India has a population of more than 1.4 billion with 22 recognized languages and hundreds of dialects spoken throughout the country. Given such a linguistic nightmare, companies need to customize content in order to connect with their desired local audiences. The potential of local content is that it can cut through hard-to-reach, saturated audiences and captivate minority groups with messages in their own language.
For companies betting on India expansion, localised and cultural content is not a choice any more, it’s an imperative. In this post, we’re going to break down why regional content is so vital to success on digital in India, and how you can start using this killer strategy to strengthen your SEO and marketing strategies. Whether you are learning the ropes or are trying to upskill in digital marketing, taking a digital marketing course online or online certifications will give you all the resources and know-how that are at your disposal to make your mission possible.
On India’s Diverse Languages
India is home to a vast range of languages; according to the 2011 Census of India, the country is inhabited by speakers of “36 languages with over a million speakers” and over 122 languages with over 10,000 speakers each. But for most urban and business people, English is still a primary language. This makes it all the more important for companies to create content in English and regional languages.
Key numbers that underscore the importance of native language content:
- Three-quarters of the Indians favoring the content in their local language.
- More than 200 million Indians use the internet in regional languages.
- The native language would be preferred by 93% of the non-metro users.
With such numbers in play, companies who do not implement localised versions of their content stand to lose access to a large demographic of India’s digital population.
How regional content influences SEO
In terms of SEO, producing content in local languages has a huge influence on your rank and visibility. Google, India’s major search engine has been giving preference to local content, especially in vernacular languages.
This is why local content makes a difference in your SEO:
Local Keyword Targeting: Regional contents inadvertently support businesses to target local search terms that users use when they are searching in their local language itself resulting in more pertinent traffic.
Less Competition: People use less regional language content, and it means less competition and you can rank for as many specific keywords as possible.
Improvement of Engagement and User Experience: Users often engage with content which they can comprehend. Great content makes people bounce less and is more likely to be shared, which are both beneficial for SEO.
An online digital marketing course can provide you thorough know how of content optimization in regional languages to make sure that your content reaches its maximum potential.
How to write regional content better
To leverage local content, organisations have to adhere to best practices to ensure their messages are well-articulated, efficient, and culturally appealing.
- Interpret, don’t Transcribe First off, the obvious.
Translating works is the first step, but it is also all too easy to simply transcribe texts from one language to another. Local content will need to be localized, capturing the cultural sensitivities and priorities of the region’s audience.
- Localize Images and References
A picture is worth a thousand words and, in India, the right picture can be deafening. Localise the content by using local references, festivals or regional symbols.
- Focus on Location-Based Keywords
Do some comprehensive keyword research to see what regional people are looking for. These keywords might not translate into English equivalents; therefore, you should have a localized keyword strategy
- Optimize for Voice Search
Now that voice search, particularly in regional languages, is on the rise, it is important to optimize your content for voice questions. Make sure your content addresses the questions that people are asking by voice search in a conversational, natural way.
Learn a digital marketing course online that covers content localization and voice search optimization, so you can stay ahead in today’s constantly changing digital world.
The Place of Social Networks in Distribution of Regional Content
Web nature is a mighty highway for regional content distribution. Apps such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter are experiencing a boom in regional language use as users actively engage with posts in their mother tongue.
How to share news stories published in regional languages on social media:
Leverage Local Influencers: Partner with local influencers with a strong local following in order to assist in spreading your message.
Run Targeted Ads: Social networks make it easy to target advertisements, so you can be sure your local message gets through to the right audience.
Target Local Hashtags: Leveraging local and regional hashtags will make your posts discoverable and more likely to be seen by users in a particular region or language.
If you’d like to tailor your social media content strategy to various local markets, consider taking up online certifications in social media marketing to streamline your strategy.
How Localized Content Can Drive Trust and Credibility
Indian consumers are more likely to trust a brand that sounds like one of them. Speaking a user language shows respect for their culture and induction and makes a much deeper emotional connection.
Local content is an aid to trust building in a number of ways:
Cultural Sensitivity: Regionalised content that culturally understands the markets and regions it serves signals credibility in understanding local customs and values.
Customised Experience: Content tailored for the user’s language and needs makes the user feel that you understand him and he/she is bound to connect with the brand.
Positive Brand Image: When businesses perform local content marketing, they are perceived to be more approachable and customer-centric.
The art of fomenting trust by providing culturally nurtured content is a fine art and you have options to pursue for such training; one can be a digital marketing course online which provides cross-cultural marketing education.
Evaluating the Impact of Regional Content
And, like all marketing initiatives, producing regional content has to be measured to ensure it’s getting the job done. Key metrics to track include:
Traffic by language and region: Track the performance of your content across languages and geographies with Google Analytics.
Engagement metrics: Track shares, comments and reactions to your local content on social.
Conversion rates: Track how efficient your local content is at converting visitors into customers or leads.
Courses that provide online certificates in digital analytics can put you in position to measure and refine your regional content strategy’s effectiveness.
Problems of Producing Regional Content
Even with huge potential, developing regional content isn’t a cakewalk:
Language Barriers Forever: In one language alone, there are different dialectal forms to ponder.
Cultural Awareness: You can go a long way into not making a gaffe or even offending someone if you understand the culture in your area.
Resource-Intensive – Content in different languages means more resources in terms of translators, writers and local experts.
but if you can conquer these obstacles with the right tactics there are big rewards. Digital marketing certifications will help you to overcome these obstacles and enable you to develop the best practices for creating regionalised content.
Final thoughts Regional Content Potential Unlocked
The language diversity in India is a challenge not seen anywhere other than India itself, and it is also a huge opportunity. Businesses can also gain trust, connect with audiences, and boost SEO results by localizing the content they produce.
Enroll in a digital marketing course online and take the hassle out of the equation, getting yourself certified online in content localization and SEO while mastering the art of regional content that opens up the whole of India’s digital market!
