What Working in Three Languages Taught Me About SEO
When you only work in English, it’s easy to assume search behaviour is universal.
Keywords translate. Search intent translates. The way people research, compare and decide feels consistent enough that scaling internationally becomes a question of language, not behaviour. In reality, that assumption breaks down quickly.
Working across French, Spanish and English has fundamentally changed how I think about search. Not only because the languages are different, but because the people behind them are, and they search differently.
And this shows up clearly in global search data.
70% of all search queries are non-English (Shnoco)
Yet nearly half of all websites (49.4%) are still English-only (Shnoco)
That gap alone tells you something important: most search behaviour globally isn’t actually being shaped by English patterns.
And when you look closer, the differences become more nuanced:
Query structure varies (short vs. long-tail)
Modifiers differ
Intent is expressed differently, even when the end goal is the same
For example, take something like buying a laptop:
EN: “best laptop”
ES: “mejor ordenador portátil con IA”
FR: “ordinateur portable pour étudiant meilleur rapport qualité-prix”
Same category but three very different ways of approaching the decision.
The English query is broad and open-ended: It leaves the interpretation to Google: are you looking for performance, price, portability? That isn’t defined yet.
The Spanish queries are much more explicit: “con IA” introduces a specific feature as a decision driver. The user is narrowing down options before they even click.
The French query does something slightly different again. It combines: a use case (“pour étudiant”) with a value qualifier (“meilleur rapport qualité-prix”)
Instead of browsing broadly, the user is already filtering for a specific audience and a specific evaluation criterion. So while all three users may be looking for a laptop, they’re not looking for the same type of content.
English - broad listicles or category pages can work
Spanish - needs feature-led or criteria-driven recommendations (e.g. “best laptops with X”)
French - needs structured comparisons tied to use cases (e.g. student-focused, value-focused breakdowns)
Same end goal but completely different way of thinking about the search.
Search behaviour is cultural
One of the biggest misconceptions in international SEO is that translating content is enough. On the surface, it makes sense. If someone searches for a product in English, you can translate that keyword into French or Spanish, optimise the page, and expect similar performance. But search isn’t just language. It’s behaviour.
The words people use, how they phrase questions, and how they explore a topic can vary significantly between markets. Even when the intent looks similar, the journey to get there often isn’t.
For example:
Some markets lean towards shorter, more direct queries
Others use longer, more descriptive phrasing
Some audiences are more comparison driven
Others are more discovery led
These differences aren’t obvious if you’re only looking at translated keywords, but they become much clearer when you compare how different markets actually search:
Translation ≠ localisation
This is where many international SEO strategies fall short. Content gets translated, but the underlying assumption stays the same: that search behaviour is consistent across markets. It rarely is.
A keyword that looks like a perfect translation often doesn’t reflect how people actually search. Sometimes it’s too literal. Sometimes it misses nuance. Sometimes it simply isn’t used at all.
And the issue is how the concept is naturally expressed in that market. Take something as straightforward as “house insurance”. A direct Spanish translation would be: “seguro de casa”.
Technically correct, but it’s not how most people actually search.
Instead, Spanish users overwhelmingly use: “seguro de hogar”
And the difference doesn’t stop there. Search behaviour quickly becomes more specific and intent-driven:
“seguro de hogar barato”
“cosas que cubre el seguro de hogar y no sabemos”
“seguro de hogar comparador”
In other words, users are immediately layering in: price sensitivity, comparison and validation.
So while “seguro de casa” might make sense linguistically, it misses:
the dominant phrasing (“hogar” vs. “casa”)
and the way intent is actually expressed in search
If you translate directly, you risk targeting a term with lower demand and building pages that don’t reflect how users evaluate options. If you localise properly, you align with the language people actually use and tap into a broader, higher-intent keyword set.
That’s the real difference; you’re aligning with the default way people think and talk about that product in that market. Because even when the concept exists globally, the way people frame it in search often doesn’t. And that’s why localisation drives results.
Research consistently shows that:
direct translation misses real search demand and cultural nuance
keywords rarely have true 1:1 equivalents across languages (LEaF Translations)
and even small phrasing differences can significantly impact visibility
For example, studies show that translated content often has little to no SEO impact if it isn’t aligned with local search behaviour, and pages that rank in English rarely perform the same way internationally without localisation (Scalarly).
Which is why companies investing in proper localisation often see double-digit increases in organic performance, especially in non-English markets. Localisation requires understanding:
How people think about a topic
What matters to them in that context
How they naturally express those in search
Without that, you’re basically just optimising for a dictionary, not users.
Working across markets forces you out of an English-first mindset
Before working across multiple languages, it’s easy to default to an English-first perspective. English often becomes the “source of truth”, as keyword strategies are built in English first and content structures are designed in English. Other markets then end up getting adapted from that foundation.
