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Regional-language SEO for Indian shoppers: Hindi, Hinglish and beyond

How to reach shoppers who search in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali or Hinglish: research, translation quality, URL structure, hreflang and where to start.

By Orvexa TeamUpdated 3 min read
Green neon "Diwali sale" signs in a shop window
Photo: Caitlin Regan, CC BY 2.0 · All photo credits
Key takeaways
  • Many Indians search in their own language or in Hinglish, so research how your customers phrase queries
  • Translate your best pages well before translating everything
  • Use separate URLs per language with hreflang tags so search engines show the right version

India is not one language market. Many shoppers search and buy in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and other languages, or mix English and Hindi in Roman script (Hinglish). If you only publish in English, you miss some of them.

Know your audience first

Check where your customers are and what language they use with you. Look at WhatsApp messages, reviews, search queries and delivery pincodes. If a state or language accounts for a growing share of orders, that is a good place to start.

Research queries in each language

People search in several ways:

  • Native script: "खादी साड़ी"
  • Roman script (transliteration or Hinglish): "khadi saree kaise pehne", "sasti cotton kurti"
  • English: "khadi saree online"

Use autosuggest, "People also ask" and Search Console to see which forms appear. Do not assume a literal translation matches what people type.

Translate with care

Machine translation is a useful first draft, but product pages need natural, accurate wording, correct sizing terms and the right tone. Ask a native speaker, ideally a customer or team member, to review. Bad translation looks careless and can cause returns.

Pick pages to translate first

  1. Your top product pages and collections.
  2. Shipping, returns and payment information, because trust matters most.
  3. Your best guides and FAQs.
  4. Checkout, if your platform allows it.

Do not machine-translate hundreds of pages at once. Fewer, better pages beat many poor ones.

URL structure and hreflang

Give each language its own URL, for example /hi/ for Hindi pages, rather than switching language with a script. Add hreflang annotations so that search engines show the right version. A simple example:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-IN" href="https://example.com/products/khadi-saree" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="hi-IN" href="https://example.com/hi/products/khadi-saree" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/products/khadi-saree" />

Each version should reference the others. Keep the structured data and metadata in the right language as well.

Other places the language shows up

  • Product titles, descriptions and alt text.
  • WhatsApp order updates and support replies (order updates).
  • Sizing charts and care instructions.
  • Social posts and ads that point to your pages.

Measure it

Use Search Console filtered by country and language, plus your analytics. Track impressions, clicks and orders for each language version separately, and compare with the English page.

A simple rollout plan

MonthAction
1Review customer language data and pick one language and five pages
2Translate, review with a native speaker, publish with hreflang
3Measure impressions, clicks and orders against the English pages
4Expand to more pages if results justify the effort

Remember the support side too: if you attract Hindi-speaking shoppers but only answer queries in English, you will lose them at the chat stage.

What to do next

Pick one language, translate five high-traffic pages carefully, add hreflang, and measure for two months before expanding.

Frequently asked questions

Should I optimise for Hinglish?

If your customers use it in searches and chats, include common Hinglish phrases in a natural way, for example in FAQs and headings, without cluttering your pages.

Is machine translation good enough?

It is a good starting point, but have a person review customer-facing pages for accuracy and tone.

Will translated pages compete with English pages?

Not if each language has its own URL and correct hreflang tags, which tell search engines which version suits which user.

Topics:regional seohindi seohinglishhreflangmultilingual

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