Multilingual websites
Reach internationally
Opening up internationally is often the first motivation when you want to translate your site. Whether you are an artist and want to promote your work, or as a trader to find new markets, it’s always a bonus to create a bilingual or multilingual site, whatever your motivation is.
International and mutilingual websites
The Internet encompasses the entire globe, it’s true. However, not everyone speaks and understands the same language. In fact, nowadays we have become so diverse that there are countries with more than one official language. People prefer to browse websites for obtaining information or for buying goods and services that are in their native language.
In the many years that we have worked with WPML, we have been involved in hundreds of multilingual websites in more languages than you and I can imagine.
Typically, our work is related to setting up and configuring WPML and building custom language switchers, but it can also get much more complex with writing custom functions to adjust specific things or making incompatible themes and plugins work with WPML.
Here are 10 good reasons why you need a translated website today rather than later:
1 Shift Away from English Internet Users
The internet began as an English speaker’s invention and as a result was dominated by English speaking users and sites. However, times are changing. With the growing numbers of people buying PC’s and internet access available from Nigeria to New Zealand, English speakers will soon be in the minority when it comes to internet use.
Many researches have concluded that internet use in the traditional strong holds of the USA, Germany, the UK and Sweden is flat lining. On the other hand, countries such as France, Hong Kong, Italy and Japan are seeing substantial growth in internet usage.
As Kaizad Gotla, senior analyst at Nielsen-Netratings states, “The easiest opportunities are in countries where internet usage patterns and user/site relationships are less established. Acquiring users in markets that are currently in their growth stages will lead to a loyal user base that will pay dividends for internet companies in the future.”
2 Cost Effective Marketing Tool
Having the ability to communicate to a whole new international audience in their own language will undoubtedly yield results not only in a financial sense but also in terms of marketing and creating awareness of your brand, service or product. A multilingual website in the grand scheme of things is probably one of the most cost-effective ways of marketing your company, capturing new users, building relationships with new clients and giving your brand an international outlook.
3 New Customers
Ultimately, what a multilingual website brings you are new customers. By having your site accessible to potentially thousands of people, you are showcasing your company across the globe. For non-English speaking users looking for your product or service, you automatically capture their attention.
4 Sales
With every language added to a website, there is the potential for an increase of between 100% and 100% in sales. Even if a multilingual website is translated into a few of the major world languages, i.e., Spanish, French, German and Italian, there is potentially a 400% increase in sales. There are a few other ways to get such an increase for such little investment.
5 Customer-Centric
A multilingual website demonstrates you are thinking about the customer. That little extra effort shows you have thought and cared enough about them to offer the website in their language. As with anything in business, if the customer thinks you care, they will want to do business with you.
6 Trust
For many cultures there is an issue of trust when it comes to buying over the internet, especially if they feel it is in a language they are not fully proficient in. Offering them a language alternative allows the customers to feel secure in the fact they know what they are buying, how and who they are buying it from.
7 Culturally Sensitive
A multilingual website, if designed properly, overcomes potential cultural barriers through allowing access to a native language. This automatically puts the user in a ‘cultural comfort zone’ due to their being able to navigate, understand and interact with the website.
8 Beat Competitors
To get the competitive advantage in today’s environment, you need to think outside the box. Many businesses try to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Look at your competitors – if they have multilingual websites, then why don’t you? If they don’t, then why not lead the marketplace and establish your company or brand abroad before they do.
9 Shows International Nature
The image is everything. A multilingual website demonstrates you think, work and deal internationally.
10 Search engines
Search engines lead people to your site. In countries such as China, Japan and France, Google, Yahoo and MSN are not the default search engines. Home-grown search engines are emerging, and they are proving successful because they work in native languages and are focused on the habits and needs of their users. In addition, many of the key search engines, especially Google, are developing the capacity to run searches in foreign languages.
Conclusion
Businesses continually see changes and shifts. As of now, the multilingual website is still in its infancy, most of the large multinational corporations are using it to gain an international presence. However, the trickle down effect will occur naturally, and the multilingual website will be an integral part of an Internet presence. Whether people choose to invest now or later is their only choice.
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