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This is a guest post by Christian Arno. Interested in contributing to the IDWM Blog? Contact me today!

The World Wide Web has undoubtedly opened a host of opportunities for businesses and organizations of all sizes. The truly global, all-encompassing nature of the Internet has made it easier than ever to reach across linguistic and cultural divides and to target new markets that may once have been out of reach. In theory, no one with an Internet connection is ever more than a mouse-click away from your products, services, blog or personal site. In practice, of course, there’s far more to it than simply setting up your own little corner of cyberspace and waiting for the traffic to arrive. Your content should be both accessible and appealing but people must be able to find it in the first place. This is where SEO and keyword research comes in.

Give keywords the attention they deserve

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of increasing your website’s visibility or ranking in search engine results. There are many different aspects to SEO but the effective use of keywords remains one of the most important. Put simply, keywords are the words or terms that people type into a search engine to look for relevant websites and pages and all search engines take keywords into account when determining your site’s or page’s ranking in its search results.

Don’t rely on automatic translation

Automatic translation programs such as Google Translate and Yahoo! Babel Fish can be handy but, even if you use them to translate or partially translate your content, you should never rely solely on machine translation for your keywords. Alternative terms, colloquialisms, abbreviations and other variations may all give better results. A literal French translation of the term ‘bullet train’, for example, would yield a nonsense phrase. In France, where the high-speed train was developed, a more common term is the acronym TGV (‘Train à Grande Vitesse’ or, literally, ‘high speed train’). In neighbouring Belgium, meanwhile, high speed trains are often referred to as the ‘Thalys,’ referring to the name of the major operator running said trains between Paris and Brussels.
Without a little local knowledge you might never be aware of such regional variations and they certainly wouldn’t emerge from automatic translations. Working with native speaking translators will help you identify the most suitable keyword options.

Build on what you already have

This doesn’t mean you have to throw away the meticulous research you’ve already conducted to find your optimum English language keywords. Translate your English terms and brainstorm foreign language alternatives before running them through an analytical tool. Some words, including proper nouns such as brand names and certain technical terms, may well be the same in English as the language of your target market. Some ‘straight’ dictionary or machine translations may also cross over but your English language keywords should serve as a jumping off point rather than any sort of definitive list.

Test keywords thoroughly

Once you’ve brainstormed your potential foreign language keywords, you’ll want to test them out. Tools such as Google AdWords let you see how popular a particular search term is. It will also provide alternative suggestions and give you an idea of the level of competition you’re facing for each particular keyword.

Go beyond Google

It’s also worth remembering that, while Google is the single most widely used search engine worldwide, other search engines have a greater market share within certain markets. In China, for example, Baidu is the most commonly used search engine while Yandex is the biggest player in Russia. Most major search engines have their own analytical tools and it may be worth concentrating your efforts on these alternatives to Google for localized sites within their spheres of influence. Crucially, different search engines prefer different levels of keyword density. Where Google prefers a density of 2-3%, Yahoo! Japan, the most popular search engine in Japan, prefers a far higher concentration of 7-8%.

Keep up to date

Thorough initial research is essential but the Internet is in a constant state of flux and keyword trends can rapidly change. What works well today may not be quite so effective tomorrow so you should check your keywords’ effectiveness at regular intervals. Check the terms your rivals are using and check your own logs and stats in conjunction with tools such as Google Analytics to see which keywords have already been successful in bringing people your way. Freshness of content also has a bearing on rankings and keyword-rich blogs and news posts can be a great way of keeping your site at the top of the pile.

Your multilingual keyword research is not a one-off task. It’s an ongoing process but the benefits can be worth all the effort if they lead to you reaching a whole new audience.

About the author:
Christian Arno is the founder of Lingo24, one of the world’s leading providers of translation services and website localization across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 has worked its way to becoming the web’s favorite translation company, working with more than four thousand translators and clients in over sixty countries. Follow Christian (@l24ca) and Lingo24 (@Lingo24) on Twitter.

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Justin McGill is a web marketing professional and runs a successful Small Business SEO Firm. He is the founder and CEO of SEORCHERS (read: [surch-ers]) - a local web marketing firm specializing in organic search engine optimization (SEO) with a focus on converting visitors into clients. He is available for SEO Consulting and now you can connect with him on Google+!.

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