Multilingual SEO: Expanding across languages & markets

With around 50% of all websites written in English, it’s safe to say this language dominates much of the web. Still, search engines see countless queries every day in languages like Spanish, French, and Arabic.

Multilingual search engine optimization (SEO) provides a gateway for brands to capture traffic from these multilingual queries and break into global markets. It helps companies overcome language barriers and reach customers as they search the web in their primary language.

With a strong localization strategy and the right translation tools, you can effectively translate content and apply multilingual SEO to your site. Here, we’ll define multilingual SEO, discuss its benefits, and explore how to implement it with a step-by-step guide. 

What is multilingual SEO?

Multilingual SEO, aka multi-language SEO, is the process of designing website content to rank higher in search engine results across multiple languages. This facet of localization helps people from all over the world find your content online. 

Here are some of the benefits of a multilingual SEO approach:

• Builds trust and credibility: People feel more comfortable using a website in their first language. Translating content with an eye for SEO makes your site more trustworthy, understandable, and user-friendly. 
• Expands your global reach: Translating your site into multiple languages allows you to tap into new markets. Whether targeting Spanish-speaking audiences in North America or Mandarin speakers in Asia, multilingual SEO helps you connect with potential customers worldwide.
• Boosts local search rankings: Search engines like Google prioritize websites that align with a user’s language and location. The more you align your content with search engine expectations, the higher your site will rank in search results.

Make your SEO multilingual in 6 steps

Translating your website into multiple languages to reach a global audience is a big task, but following a few simple steps makes the process manageable. From choosing the right markets to selecting the optimal keywords, these tips will guide you toward implementing your own multilingual SEO strategy:

1. Perform market research

A successful multilingual SEO strategy begins with identifying suitable international markets. Research your competitors’ performance in these markets to determine whether translating your content will yield a significant return on investment.

Wise brands will enter markets with a high traffic potential and global search volume, such as the Spanish and French markets. As of 2025, Spanish and French are in the top five languages representing all internet content, making them ideal for localization. 

2. Learn your audience’s behaviors and preferences

Understanding your target market’s needs, cultural preferences, and search behaviors will help you identify areas to optimize your content and SEO.

For example, countries like Canada and the UAE rely heavily on mobile devices to access the internet. In South Korea, approximately 74% of Generation Z prefers visual content like images and videos over text. This data tells you to optimize your multilingual strategy for mobile use in Canada while producing more visual content in South Korea.

3. Conduct detailed keyword research

Keywords are the backbone of any SEO language strategy. These are often common terms in your target audience’s language. Researching popular keywords helps your website rank well in local search engine results and improves user experience. 

Tools like Google Search Console (GSC), Google Trends, and country-specific Google domains allow you to filter data by your target language and identify traffic-boosting keywords. Once you’ve built your list of keywords, you must naturally weave them into your content.

For help, turn to Smartling. Our AI-powered platform and professional translators can create high-quality localized content that integrates your chosen keywords. Smartling can help you develop SEO-focused copywriting and SEM/PPC ad copy that attract clicks across different languages, increasing your site’s organic search visibility. 

4. Determine your URL structure

Implementing language-specific URLs is a simple step that can significantly improve your website’s accessibility. Your website’s URL structure helps search engines understand your content and serve it to the correct international audience.

You can organize multilingual content using one of three URL structures: subfolder, subdomain, or top-level domain. Subfolders are often the simplest to manage and keep all your SEO efforts under one roof. Subdomains and top-level domains are better for businesses targeting specific countries or regions, as they offer more control and personalization. Whichever URL structure method you choose, your visibility in search engines will likely improve.

Here’s an overview of each URL structure:

Subfolders

Subfolders provide a simple and cost-effective URL structure for content in multiple languages. They use your existing domain, designating sections for each language. For example, you may use “yoursite.com/es/” for a Spanish page and “yoursite.com/fr/” for a French page.

