# SEO localization

Category: [International SEO](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/international-seo/) › [Country & language targeting](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/international-seo/country-language-targeting/) · Also known as: SEO translation, localization

**SEO localization** adapts a page to a specific market so that it can be found there. Translation converts the text into another language. Localization goes further and adjusts wording, search terms, currency, units, addresses and examples to the target market.

## How does localization differ from translation?

Translation keeps the content and changes the language. Localization starts with the question of what people in the target market type into a search box, because the literal translation of a keyword is often not the term used there. This is common practice in the industry and not defined in any Google document.

Localization usually also covers titles and meta descriptions, URL slugs, image alt text, local contact data and a hreflang setup that links the versions.

## What does Google say?

Google treats localized versions of a page as duplicates only if the main content stays untranslated. A fully translated site, for example with a German and an English version of each page, is a documented normal case. The same applies to pages in the same language with small regional differences, such as English content for the US, the UK and Ireland.

Google recommends a separate URL for each language version instead of cookies or browser settings, and hreflang annotations to connect the versions. For country targeting, Google names signals such as country-code domains, hreflang, local addresses and phone numbers, and local currency.

## Machine translation at scale

The spam policies list scraping content to generate many pages as scaled content abuse, including through automated transformations such as synonymizing or translating, where little value is provided to users. Translation on its own is not named as a violation. This is a reading of the wording (assessment).

## Example

An English page uses the term "sneakers". The UK version of the site targets "trainers", and the Irish version shows prices in euros. The text is translated in both cases, but only the second step, adapting terms and prices, is localization.

## FAQ

**Is translated content duplicate content?**
According to Google, localized versions count as duplicates only if the main content is not translated.

**Do I need separate URLs per language?**
Google recommends it, so that users and crawlers can reach every version.

## Related terms

- [hreflang](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/hreflang/index.md)
- [Multilingual website](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/multilingual-website/index.md)
- [International SEO](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/international-seo/index.md)
- [Content-Language header](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/content-language-header/index.md)
- [Duplicate content](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/duplicate-content/index.md)

## Sources

- [Localized versions of your page – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions)
- [Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/managing-multi-regional-sites)
- [Spam policies for Google web search – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies)

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Last updated: October 7, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/seo-localization/