1. Choose the market and reader task
Specify country, language, audience and the business question. A person looking for a definition needs a different page from a buyer comparing agencies. Separate the countries the business serves from countries used only for research; research coverage is not delivery experience.
2. Build local seed hypotheses
Combine product terms, customer problems, category language and commercial modifiers. Record literal translations separately from locally observed expressions. Have language capability assessed for the task, and arrange qualified local review before approving unfamiliar claims or terminology.
3. Retrieve comparable demand evidence
Record Keyword Planner’s country, language, network, date window and export date. Keep the raw export. Google describes the figures as estimates affected by settings and close variants. A displayed range is not an exact count, and advertising competition is not an organic difficulty score.
4. Inspect search intent
Sample current results for shortlisted expressions. Record what types of pages appear and what user task they serve. Compare closely related terms before splitting them into separate pages. Shared wording is not sufficient to merge intents; different wording is not sufficient to create another page.
5. Build the page map
- Primary reader task and local query cluster.
- Evidence source, settings and observed range.
- Existing page that may already answer the task.
- Distinct value the proposed page will add.
- Relevant service and proof destination.
- Review owner and unresolved language questions.
6. Prioritize by commercial usefulness
Choose pages that help the intended buyer and that the business can support with expertise and evidence. Do not sum overlapping keyword estimates into an invented market size. Use low or missing volume as a limitation of the evidence, rather than proof that a useful customer question does not exist. Revisit the map with actual query and conversion data after publication.
Turn local phrases into a page and offer plan
Start with the buyer’s task, then investigate how local customers describe it. A literal translation of an English keyword can overlook a more familiar product term, a different comparison question or a local concern about delivery. Combine query research with review of relevant search results and local-language judgement. Search volume is one input; fit with the offer and buying intent matters too.
An intent map should identify the query group, the question it represents, the page that should answer it and the commercial next step. Some groups need a product category, while others need a guide or service explanation. Avoid creating several nearly identical pages merely to repeat variations of a phrase. For each priority page, agree the local terminology, supporting detail and review owner. The resulting structure should help customers navigate and give the editorial team a maintainable publication plan.
- Keep the original local queries alongside their working English interpretation.
- Separate research questions, comparisons and buying queries before choosing pages.
- Validate terminology and local offer details before publishing a translated brief.
Frequently asked questions
How do we validate local terminology and intent instead of translating seeds?
Multilingual keyword research starts with local buying intent and search behavior, then uses country-specific evidence to build page groups. Translating an English keyword list is a starting hypothesis, not a completed research method.
Why record the tool’s country and language settings?
They establish the context of the demand estimate. Results gathered with different settings should not be compared as if they describe the same market.
When should a separate page be created?
When a distinct intent or local offer warrants it. A keyword variation alone does not establish a separate customer task.
Sources and further reading
Primary material for the concepts discussed here. Our practical checklists and illustrative examples are editorial recommendations. Source links open in a new tab.