Introducing Vignesh Kumar & Ubersuggest
Meet Vignesh Kumar, a key player at NP Digital and Ubersuggest since February 2015. With years of experience in various roles within the company, he now leads marketing for NP Digital Technologies, overseeing SaaS products like Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, and AdsGrader.
At the core of NP Digital’s success is a commitment to delivering top-tier performance marketing solutions. As a global agency, NP Digital specializes in SEO, PPC, paid media, CRO, email marketing, and creative services. Within this ecosystem, NP Digital Technologies focuses on SaaS solutions, equipping marketers with powerful data-driven insights. With operations spanning 19 countries, the company’s ability to understand and implement localization strategies has been a crucial factor in maintaining relevance and driving international growth.
Vignesh’s experience leading marketing for NP Digital Technologies gives him a unique perspective on how businesses can successfully enter new markets. His role involves navigating the complexities of cross-cultural communication, ensuring that SaaS products like Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, and AdsGrader resonate with diverse audiences worldwide.
And with that introduction, we hand over to Vignesh…
The Role of Localization in Ubersuggest’s Global Marketing Strategy
Expanding globally comes with unique challenges, and one of the biggest is ensuring that your messaging feels natural and relevant to different audiences. Localization is more than just translating words—it’s about making sure content resonates with a specific audience. At Ubersuggest and AnswerThePublic, we don’t just translate content into different languages; we tailor it to fit the cultural and linguistic expectations of the region.
For example, in AnswerThePublic, users can search for keywords not just in English, but in various languages across multiple countries, and see how those keywords perform in their specific region. Similarly, in Ubersuggest, users can track keyword rankings and website performance across multiple locations and languages. This helps businesses determine whether entering a new market is viable based on search demand.
Another example is neilpatel.com, which is available in nine different languages. But it’s not just a direct translation—each version incorporates cultural references, idioms, and region-specific terminology to make it more relevant to local audiences. If we were localizing content for the Chinese market, we’d incorporate idioms and cultural phrases familiar to Chinese users, just like we do for our German or French versions.
Cultural Adaptation: More Than Just Translation
Beyond language, businesses must also consider cultural adaptation. A common mistake companies make when entering new markets is attempting to export their own culture rather than adapting to the new one. A perfect example of this is Yahoo Japan. Unlike Yahoo in the U.S., Yahoo Japan included blood type in its user profiles because blood types hold cultural significance in Japan, similar to horoscopes in Western cultures. That small adaptation helped Yahoo Japan remain highly relevant in the region.
When NP Digital expanded into India, we initially targeted small businesses. However, we quickly realized that enterprise-level clients were a better fit for the market, leading us to shift our focus. As a result, NP Digital India became significantly more profitable, and we were able to hire 200 additional employees to support this strategy.
The key lesson? Understanding a market’s cultural and business landscape is crucial. Instead of assuming what worked in the U.S. will work elsewhere, companies should invest in local expertise.
How Ubersuggest Localizes Content and Enters New Markets
Successfully entering a new market requires a structured approach to localization. At Ubersuggest, we follow a series of strategic steps to ensure our content and tools align with each new audience. Our approach to localization involves several key steps:
- Market Research: We assess the demand for our products in a particular country by analyzing search trends, market potential, and competition.
- Collaboration with Product Managers: Our product managers gather market data, revenue projections, and cultural insights.
- Prototype Development: Once we determine viability, our engineers, customer success teams, and developers work on a localized product version.
- Human Localization Team: We have a dedicated localization team that ensures content is not only translated but culturally relevant.
- Data Partnerships: We work with hundreds of data vendors to obtain local keyword and market insights.
- Launch & Iteration: Once live, we continuously refine the product based on user feedback and data analysis.
Why We Prioritize Local Expertise
While tools and data play a significant role in localization, human expertise remains invaluable. We place a strong emphasis on hiring local experts for translation and localization. Just like having a local guide can make travel more immersive and enjoyable, working with someone deeply embedded in the culture ensures we get authentic insights. When we expand into a new country, we prioritize hiring individuals who understand the market, cultural nuances, and consumer behavior.
Our head of translation plays a crucial role in this process, bringing in individuals with cultural expertise who gather critical data to ensure our content is relevant and effective.
How AI Is Changing Localization and Content Creation
The rise of AI has introduced new possibilities for content creation and localization. However, AI still has limitations that businesses must consider. One major issue with AI-generated content is that it often repeats existing data rather than generating unique, culturally relevant material. When AI first became widely accessible, many companies blindly adopted it for content creation—only to suffer ranking penalties for duplicate content.
Google’s latest algorithm focuses on Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T), making human-created content with first-hand insights more valuable. AI can assist in translation, but without human oversight, it fails to capture cultural nuances, idioms, and localized preferences. We experimented with AI translation tools for our workflows, and the output was far from perfect. A native speaker could immediately tell it wasn’t natural, which is why we still rely heavily on human translators.
Advice for Businesses Expanding Internationally
Expanding internationally can be a transformative opportunity, but it requires careful planning. For businesses looking to expand globally, here’s what I recommend:
- Find a Local Partner: Having someone on the ground who understands the culture and market dynamics is invaluable. You can’t fully understand a culture overnight or through AI tools alone.
- Ensure Market Viability: Not every country is a good fit for your business. Conduct thorough market research to see if it makes financial sense before investing.
- Start Small: Instead of trying to enter dozens of markets at once, pick the top 10 that make the most sense and build from there.
- Leverage Competitor Insights: Look at competitors’ public financial reports to analyze their international strategies.
- Use Ubersuggest to Test Market Demand: By searching for keywords and competitors’ domains in different languages and regions, you can quickly gauge interest levels in a specific market.
How Ubersuggest Can Help Businesses Expand Globally
Navigating new markets requires insights and reliable tools. Ubersuggest is an incredibly useful tool for businesses looking to expand internationally. Simply enter your primary keyword and select a country or language to analyze search trends. You can also enter competitors’ domains to see how much traffic they receive from different regions. This helps determine whether investing in localization and market entry is worthwhile.
Another useful strategy is analyzing public financial reports from large competitors. These reports outline international strategies and market priorities, offering valuable insights into where demand exists.
Final Thoughts
At the heart of global expansion is a commitment to truly understanding each market. Localization is not just about translating words—it’s about adapting to the culture, language, and business realities of each market. At Ubersuggest and NP Digital, we’ve learned that successful global expansion requires research, local expertise, and continuous iteration. AI tools are helpful, but they can’t replace the human touch required to make content resonate in a new market.
For businesses looking to go global, the key is understanding cultural nuances, leveraging data, and finding the right local partners. With the right strategy, expanding internationally can be a game-changer for business growth.