Almost every Sri Lankan business website is English-only. Yet millions of Sri Lankans search in Sinhala and Tamil, especially on mobile with voice search and native keyboards. With far fewer competing pages, ranking in Sinhala or Tamil is often much easier than ranking in English.
Who searches in Sinhala and Tamil?
- Customers outside Colombo, in towns and rural areas
- Older customers who are more comfortable in their first language
- Voice search users: speaking Sinhala or Tamil to the phone is easier than typing
- Searches for local services: tuition, health, government services, agriculture, vehicles, land
Three ways people search
- Native script: "වෙබ් අඩවි නිර්මාණය" or "இணையதள வடிவமைப்பு"
- Transliterated / Singlish: "web site hadanna", "gedara wada"
- Mixed: English service words with Sinhala or Tamil words around them
Your keyword research needs all three. Use Google Autocomplete with a Sinhala or Tamil keyboard to see real suggestions. More in our keyword research guide.
Build proper language pages
Don't mix three languages on one page. Create separate versions:
yourbusiness.lk/services/(English)yourbusiness.lk/si/services/(Sinhala)yourbusiness.lk/ta/services/(Tamil)
Each page should have its own:
- Title tag and meta description in that language
- Headings and body text in that language
langattribute:<html lang="si">or<html lang="ta">
Use hreflang
hreflang tags tell Google which pages are translations of each other, so it shows the right version to each searcher:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://yourbusiness.lk/services/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="si" href="https://yourbusiness.lk/si/services/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="ta" href="https://yourbusiness.lk/ta/services/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://yourbusiness.lk/services/">
Each language version must list all the others, including itself.
Translation quality matters
- Avoid raw machine translation. It often produces stiff, formal or wrong language that customers notice immediately.
- Use natural, everyday language, not formal government-style Sinhala or Tamil.
- Keep common English terms that people actually use, such as "SEO", "website" or "online".
- Have a native speaker review every page.
Technical details
- Use Unicode text, not images of text or old non-Unicode fonts like FM fonts. Google can only read Unicode.
- Load a good web font that supports the script, such as Noto Sans Sinhala or Noto Sans Tamil.
- URLs: keep them in Latin characters for simplicity.
/si/web-design/is easier to share than encoded Sinhala characters. - Check line height: Sinhala and Tamil scripts need more vertical space than English.
Local SEO in Sinhala and Tamil
- Add Sinhala and Tamil versions of your business description where platforms allow
- Reply to reviews in the language the customer used
- Create Google Business Profile posts in Sinhala or Tamil for local audiences
Where to start
You don't need to translate your whole website. Start with:
- Your homepage
- Your 2 or 3 most important service pages
- Your contact page
Measure the results in Search Console, then expand.
Our keyword research and content service includes Sinhala and Tamil keyword research, and we can plan multilingual pages for your business.