This setup keeps everything under one domain, consolidating your SEO authority. It also simplifies tracking so you can view all your traffic data in one place. 

Subdomains

Subdomains create separate “sub-sites” under your main domain for different languages. For example, “es.yoursite.com” for a Spanish page and “fr.yoursite.com” for a French page.

Subdomains let you customize content for each audience while keeping everything connected to your primary domain. However, search engines treat subdomains as independent sites, so you must manage SEO efforts individually for each.

Country code top-level domains (ccTLDs)

Top-level domains can be hosted locally in the target countries, potentially improving user experience by speeding up page load times. They immediately signal to search engines and users that your site is built for their region. These may look like “www.yoursite.es” for Spain and “www.yoursite.fr” for France.

A major downside of ccTLDs is that maintaining multiple domains represents a significant cost and time investment.

5. Localize your content

Localization adapts your messaging and visuals to reflect your audience’s cultural and linguistic preferences. For example, consider how McDonald’s adapts its slogan for Spanish audiences:

• English: “I’m lovin’ it”
• Spanish: “Me encanta” (which translates to “I love it”)

This isn’t a direct translation, but it captures the same positivity while aligning with Spanish linguistic norms.

Regarding SEO, localized content keeps users engaged, attracts backlinks, and ranks better in search engines. This process should also extend to metadata elements, such as title tags, meta descriptions, and URL slugs. These require accurate translation and optimization for each language and region to improve ranking on search engines.

Here are SEO translation examples for core metadata elements:

• Title tags: Adapt page titles to reflect localized keywords while staying concise (fewer than 60 characters). For a Spanish-speaking audience, a title like “Beginner’s Guide to SEO” might become “Guía de SEO para principiantes.”
• Meta descriptions: These should align with the local tone and style while incorporating relevant keywords. A compelling English meta description like “Learn SEO from scratch with this practical and intuitive guide,” may translate into Spanish as “Aprende SEO desde cero con esta guía práctica y fácil de seguir.”
• URL slugs: Use language-specific slugs to ensure your URLs are user-friendly and easily understood. A URL like “example.com/seo-guide” may become “example.com/es/guia-seo” for Spanish audiences.

6. Add hreflang tags to your code

Hreflang tags go in your content after you’ve localized it into multiple languages. These tags are small snippets of code that ensure search engines take visitors to the most relevant language or regional version of your website. When used correctly, a user in Spain searching in Spanish should see your Spanish page instead of your English version. 

To implement hreflang tags:

1. Add the tag to the HTML head section of your webpage. This section is reserved for metadata that search engines use to analyze your site. This info doesn’t appear on the page itself.
2. Use the correct ISO 639-1 language code and, if applicable, a regional code.

Here are tags to direct users to either the Spanish or English version of your site:

hreflang=”es” href=”https://www.yoursite.com/es/” />

hreflang=”en-us” href=”https://www.yoursite.com/us/” />

Hreflang=”es” targets all Spanish speakers globally, whereas hreflang=”en-us” targets English speakers in the United States specifically.

Each page should include hreflang tags for all available language versions. Tools like Google Search Console help you verify proper implementation and avoid mistakes (e.g., pointing multiple hreflang tags to the same URL or using incorrect language codes). 

Smartling can help you implement multilingual SEO

Relevant keywords help your content rank high in search results, but they’re just one factor contributing to an effective multilingual SEO strategy. An effective global SEO strategy demands an understanding of SEO, local language norms, and worldwide search behaviors.

Smartling provides the translator expertise and AI-powered tools that make multi-language website SEO a breeze. With professional translation services and an advanced Translation Management System (TMS), Smartling helps you localize your content to align with regional search behaviors and cultural nuances while incorporating popular long-tail keywords.

Want to learn how to incorporate multilingual site SEO into your marketing strategy? Download our free eBook, the “Ultimate Guide to Translating Your Marketing Materials,” to discover how multilingual SEO and localized translations contribute to a global brand.