Global SEO: Ask Me Anything Webinar Recap

You’ve invested in global localization and tailored the content to your local target markets. Yet, your click-through and conversion rates could be better. What might be at the root of these less-than-stellar results? Hint: The localization is probably fine. The likely culprit is suboptimal global Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If that’s the case, you’re in good company. And the good news is that you can do a lot to enhance your global search results.

Lionbridge SEO expert Brendan Walsh encounters this issue repeatedly and has spent the last decade helping some of the world’s biggest brands perfect their global SEO through global SEO services and website content optimization. During our micro webinar, Global SEO: Ask Me Anything, he answered attendees’ questions and shared expert tips to help guide efforts in the right direction.

If you missed this first session in our SEO Bytes series, you can watch it on demand. To view recordings of other Lionbridge webinars, visit the Lionbridge webinars page for a library of offerings.

Want to know the gist of the session without watching? Read on.

A Primer: What Are Hreflang Tags?

Hreflang tags are an essential element of effective SEO. Why? They’re HTML attributes that tell Google and other search engines which market your content is meant for. For instance, with proper tagging, search engines will serve English content intended for customers in the UK to them — and not to Canadian customers, many of whom also speak English but don’t want the cost of products in pounds.

When engines serve the intended page to consumers, they will see the correct currency, delivery options, product options, and availability for their area. While website geo-targeting — getting the correct content to the right local market — is straightforward, execution can be complex and challenging. Hreflang tags can be essential to the solution, but implementing them requires care.

When Should You Use and Not Use Hreflang Tags?

First, let’s rule out when hreflang tags are unnecessary. If your site does not use multiple versions of the same language, Google and other search engines will likely display the right page to your target market, making hreflang tags unneeded.

Use hreflang tags on a language-driven site where various versions of the same page — almost duplicates — are intended for different countries.

Tell Google and other search engines which page to show a user when that user:

• Speaks a language and lives in a market you support. This scenario is more straightforward.

• Speaks a language you support but resides in a different market.

• Doesn’t match one of the countries or languages you support.

What Rules Should You Follow When Applying Hreflang tags?

When applying hreflang tags on your localized and source pages, here are a few rules to keep in mind:

Use the same hreflang tags for every page version.

When hreflang tags point to all versions of a page, including itself, search engines understand the relationship between these pages and serve the correct version to viewers based on their language and location.

Be sure tags reflect the language of the on-page content.

The hreflang tag should specify French for content written in French, and so forth. Ensuring that hreflang attributes match the language of the page’s content is instrumental in ensuring users see content in their preferred language.

Use an x-default hreflang attribute only for complete solutions.

An x-default attribute, or specified fallback page, is crucial when none of the other hreflang attributes match a user’s preference. However, avoid using it in partial solutions that lack complete language or regional specifications. If you do, the search engine may struggle to determine the most relevant version of your content, leading to lower rankings, reduced visibility, and a fragmented user experience.

What Else Transpired During the Micro Webinar?

During the highly interactive session, Brendan and Lionbridge moderator Jesse Hollett fielded a range of participant questions drawn by real-world experiences, including specific queries on optimizing underperforming target countries and ways to conduct keyword research in languages other than English. Watch our webinar for the answers to these questions and others.

More SEO-Related Resources

Want more guidance on global SEO? Our team can help in three ways:

• Access the webinar slides here.
• Reach out to us at SEO@Lionbridge.com to continue the conversation.
• Join us for the next micro-webinar in our series, which will explore how Lionbridge utilizes AI in international SEO, on September 18, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. ET / 16:00 CET.

Of note: As reported by Search Engine Journal, Google analyst Gary Illyes said during an episode of Google’s “Search Off the Record” podcast that search engines should rely less on hreflang and more on automatic language detection. Nonetheless, hreflang will be relevant for the next few years, and a good hreflang solution will benefit companies.

Get in touch

Lionbridge partners with some of the world's biggest brands to help them fully realize their localization investments through effective global SEO. Contact us to find out what we can do for you.