As we explained in our article about the unique features of web translation, an English person may well use different keywords in an online search compared to, say, a German speaker. This is why businesses have everything to gain from finding the right keywords for different countries. Use the same terms as users do, and you’re ten times more likely to appear at the top of search engine results pages. Want to know more? Then keep reading…
Why identify keywords for each target market?
You don’t need to find the right keywords for every single country in the world. All you have to do is find the ones for the countries where you want to operate. This way, you’ll maximise your chances of having a multilingual website that’s perfectly optimised.
What’s more, you’ll be able to address all your target audiences in a relevant way. And this is needed as, for example, Swedish consumers don’t have the same concerns as Australian ones. These cultures and their needs are so different.
As a result, it can be worthwhile finding the right keywords for each country. This will enable you to:
- Know which topics to cover in your blog and in which languages
- Decide which products to sell (and in which countries)
- Discover what your targets need, want and expect, wherever they are in the world
Using this information, you can internationalise your e-commerce website.
6 tools to find the right keywords for different countries
1. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a fantastic tool if you want to find the right keywords for different countries.
You enter a keyword and Ahrefs gives you the following information on a platter:
- Competition distribution on the first page (by country)
- Keyword search volume
- Other ideas for keywords using the same terms
This will help you assess the true traffic potential for each keyword by country. You’ll also find out if the keyword is easy to rank for thanks to its difficulty score.
Good to know: The Ahrefs keyword explorer analyses Google and nine other search engines, including Yahoo, Bing, Yandex, Baidu, Naver, Daum and Seznam. This means you can be sure of getting reliable results for searches in any country worldwide from Japan to Norway.
2. Rank Tracker
Rank Tracker has one the biggest international keyword databases! What’s more, the website boasts 23 keyword research tools, including:
- Google Keyword Planner
- Search Console
- Google Analytics
- And international keyword research tools like Yandex and Wordstat
Rank Tracker is ideal for finding the right keywords for different countries as it’s one of the few providers to suggest international keywords: handy when you want to identify high-potential key expressions. This Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tool collects all the keywords for which you and your competitors rank in the search results for the following countries:
- USA
- UK
- Netherlands
- Spain
- France
- Germany
- Australia
- Russia
- Canada
- Italie
If you’re looking for a tool available in other countries, keep reading to find out about Semrush and Ubersuggest.
3. Moz
Just like Rank Tracker, Moz suggests keywords for different countries to help you create an international SEO strategy. But this popular keyword research tool goes even further. Moz also allows you to analyse backlinks, carry out website audits and discover the latest SEO trends. This means you only have to use one tool for all your SEO work.
And there’s good news: you can test this SaaS free of charge for 30 days before committing.
4. Semrush
Semrush is a multipurpose tool with over 9.4 billion keywords. It may not be the most affordable (prices start from $119.95 a month), but various SEO experts recommend it to their clients.
The biggest advantage of Semrush is that the tool allows you to find the right keywords in over 110 different countries. It also differentiates between searches on phones and computers in various nations like Germany, France, Italy and Mexico.
When you do a keyword search, you find out its monthly search volume, SEO difficulty, suggestions for other keywords and much more besides.
5. Ubersuggest
Just like the tools already mentioned, Ubersuggest allows you to choose a location and language for your keyword research. Designed by SEO expert Neil Patel, it uses the same principle as the previous tools. For each term, you see:
- The search volume
- The SEO difficulty (score out of 100)
- The paid keyword difficulty
- And the Cost Per Click (CPC)
Good to know: Ubersuggest is one of the most affordable tools. It has a freemium package and an “Individual” package with a lifetime cost of €290.
6. Google Keyword Planner
Finally, there is Google Keyword Planner. You can use this free tool to find information at the source (making it very precise and current).
The three most useful features of Google Keyword Planner are:
- Analysing website data over the past 12 months
- Saving keywords and adding them to Google Ads campaigns in one click
- Adding search criteria to filter keywords that meet your goals
Finding the right keywords for different countries: things to remember!
So, to recap, here are the 6 tools you can use to find the right keywords for different countries:
- Ahrefs
- Rank Tracker
- Moz
- Semrush
- Ubersuggest
- Google Keyword Planner
In spite of everything, it’s important to remember that when it comes to web translation, you can’t make it up as you go along. Nothing can replace professional localisation! Jokes, double meanings and cultural references in your articles, blogs and landing pages will need professional translators to adapt them to your different target audiences.
If you’d like to find out more about this, why not read our article on the unique features of web translation?
