As the world's biggest ecommerce platform, Amazon is an effective route to connect your brand with a global audience.
But with 22 marketplaces worldwide selling over 350 million items, you can't rely on one version of your product listing to appeal to customers in different countries.
Localising your listings is essential for engaging international consumers and driving sales. To help you create pages that convert, here are our top tips for translating your Amazon listings into multiple languages:
- Optimise your initial product listing
A house is only as solid as its foundations. If your initial product listing isn’t well written, your translated versions are unlikely to return a strong performance.
The best product listings are written to meet the search criteria of Amazon’s A9 algorithm, which powers the search and ranking on Amazon’s website.
While we don’t know exactly how the algorithm works, prioritising relevant keywords ensures your products turn up in customer searches. Your product’s title and description must closely match what people are typing into Amazon’s search bar.
You don’t get a huge word count on Amazon listings – titles should be less than 200 characters, and Amazon only ranks the first 1,000 characters of your bullet point product description. Getting to the point will help your search performance.
In addition to relevant keywords, a good Amazon product listing will include information like the make and model of your item, the ingredients or materials used to make it, its main features and benefits, dimensions, and important operational instructions.
- Localise your keywords
When translating your Amazon listing into multiple languages, you should develop a separate list of keywords for every market.
The search terms consumers use in your home market may differ in another country, even if they speak the same language. UK versus US English is an excellent example of this – for instance:
- UK consumers search for biscuits; US consumers search for cookies
- UK consumers search for a flannel; US consumers search for a washcloth
- UK consumers search for fizzy drinks; US consumers search for soda
Detailed keyword research is critical to ensuring your international Amazon listings use local terms. Ideally, create a glossary of keywords in every language to use in your product descriptions.
While you can do this research in-house using keyword search tools, a localisation or translation agency can perform multilingual keyword research on your behalf.
A specialist agency will already have a good knowledge of how language varies between markets. They can use their global network to conduct further keyword research specific to your products.
- Use a native speaker for translation
With free AI tools now widely available, it’s tempting to translate your Amazon product listings automatically. But as our blog post on the pros and cons of AI translation explains, you need to tread carefully with auto-translation.
A poorly translated Amazon listing isn’t just bad for sales; it can generate embarrassing PR.
Amazon itself became a source of ridicule when it launched in Sweden in 2020 using automatic translations. The site used a lewd Swedish word to describe a t-shirt with a cat on the front.
Even if you’re using a human translator, ensure you work with someone who understands writing for ecommerce. A translator or agency with experience creating retail content will help you write Amazon product listings in a manner that resonates with local consumers.
- Localise the specifics of your listings
One of the key mistakes brands make when translating product listings is to change the language—and nothing else. Often, the specifics of the listing also need to be adapted for an international audience.
Here are some elements of your product listing that may need to change between countries:
- Currency symbols
- Units of measurement
- Date and time formats
- Allergen listings (for food and drink products)
- Local certifications
You may also wish to localise some general product information to convert consumers. Certain features and benefits may resonate in one country but feel less relevant in other markets.
Translating local product reviews can be helpful, as this will increase your credibility and trust among international customers.
- Double-check your product specifications
It’s not just the finer details that need changing in your product listing. The actual information may vary depending on the type of product you’re selling.
For example, if you’re selling food, beverages or beauty products, local laws and restrictions may mean you must reformulate items for specific markets. If you translate your English product information word for word, your listing isn’t just incorrect; it’s non-compliant.
Using AI tools or translators who don’t understand your sector's legalities can leave you vulnerable to mistakes and non-compliance.
Working with a specialist consumer goods agency is the easiest way to meet legislation. A company with expertise in bringing products to international markets will compliance check your Amazon product listing rather than presuming a like-for-like translation will suffice.
Read more: what’s the difference between a product compliance agency and a translation agency?
- Don’t forget your images!
Localising your Amazon product listing isn’t just a text translation exercise. You also need your imagery to match consumer expectations.
To ensure accuracy, your listing photos must depict the correct version of the product (including packaging) so that consumers know what they’re buying.
If your product photos and videos feature models, you may also want to ensure that the people depicted are culturally compatible with your target audience's expectations. Plus, you need to make sure any text or voiceovers are in the correct language for local consumers.
As a professional seller, you have access to Amazon tools that will help you optimise your multimedia elements with enhanced visuals and detailed information.
A+ content (formerly known as Enhanced Brand Content) allows you to enhance standard product descriptions with visually rich content, including videos and product comparison charts.
There are three A+ Content types available to professional sellers: Basic, Premium and Brand Story. Premium features include Q&A modules and shoppable product comparison charts, while Brand Story allows you to share your company’s story and values across product listings.
B+ Content is not as robust as A+ content but still offers benefits compared to standard product listings, including:
- Extra images and visuals e.g. close-up product shots
- More detailed product descriptions
- Product information graphics and infographics
- Keyword optimisation
- Customer reviews
- Consider what other assets need translating
Converting your Amazon listings into multiple languages is the first step to increasing your international footprint. But what other copy do you need to localise to ensure your ecommerce operation is appropriate for consumers?
Producing internationally compliant content has many facets. From product packaging to policies and user manuals, your consumers expect to understand the information they receive. In many cases, translated content is an official requirement.
While Amazon and other marketplaces make international ecommerce easy to manage, your company still needs to meet regional regulations and standards. Otherwise, you could face legal repercussions.
It’s possible to manage localisation and compliance in-house. However, it’s easier to reduce the risks and responsibilities of growing your online footprint by partnering with a specialist brand development agency like Hooley Brown.
Our export strategy and content translation services will help you to build a localised presence on your Amazon platform.
Get in touch to find out more about our product localisation services.