But working on localisation for the French and Spanish markets challenges that approach. You start to see that English isn’t always the most logical starting point. We notice that search intent doesn’t always map cleanly across languages and some opportunities only exist within specific markets
A good example of this is seasonal search. When working on localisation for LEGO, we localised pages around Three Kings’ Day and Saint Nicholas Day, two gifting moments that don’t have a true equivalent in English search behaviour.
In Spain, search demand clusters around terms like:
“reyes regalo”
“regalos de reyes”
“reyes magos lego”
These aren’t translations of “Christmas gifts”, they’re entirely different queries tied to a different cultural moment (Three Kings’ Day on 6th January).
If you start from English, this demand simply doesn’t exist. There is no keyword that maps cleanly to “Reyes Magos” in the same way. So instead of translating, we built:
dedicated keyword targeting around “reyes” and “reyes magos”
metadata aligned to how users actually search (“Regalos de reyes”)
copy built around the ritual (letters to the Kings, anticipation, family gifting)
The result is visibility during a peak demand window that an English-first strategy would completely miss.
The same applies in France with Saint Nicholas Day. Searches like:
“cadeau saint nicolas”
“cadeau pour saint nicolas”
reflect a different type of intent, smaller, more tradition-led gifting tied to 6th December. Here, localisation meant:
targeting niche but highly relevant queries
adapting product positioning (smaller gifts, lower price points)
and writing copy that reflects the cultural ritual (shoes by the door, morning surprises)
Again, this is something you only uncover by working within the market. And while individual volumes may look smaller in isolation, collectively these moments drive incremental seasonal visibility, more contextually relevant traffic and stronger engagement during culturally significant peaks.
In some cases, the best-performing content in one language wouldn’t exist at all if you started from English. That shift changes how you approach SEO strategy. Instead of exporting ideas from one market to another, you start building them with each market in mind from the beginning.
SEO becomes more about people than keywords
Working across languages has made one thing very clear - SEO is less about translating keywords and more about understanding people.
The most effective strategies come from recognising that:
Search behaviour is shaped by culture
Users in different markets prioritise different information
The way people evaluate and trust content can vary significantly
And that difference shows up in how users engage with content. Research from Nielsen Norman Group and Google highlights that content consumption behaviour varies meaningfully by region:
Users in Western markets (e.g. UK/US) tend to scan quickly, with average page visits often under 15–20 seconds unless intent is highly specific
In contrast, European users, particularly in markets like France and Germany, are more likely to spend longer evaluating content, especially when it includes structured information like comparisons, reviews, or detailed explanations
This is reinforced by broader engagement studies:
Comparison-style and review-led content consistently drives longer dwell time and deeper scroll behaviour, because users are actively validating decisions (Nielsen Norman Group)
Content that lacks clear structure (e.g. pros/cons, feature breakdowns) sees higher bounce rates in evaluation-heavy markets, where users expect proof before action
More exploratory markets (like the US/UK) show higher interaction with summarised, skimmable formats, prioritising speed over depth (Google UX research on scanning behaviour)
Some audiences build trust through depth and comparison, others through clarity and speed. So two pages targeting the same keyword can perform very differently because one matches how users evaluate information, and the other doesn’t
International SEO is a perspective shift
International SEO is all about learning to see search from someone else’s point of view. That means questioning assumptions:
Would someone in this market actually search this way?
Does this phrasing feel natural, or just technically correct?
Are we reflecting how people think, or how we think they should think?
The more you work across languages, the more you realise that good SEO is about adapting to what works in each market.
A simple SEO localisation checklist
If you’re working across multiple markets, here’s a practical framework:
1. Start with local keyword research
Don’t translate your English list. Build from scratch using local tools and SERPs
2. Analyse the SERP
What type of content ranks? (guides, comparisons, product pages). Are results localised or global?
3. Identify language-specific modifiers
FR: “avis”, “comparatif”, “prix”
ES: “mejores”, “ofertas”, “para [use case]”
4. Map intent, not just keywords
Is the query informational, commercial, or transactional?
Does that differ from English?
5. Adapt content structure
Don’t just translate headings
Rebuild content based on what users expect
6. Validate with performance data
Track engagement (time on page, scroll depth)
Compare across markets
7. Iterate locally
Treat each market as its own ecosystem
Optimise continuously based on behaviour
The takeaway
Working across three languages changed how I define good SEO.
I’ve realised it goes beyond ranking for the right keywords, driving traffic or scaling content, but is more about relevance on a much deeper level.
Because when you move beyond translation and start understanding how people actually search, research, and decide in different markets, you stop treating SEO as a technical exercise. And start treating it as what it really is - a reflection of human behaviour.
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Useful resources
SEO Localization: Tactics for Targeted Global Online Visibility by Carlos Silva - https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-localization/
Localization SEO That Works: 10 Real-World Lessons from 14 Markets by Mateusz Makosiewicz https://ahrefs.com/blog/localization-seo/
International SEO Course on Semrush by Aleyda Solis - https://www.semrush.com/academy/courses/International-seo/
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