The internet has made it absolutely necessary for businesses to be competitive across a variety of mediums, borders and cultures. Even small brick and mortar businesses must find ways to maintain loyal customers in the face of increasing competition from all over the world. As such, a strong web-based presence is always a good idea for any business that wants to be successful in the long-term. Many businesses face a tough decision with respect to international commerce and engagement: whether or not translating the website into multiple languages is worth the effort. Below, we’ll discuss whether this strategy is a sound effort and what can be expected from the effort.
The Reality of Consumer Behaviour
The first and perhaps most important data-point regarding international business pertains to shopper behaviour: customers are much more likely to purchase a product or service if the website is in their native language. This is the biggest motivator for businesses that would like to expand their horizons into new markets. However, translation services can often be expensive and require professional services in order to deliver proper results. As such, businesses that have explicit targets in specific countries may find translating website content to be useful, but businesses that wish to merely broadly target a variety of different languages and countries may not find it feasible.
Evaluating Translation Services
Not all translation services are created equally. It is important to do thorough research into a variety of translation services before any commitments are made. Some fly-by-night translation services do not actually utilise professional and native speakers to perform the translation work. As such, it may be worth it to consider a translation tender process that helps evaluate qualified translators while ensuring that the best price for the job can be secured. Many professional translation services – depending on the scale of the project – can be quite expensive. As such, exploring all legitimate options while determining which ones are less than qualified is absolutely necessary in order to reap the benefits desired in international business.
Considering Additional Cultural Elements
There are many different concepts to consider and evaluate in addition to nominal translation services. Businesses that cross national lines and ultimately generate success usually do so because they are capable of connecting with audiences in other countries beyond sheer language. A proper understanding of cultural concepts in different countries is essential for long-term success and sales. Through the use of slang, idioms and other advanced cultural connections, international brands make it possible to connect with foreign audiences in ways that translation services alone simply will not provide.
It is also vital that a variety of technical considerations be made, such as the structure of the domain name. Some may opt to create an entirely new domain, while others will use subdomains to associate their translated pages with relevant search results. Overall URL structure, keywords and meta descriptions are also very important when targeting customers and visitors in other countries, as these elements will help search engines better classify and categorise your pages in relevant search results.
