How does Google rank AI-translated web copy?
AI-translated web copy is cheap and easy. But: marketing translators and SEO content writers have been warning about relying on AI-generated and machine-translated web content for some time. They were right. A few weeks ago, Google Search Central shed light on how this type of web copy could negatively affect your rankings. Let’s have a look at what they discussed below.
1. Why automatically translated copy could be problematic
Whether AI-generated or machine translated, your web copy will be of lower quality than text crafted by a professional translator or transcreator. Google Search Central’s YouTube podcast addressed why this may be a problem.
In answer to the question, “Does an auto-translation of my website for other regions affect my ranking negatively?”, the team responded:
“If the auto-translation is of low quality, maybe. You should ensure that a human native in those languages reviews and perhaps fixes these translations to ensure that the content is actually helpful for users. Of course, this is not a problem if you block crawling of such content.”
Google Search Central’s “SEO office-hours” session (YouTube, 13 June 2024)
Let me respond to this advice with five points:
1. Being a native speaker of the desired target language is not enough to produce a good translation. Please hire a qualified professional. In the UK, you can find these e.g. via the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) or the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI).
2. The quality of AI- and machine-translated content is often poor, especially in marketing translations. The reason: these tools aren’t truly creative, have no cultural sensitivity or a sense of humour. They also don’t have experience of living in the target market.
3. It’s usually best to translate from scratch. Reading an existing poor translation means translators are focused on correcting mistakes or poor sentence structures, rather than coming up with imaginative ways of transforming the source content into their target language(s).
4. Yes, you can block automatic crawling of any auto-translations, but what’s the point if you could get good, SEO-friendly content from a human translator?
5. Finally, consider Google’s advice on edited AI-generated content below. This surely must also go for translated copy.
2. Why even “humanised”/edited AI content may rank badly
As (SEO) content writers only know too well, many brands will now just hire human writers to edit AI-generated content.
However, Google’s advice on AI-generated first drafts suggests it’s not enough to hire editors to “humanise” content and implement SEO/branding guidelines:
“What matters to us is the overall quality that you end up publishing on your website. If you’re using tools […] to get you started, that’s not a problem on its own. But it’s also not a sign that you’ve created something that will be considered high-quality content.”
Google Search Central’s “SEO office-hours” session (YouTube, 13 June 2024)
Again: web copy that’s been drafted with the help of AI tools—even if it’s just a first draft subsequently edited by a human—is unlikely to be viewed as high-quality content by Google. It sounds like they’ll assume it won’t be original and/or particularly helpful.
Good news for human writers and editors who don’t rely on AI!
3. Why localised web pages won’t be penalised as “duplicate content”
A concerned user wondered whether translated/localised web pages could be penalised in the SEO rankings as “duplicate content”. Google’s answer to this question was short and sweet:
“No. Localised content is not considered duplicate content.”
Google Search Central’s “SEO office-hours” session (YouTube, 13 June 2024)
So, publishing the same content in different languages while adjusting the brand voice/terminology/imagery for your chosen target market will not affect your ranking negatively.
Localising is only risky if you don’t bear in mind points 1 and 2 above. Choose professional human translators and content/copywriters who know their stuff – your rankings will thank you.
Summary
All in all, it’s good news for human language professionals in my view:
- AI-translated web copy is likely to rank poorly if it hasn’t been reviewed by an expert (though it’s much better to hire a human translator to create it from scratch).
- Hiring a human to edit AI-generated content is unlikely to convince Google that your copy is truly original or helpful.
- Your ranking won’t be negatively affected by properly localised content.
Here’s to high-quality copy crafted by translators and SEO content writers. 🎉
PS. If you need someone to write or translate SEO-friendly marketing copy from scratch (English <> German), I’d love to help you rank better. Let’s chat if you’re an ethical brand or fellow freelancer in the UK or in the EU!
