The importance of good translations for your website and the advantage of cloning
Start with your translations
As an experienced marketer, you are undoubtedly aware of the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) for the success of your website and business. But did you know that creating good SEO content is just part of the puzzle? In this article, we will focus on some important aspects of SEO, namely the downside of duplicate content on websites, a common problem with incorrect translations, and the benefits of having a website in multiple languages. We will also cover a useful tool that not everyone has heard of: Clonable, which makes it possible to quickly and easily clone a website. Read on for the benefits of this tool.
The downside of duplicate content
A common problem with websites is duplicate content. This occurs when there are two or more pages on a website with almost identical content. This can happen by accident, for example, by manually copying and pasting pages or by using automatic tools that duplicate content. Duplicate content can lead to a lower ranking in search results because search engines consider it spam and don’t know which page is the “right” one to display.
If you have duplicate content on your website, it’s important to fix it. This can be done by removing one page or redirecting it to another page with a 301 redirect. Also, make sure your content is unique and that each page has a clear and distinct purpose.
Benefits of a website in multiple languages
If your business targets an international audience, having a website in multiple languages is a must. It’s important to remember that not everyone speaks English as their first language, and offering content in different languages can reach a broader audience and increase visitor engagement.
A website in multiple languages can also lead to better visibility in search engines. Search engines are able to recognize and index the language of a page. By offering your website in different languages, you can target specific keywords and search terms in different languages, thereby improving visibility in different markets.
SEO technical aspects
Having a website in multiple languages presents some SEO technical challenges, for example:
- It’s important to have a good structure for different languages and to ensure the proper tags and headers for each language version.
- You should also use the appropriate URL structure for each language version of your website. This can be done by using subdomains (such as nl.example.com for the Dutch version of the website) or subdirectories (such as example.com/nl/).
- It’s important to use the correct hreflang tags, which tell search engines which language version of a page is preferred in different countries or regions.
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Working with good tools to manage translations is also important
Managing a website in multiple languages can be challenging, especially if you are not fluent in all the languages in which your website is available. Fortunately, there are several tools available to facilitate translation management and improve the SEO aspects of a multilingual website.
One of the key tools for managing translations is a content management system (CMS) that provides multilingual support. With a CMS, you can easily add new pages and content in different languages and ensure that the correct tags and headers are used.
Another useful tool is a translation plugin, such as WPML or Polylang for WordPress websites. These tools allow you to translate content and automatically add the correct tags and headers. They also have features for managing hreflang tags and customizing the URL structure for different languages.
If you want to perform more advanced SEO analysis and check your website for correct translations, you can also use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs. These tools provide insight into how your website is performing in search engines and can help identify opportunities for improvement.
Clone your website with Clonable
Clonable is a tool that allows you to quickly and easily clone a website to a subdomain or another domain, in order to promote your services or products to multilingual audiences. Copying and translating a website can be very expensive and time-consuming, but with Clonable, it is much simpler and more cost-effective. In addition, the cloned site remains automatically up-to-date with the original site, so no additional maintenance is required.
A major advantage of Clonable is that you get an additional domain that is indexed by search engines, making you more visible to multilingual audiences. This is in contrast to Google Translate, which is not indexed by search engines and therefore does not generate additional customers. They also offer the ability to make changes after the translations, so you can fully customize the cloned site to the needs of your audience. This is not possible with Google Translate, for example.
While human translators will of course still produce better translations in many cases, the quality of Clonable is still very good. With Clonable, businesses can achieve a translation quality of 95-97% for languages with the Latin alphabet and at least 93% for languages with the Cyrillic script. For other languages, such as Japanese and Chinese, the quality is less well defined, but we estimate it to be at least 90%.
Clonable and popular CMS systems / e-commerce solutions
Clonable is a powerful tool that is compatible with various popular e-commerce platforms and CMS systems, including Magento, Shopware, and the world’s most popular CMS system: WordPress (also in combination with WooCommerce). By integrating Clonable with these platforms, users can easily clone, migrate, and test their store environments without any downtime for their live stores.
The benefits of Clonable are clear: firstly, it is cost-effective. Copying and translating a website or webshop can normally cost a lot of money, but with Clonable, it is only a fraction of the cost. Secondly, it is time-saving. Translating a large website can take months, but with Clonable, a business can go live with a translated website within a week.
Get started with your translations!
Having a website in multiple languages can be a big step for international businesses. However, it can also lead to challenges, such as managing translations and the correct SEO-technical aspects. By using good tools and following best practices for SEO, such as avoiding duplicate content, you can improve the visibility and engagement of your website. So, it is important to pay attention to these aspects when setting up and managing a multilingual website.
