Expanding into non-English speaking markets requires more than just translating your content and adding hreflang tags. SEOs working in those regions know the issues all too well: awkward phrasing from machine translation, incomplete content with missing image or video localization, and calls to action that don’t resonate in the target market.
Despite this, many website owners still assume the process is as simple as:
Copying the English website,
Translating it,
Adding hreflang tags.
But once rankings don’t materialize – and conversions are even further behind – reality sets in. The fact is: This model never really worked well. In 2025, with Google shifting to a more AI-driven approach to search, it’s even less effective – because ranking is now determined by how well specific content passages meet the needs of individual users, not just general intent or keyword targeting.
In this article, we’ll explore how localization should work today – especially considering evolving algorithms, increasing user expectations, and real differences in how people engage with content across markets.
Understanding AI Mode and Its Impact on Localization
Mike King published an excellent breakdown of how Google’s AI-driven search now works. In brief: Google no longer ranks full pages for general intent but rather evaluates specific passages of content based on how well they meet an individual user’s needs, factoring in data from across the Google ecosystem.
This means your content is now competing passage-by-passage against content from local competitors. Google selects and ranks the best passages based on:
How well they match a user’s query and context
The clarity and usefulness of the information
The presence of credible, relevant sources – preferably local
What This Means for Localization
If your localized content:
Reflects the perspective of users in your original country, rather than the target market
Lacks the density and clarity of competing local content
Cites only foreign sources in a local context
…it’s unlikely to rank, let alone convert.
Why traffic isn’t the end goal
Even if you have a strong global domain and manage to gain visibility in the local market off the strength of that domain, traffic alone is no longer a meaningful SEO goal. If you look at engagement and conversion metrics, you might find your local pages lag behind their global counterparts, as this is where local competitors often outperform global brands.
The reasons could be:
Trust in large US companies is low, especially with growing privacy concerns and increased demand for European software alternatives.The more your website still reads like a US company just translated to a new language, the more you reinforce that bias.
“Cheap” isn’t a universal value. Many Germans, for example, prioritize quality and trust, often over price.
Privacy matters deeply – it’s a cultural value in Europe, not just a legal checkbox. Forms askingfor full personal details just to start a trial often discourage engagement.
The technical trap: Why hreflangs alone aren’t enough
In the DACH region, it’s common to see one German-language version of a website cloned for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with only minor changes to currency or product availability. The result? German pages ranking in Switzerland, Austrian pages ranking in Germany – and a sizable portion of traffic ending up on the “wrong” version of the site.
The reason is that too many SEOs are still treating country and language targeting purely as a technical task. Years ago, you could set geographic targeting in Google Search Console, but that feature was deprecated in 2022. Since then, hreflang implementation has taken center stage.
But here’s the catch: hreflang is just one signal, and increasingly, Google seems to deprioritize what it can’t control itself.
In my work with large enterprise websites, I regularly see Google ignore hreflang tags, particularly when pages are nearly identical across country variants. In one case, fixing incorrect hreflang tags on a page that was otherwise identical to its other country variants in the same language didn’t have a measurable effect on the share of users seeing the right locale in SERPs.
There are workarounds, but they are not perfect. Some websites use automatic redirects based on IP, but Google discourages that practice because it takes control from the user. Others resort to user-facing banners that ask “Are you sure you’re on the right page?”, but these add friction, much like cookie banners, and detract from the user experience.
What effective localization really requires
Step 1: Define Your Targeting Approach
Before you begin, clarify whether you need country targeting or if language targeting is enough.
If you’re targeting multiple countries that share a language, content must be meaningfully differentiated.
Example: Showing the same German-language site to users in both Germany and Austria provides no SEO benefit. Tagging it as “de-AT” won’t improve rankings.
Instead, content tailored to Austrian users can drive results.
Country targeting usually only makes sense if your product offering differs by country (e.g., in e-commerce).
Ask yourself:
Does the country influence my product offering, or is it the same everywhere?
Which markets matter most to my growth?
For instance, if your offering is identical and you perform well in France but underperform in Belgium, distinct Belgian-specific content may help.
Do I have the resources to sustain country-level content? If not, focus on language targeting until you can scale.
If your product is uniform across regions and you’re not prioritizing specific markets, language targeting is likely sufficient.
Step 2: Check Infrastructure and Workflows
Even with the right strategy, many companies struggle with execution.
CMS Limitations:
Most sites are designed for a single audience, in one language. The same layout is applied across locales, which restricts flexibility.Long languages like German often don’t fit existing UI elements – especially when using machine translation, which tends to favor literal accuracy over concision.
Users in different regions expect different content structures, but rigid templates rarely allow adjustments.
In some cases, editors can only change metadata, making true localization impossible.
Internal Processes:
Approval workflows can create bottlenecks.Example: If Legal must approve all product content but only operates in the U.S., teams often default to strict 1:1 translations. These meet compliance needs but fail to resonate with local users.
To avoid these pitfalls:
Invest in a modular CMS that supports flexible layouts across locales.
Ensure internal workflows include local market reviewers, including legal review where needed.
Step 3: Ground Content in Market Research
Once infrastructure is in place, shift focus to the user. Effective localization requires understanding local behavior:
Search behavior: What do users in this market actually search for?
Buyer motivations: What influences their purchasing decisions? What objections do they have?
Cultural context: Do your value propositions resonate? Do they need reframing?
Tools can help with keyword and persona research, but interviews with local users often yield the most actionable insights.
Step 4: Treat Localized Content as New Content
Don’t treat translation as a shortcut. While GPT-4 has shown translation quality on par with junior translators, it still requires human oversight.
A common (but flawed) workflow is:
The original content is machine-translated.
A human reviews it for accuracy.
A SEO specialist tweaks it for local keywords.
This often results in:
Flat, unnatural copy – because most SEOs aren’t trained writers.
Inflexible structure – because there’s no room to add new insights or address local intent.
A better approach:
Conduct keyword research for the target market.
Build a local content brief, using the original as a reference but not a template.
Have a local writer craft the piece, with local sources and examples.
This method is more resource-intensive, but you can prioritize markets based on business impact. In my experience, starting with a localized brief consistently delivers better rankings and stronger conversions.
Final Thoughts
Localization in 2025 isn’t just about keywords and hreflangs. It’s about meeting local users where they are – culturally, linguistically, and contextually. Google’s evolving algorithms reward content that resonates on a human level, not just one that ticks the technical boxes.
If your expansion plan relies only on translations and templates, it’s unlikely to yield long-term organic growth. Instead, think like a local, build for the local user, and make localization a core part of your SEO strategy – not an afterthought.
Article by
Tina Reis
Tina Reis is a Senior SEO Strategist at Muhlert Digital in Berlin. With 10 years experience, mostly agency-side, they specialize in technical and international SEO for B2B SaaS and have helped enterprise brands such as Adobe and Stripe expand into the German market.
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