Globalization - Are You Ready?
Localization, Website Translation and the International Web
The statistics are staggering. Close to 1.1 billion people all over the world use the internet. Yet just over 229 million of them are in North America. Imagine being able to reach that many individuals... and in their own language. Currently, fewer than 10% of websites in America offer a language option other than English.
The World Wide Web should be just that, World Wide, yet many of us are not leveraging its power. The simple fact is, if you have a website, your business could be global. The market is no longer limited to a radius of ten miles surrounding your “store”. Your market is the entire world. When you effectively communicate with people in foreign countries, they will buy from you.
Search Engines
Search engines are the primary means to reach the global population. Through them, you can find information relevant to your query that may be located anywhere in the world. It would be a shame to lose the benefits of international information ¬sharing and communication in the global marketplace by not translating (localizing) your website.
Global leaders such as Ford, Toyota and Procter & Gamble know the value of multilingual communication and, between them, boast more than 300 fully localized websites. So what would happen if all businesses would reach out across the globe offering their products and services to buyers in foreign countries who need information in complex languages and cultures? These businesses would share in the $12.8 trillion of global online trading.
Website Translation - Buying Products in Your Own Language
A report on consumer buying preferences from Common Sense Advisory notes that people prefer to buy online in their own language. In fact, the study says, the majority of people in some countries will pay more for a product when the information is offered in their own language. Those with low English skills or none at all, were six times more likely to “rarely or never buy” from English-language only websites.
Benefits of Website Translation:
- Sell your products and/or services to individuals and companies across Europe and Asia.
- European and Asian companies wanting to do business with consumers and companies in the United States must translate their websites into English.
- American companies lose business opportunities with foreign language speaking consumers in the US. Many immigrants in this country are not be able to conduct business in English.
By creating a multi¬lingual website, with language translation services from firms like Foreign Translations, Inc., your Internet reach could actually exceed 80% of users and potential clients.
Beyond Website Translation ... Localization
Foreign Translations, Inc. goes beyond the simple translation of websites we localize them. Localization is the process of customizing a product or service for consumers in a target market
For this specific reason, Foreign Translations, Inc. uses translators who are in their own country. These professionals know their own languages as well as their own special ways of searching online. Quite logically, a user in Germany will search as a German, not as an American. Google can be searched in 125 languages, MSN in 50, Yahoo in 25. There are also country-specific search engines. Because of this, sites must be correctly optimized in these languages - the world does not search the Internet in English. Simply put, on line searches are not the same everywhere. Translators living in their native countries are the best professionals to translate and “localize” the right key words for international search engines.
Multilingual Websites
Companies that already have an established global presence, know that a multi¬lingual website is vital. Along with an international website, web pages must be correctly optimized for the search engines, and all related marketing materials must be translated.
In today’s market, a global reach requires that your documents, contracts, catalogs, brochures, product fact sheets and especially websites are all translated so that individuals in other countries will understand your products and services.
Successful multinational companies offer downloadable manuals in a variety of languages. User guides, instruction manuals – any component that gives a better understanding of products and services, and facilitates the use of them, can be easily translated into foreign languages.
The next logical step could include translating other components of the company website, such as FAQs pages. Another option involves partnering with an “on call” translation agency to translate e¬mail correspondence.
Foreign Translations. Inc. helps facilitate communication between parties by translating correspondence and interpreting telephone conferences. We help you “Go Global With Confidence” ®.
Foreign Translations, Inc. is a 12 year-old foreign language translation, interpreting and website localization firm. With more than 1,500 native translators located in over 30 countries, we frequently translate documents that range from 1,000 words to over several million in all the major languages of the world.
Some of our corporate clients include Computer Associates, Procter & Gamble, Michelin North America, Fuji, and many more. For a full list of clients, please visit our Language Translation Clients page.
In addition, we hold a General Services Administration Contract ("GSA") with the Federal Government.
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