If a site is simply translated with no regard for in country search engines, it will support an English language searcher arriving at the site and then switching to their desired language. However, it will not readily support a user finding your site in their language.

It is these new customers finding your site on foreign search engines that will bring the most incremental business from the localized site. How to Localize a Site and Remain Search Engine Friendly

Fortunately, there are some simple steps that can be taken to ensure the site remains searchable in language. However, similar to your English site, in order to maximize the return on investment from the localized sites, outside help may be required. Simple steps

1. Find a quality localization company.

Ensure you ask for examples of web sites that they have localized before and have your in country people (if you have them) validate the translations on the reference sites.

2. Get your page-by-page keyword glossary translated and approved FIRST.

Much effort went into the generation of keywords for each page of the English site. Your English pages are rich with these keywords. Put the same effort into the translation of these keywords. This should be done first, before any localization of the pages begins. These translations should be approved by your in-country marketing representatives if you have them, or be double-checked by your translation company (using specialist marketing translators) if not.

3. Ensure the site is professionally localized.

The site must be well formed (no broken HTML or other code), be translated well, and must not contain broken links (links to pages that have not been migrated to the language site and therefore throw an error). Quality localization requires a quality localization company using specialist tools to protect page code, and to check it once the localization is complete.

4. When translating the web site, use the keyword glossary ELECTRONICALLY.

Do not leave it to chance. Your translation company should be using the translated keyword lists in electronic glossaries so the translators are automatically prompted with the approved language version of the keyword whenever they are translating an English equivalent.

Following these steps will ensure that the site gets the basics right and can be effectively indexed on the correct keywords by the engines. However, to ensure you are getting the correct prominence on the search engines, you need to read on. Advanced Multilingual Search Marketing

If you want to perform in your foreign markets, and fully capitalize on you localization investment, you need to consider the following:

1. Domain

Geolocating your site in Google's eyes involves more than changing the language. Changing the language does not guarantee that your site will appear in local searches. You should consider the domain. Some companies build a .com website, with folders or sub domains for several languages (IBM) whereas others build local versions of the site using the top level domain of each country (Nokia). The first option can be cheaper and easier to implement because it means that you can use one content management system for all content on one server. However the top level domain gives Google additional information that will provide weight in the search results.

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