Language and seo

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out with your question about managing SEO for a website based in Italy but built-in English with Google Translate for real-time translations.

When it comes to SEO for multilingual websites, it’s essential to consider the language preferences of your target audience. Here are some recommendations to help you manage the situation effectively:

1. SEO Language:

   • Content Language: While the website is built in English, you can optimize the SEO content in English to target a broader international audience.
   • Italian SEO: To ensure visibility in Italy, consider creating Italian versions of key pages or translating essential SEO elements like titles, meta descriptions, and alt text into Italian.

2. Multilingual SEO Plugins:

   • Consider using multilingual SEO plugins like Rank Math in conjunction with translation plugins like Google Translate or WPML to optimize and translate your content effectively.

3. Targeting Italian Audience:

   • To improve visibility in Italy, create Italian versions of important pages, optimize them for Italian keywords, and ensure proper hreflang tags to indicate language and regional targeting.

4. Local SEO:

   • Implement local SEO strategies like registering the website on Google My Business with an Italian address, using Italian keywords, and obtaining backlinks from Italian websites.

5. User Experience:

   • Ensure a seamless user experience by providing language switcher options for visitors to choose their preferred language.

By combining these strategies, you can effectively manage your multilingual website’s SEO to target both international audiences and users in Italy.

If you need further assistance or detailed guidance on implementing these strategies, feel free to ask.

Thank you!

Sources:
Multilingual SEO with Rank Math SEO & WPML » Rank Math
WordPress Multilingual SEO With RankMath & Weglot @ RankMath
How to Perform SEO for Multiple Languages Using Rank Math and TranslatePress » Rank Math

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Rank Math support and bringing your inquiry to us.

If your main audience is Italian-speaking users in Italy, it’s generally advisable to have your website content in Italian. This ensures that your website is optimized for the language most commonly used by your target audience.

If you decide to target Italian-speaking users, it’s essential to localize your content. This includes translating not only the text on your website but also elements like meta tags, URLs, and alt attributes of images. Localized content improves user experience and enhances the chances of ranking well in Italian search results.

Since you use a plugin to create the translated pages, they will add hreflang tags to your pages. The hreflang tags indicate to search engines which language and regional versions of a page are available. This helps search engines serve the correct language version of your content to users based on their language and location preferences.

Regardless of the language you choose, prioritize user experience. Ensure that your website is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and provides valuable content to users. Positive user experience contributes to higher engagement and improved SEO performance.

Hope that helps, and please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.

Hello,

Could you please share the plugin you are using so we can check?

Meanwhile, here are the plugins that are already compatible with Rank Math:
https://rankmath.com/kb/multilingual-seo-wpml/
https://rankmath.com/kb/multiple-languages-seo-rankmath-translatepress/
https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-multilingual-seo-with-rankmath-weglot/

Looking forward to helping you.

Hello,

GTranslate plugin translates the pages dynamically in the front end. Since there are no physically translated pages on the back end, you can’t use any SEO plugin to optimize them. However, once you have optimized the page for a keyword in English, its translated version will also be optimized for the keyword’s translation. The translation plugin will take care of the translation of the content and meta tags, and there is nothing you need or can do on your end.

Please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.