The internet continues to grow and has become the default point of call for businesses and individuals searching for goods, services or information. For businesses wishing to get that competitive advantage, a multilingual website now presents one of the most high impact means of expanding a client base and securing greater sales volumes.
The multilingual website will continue to become a necessity for businesses and organisations as the process of internationalization unfolds.
Here are 10 good reasons why you need a multilingual website today rather than later:
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.
Results of research carried out by Nielsen-Netratings in March 2005 described foreign internet markets as "low hanging fruit," i.e. if you have the will and foresight there are massive revenues to be found for relatively little effort. The results showed 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."
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.
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.
Sales
With every language added to a website there is the potential for an increase of between 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 few other ways to get such an increase for such little investment.
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.
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 from.
Culturally Sensitive
A multilingual website, if designed properly, overcomes potential cultural barriers through allowing access in 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.
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.
Shows International Nature
Image is everything. A multilingual website demonstrates you think, work and deal internationally.
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. Such search engines are a key to tapping those markets and unless they have access to a particular language through your multilingual website then you will not be found.
In addition, many of the key search engines, especially Google, are developing the capacity to run searches in foreign languages. Having pages of your site available in those languages ensures maximum potential for your site being picked up in searches.
Conclusion
Business continually sees shifts and changes. At present the multilingual website is still in its early stages, with mostly large multinational companies using them to secure an international foothold. However, the trickle down effect will naturally occur and the multilingual website will become part and parcel of an internet presence. Whether people chose to invest now or later is the only choice they have.
Neil Payne is Managing Director of Kwintessential, a cross cultural communication consultancy that provides multilingual website design. http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/multilingual/website-design.html
recurring cleaning service Mundelein ..Sooner or later every small or medium business owner realizes... Read More
A website should firstly be searched out by visitors before... Read More
Developing a software application is not easy at all; apart... Read More
Websites, there are literally billions of them out there in... Read More
There are two important reasons to build your website from... Read More
Even after you've managed to bring traffic to your site... Read More
One of the most popular methods of traffic generation is... Read More
See, works every time. Seriously now, for some reason people... Read More
Creating your own website is actually easy in today's world... Read More
In my web surfing adventures, I've found a few site... Read More
In my last article entitled, Maximizing The True Value Of... Read More
An ongoing challenge for webmasters today is to provide fresh... Read More
There are several graphic software packages available to help you... Read More
As the Internet blooms at an alarming rate, so as... Read More
1. Use .gifs rather than .jpgs. GIFs are smaller in... Read More
Want to know what the worst thing to say on... Read More
Does your website need a re-design? Here are some questions... Read More
If you need a web designer, but have no clue... Read More
For many webmasters the title of my article may seem... Read More
Many times I've seen a web site undergo a revision... Read More
My site is working fine. The links work. Content is... Read More
As part of your event planning you should seriously consider... Read More
Most of us at times need advice on different aspects... Read More
As a webmaster, you want to keep your visitors content... Read More
With an increasing number of employment portals emerging, it is... Read More
tidy up service Buffalo Grove ..Colors have long been known to have psychological affects on... Read More
To create professional websites is not an easy task by... Read More
In this article we will be looking at why you... Read More
New Web sites are springing up online by the millions.... Read More
You have only 10 seconds to impress your potential buyer.... Read More
Many people hire professional web site designers for as much... Read More
Imagine you're going on a blind date. You've heard wonderful... Read More
You have created your custom error page so now all... Read More
The effective design is this one, which is maximum simplified,... Read More
If you are going to be placing ads on your... Read More
Selling on the internet is a challenge. There is no... Read More
Since you'll spend lots of time and money to create... Read More
Just about every list of the "Top 10 Web Design... Read More
If there's one thing that I've learnt so far, it's... Read More
Good websites stand out from the masses of boring, hard... Read More
Content is undoubtedly the most important element of a website.... Read More
The solution lies in creating a 'Database driven website', through... Read More
This is my second article on maximising web site viewability.... Read More
Seeing is believing.One trick to increase your visibility as well... Read More
Probably you know someone who has created a web site... Read More
The internet is filled with sites and they are good... Read More
For online businesses with their main goal of selling products,... Read More
What are websites? Are they sales tools for vendors and... Read More
The Questions You Should Be Asking ? The Answers You... Read More
When it comes to marketing your website, you should really... Read More
Web Design |