Wooing potential customers in a new market is a matter of trust. As you launch your website in Sweden, it’s essential to meet Swedish users’ preferences and earn their confidence.
Overall, Swedes are internet-savvy and have high standards for shopping online. That’s why you’ll need to craft a Swedish SEO strategy that guarantees your website content is user-oriented, transparent and more.
Here’s everything you need to get started with building a Swedish SEO strategy and adapting your website for the unique characteristics of the Swedish market.
Understanding the Ideal Swedish SEO Strategy
Overall, SEO for the Swedish market is unique to this country’s language, culture, user behaviors and more.
For this reason, it’s essential to have a deep understanding of Swedish SEO before you launch here. Your Swedish SEO strategy is best handled by a native linguist who knows these characteristics inside and out.
To give you a sense of Swedish SEO, here are key pillars that your business must adopt to succeed in Sweden.
Swedes have specific ways of searching online.
Literal translation of your keywords won’t work for Sweden. The way Swedes search is particular to their language and culture, so you’ll need to get professional keyword research. Typical areas include search intent, search competition, cost-per-click and more.
Swedes are mobile-first browsers and shoppers.
In general, 95% of Swedes connect online on a regular basis. Yet, they are especially partial to browsing and shopping from their cell phones. As you optimize your website, it’s important to adapt and reformat the mobile version for the Swedish market.
Swedes primarily use Google.se.
Swedes are primarily browsing on Google.se, so you’ll want to focus your efforts on Google’s algorithm. However, you shouldn’t discount other popular ecommerce markets such as Blocket, Tradera and Prisjakt. (This is especially true because international markets like Amazon and eBay don’t operate in Sweden.)
The Swedish ecommerce market is steadily growing.
Swedes are increasingly making purchases online. The digital retail market stood at 15% of total retail in 2022. This trend emphasizes the need for optimized SEO to reach Swedish users as they search for products.
How to Optimize Your Website With Your Swedish SEO Strategy
Optimization is key to ensuring that your website content in Swedish reaches your target users. It’s not enough to simply create a .se domain and get your content translated. Be sure to follow these expert tips for your Swedish SEO strategy below.
1. Get native Swedish keyword research
Enlist native Swedish linguists to perform in-depth keyword research. Ideally, these professionals will use industry-best tools such as Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to discover the right keywords for your content.
At the same time, it’s worth undertaking competitor analysis to see what SEO other companies are using. And while a Swedish translator will know local search patterns and cultural preferences, you should also test keywords frequently and update your strategy as needed.
2. Craft high-value content in Swedish
The most important method for boosting organic traffic is to provide high-quality content in Swedish. This doesn’t just mean translating your content into Swedish, but transcreating or reimagining it for Swedish readers.
Valuable content will also incorporate keywords from the research stage and create an elevated experience for Swedish users. In turn, this will allow your website to rank higher on Google.se.
3. Take care of behind-the-scenes Swedish SEO
Besides having main and related keywords throughout your content, you should pay careful attention to behind-the-scenes SEO. Key areas include:
- Headings/subheadings
- Meta descriptions
- Alt text
- Multimedia elements (images, videos, graphics, etc.)
- Language attributes
You’ll want a professional Swedish linguist to handle these tasks to support your greater SEO strategy.
4. Consider local Swedish links, guest posts and social media campaigns
What’s more, you can enhance the trustworthiness of your website in Swedish by working closely with local sources.
For example, you might create a link-building campaign with local Swedish organizations that fit with your product line. Or you could hire guest posts from experts or reviewers to elevate your reputation.
In addition, your Swedish SEO strategy should always align with your larger marketing strategy, including social media, landing pages and more.
5. Make sure the technical aspects are on point
Additionally, it’s important for you to maximize user experience on your website. Doing so will ensure that potential customers can navigate seamlessly – and strengthen the impact of your SEO.
Check your site speed, as well Swedish geo and language attributes. All your technical elements should be properly configured, including your navigation, sitemap, HTTPS and other core web vitals.
Don’t forget about analyzing the mobile version of your site, too. All content and formatting should fit well on mobile, so that Swedes can easily browse and shop from their cell phones.
6. Keep measuring and iterating your Swedish SEO strategy
Finally, you should constantly analyze your Swedish SEO strategy. Set up monitoring, so that you can dig into the numbers on a regular basis.
By tracking key indicators, you can get a better sense of what’s working and not. You might even create automatic reports to check how your SEO strategy is doing. From here, you can make improvements to ensure your Swedish SEO is optimized.
Choose a Skilled Translator to Create a Swedish SEO Strategy
Now you have a greater understanding of SEO for the Swedish market. Leverage our steps to successfully implement a robust SEO strategy and get results with your next launch in Sweden.
Ultimately, your Swedish SEO strategy starts by hiring the right linguist. Choose a professional English-Swedish like me to guarantee that your website content is SEO-optimized and well-suited to your target audience.
I have 20+ years of expertise working with digital marketing campaigns. I’m seasoned in not just adapting your content, but also performing deep keyword research that resonates with your users.
I bring a wealth of Swedish SEO experience to the table and have certificates in Swedish SEO, Swedish UX writing and more. Learn more about my top-tier skills in my client portfolio and case studies, and get in touch with me today!