01:10:51 How language changes through generations
• 01:11:35 “De nada” means “it’s nothing” not “you’re welcome”
• 01:13:49 Tiny errors can really change your messaging
• 01:14:08 How to build trust with your audience
• 01:15:40 Where to follow Maria Scheibengraf
• 01:16:36 Outro