With more than 1,5 billion people or 20% of the world’s population speaking English (either as a native or second language), businesses might be tempted to leave all their web content in English, or think that in their sector everybody understands English. Especially since translation & localization is often perceived as an expensive and cumbersome process.
But did you know that - according to a 2014 survey from Common Sense Advisory called ‘Can’t read won’t buy’ - 75% of consumers prefer to buy products in their native language? 60% even rarely or never buys from English-only websites. That number increases in countries like Japan and is also dependent on the type of product. Or think of the generation of parents that gets a smartphone from their children because they took a job in another country. The parents received the smartphone so they can stay in touch over WhatsApp. Those parents are part of a whole new generation of people that now get access to the internet and those people don’t have English as a second language.
So, is localization then the only option if you want to sell more goods or services to global customers? Well, don’t worry, it’s not a game of all or nothing. More than 50% of the respondents prefer to have at least the navigation elements and some content appear in their native language. No need to translate every single landing page in every single language. You can use language to promote certain types of products in certain countries. A good idea would be to use Google analytics to find out which pages are viewed in which countries. It will help you to optimize your translation & localization budget.
Of course, not only language affects cross-border behavior. Privacy, payment methods, delivery options, and buying habits or cultural differences are important parts of a localization strategy and can affect the global online experience. That’s why we keep on talking about localization instead of translation. You need the right language experts, living in the country of your target audience to make sure they understand the needs of the local consumers.
So how to go about the translation & localization process to boost your international sales. A few tips from our side:
- Don’t be tempted to take the easy road and have your content machine translated. Google doesn’t like that. And if Google doesn’t like it, you know what it means: it’s bad for your web traffic. Although you might think that the ‘king of machine translation‘ would encourage the use of its own engines, Google classifies automatically translated content as “automatically generated content” which is a violation of the rules. On the other hand, if your audience Googles your product in another language, Google will prefer to send them to a page in their language. If you’re lucky and there are no competing pages in those other languages, you’re fine. But if your competitor has the page in another language, they will rank above yours.
- Take cultural differences into account. For example, choose your wording to call for action wisely.
- Identify and translate keywords
- Use Hreflang tags. Those tags will communicate to Google which language your site/landing page is in. Google will use that information to make sure the right target audience sees the right version of your site.
- Create a local presence so you can add a local phone number and contact address.
We’ve got your back to help you with the first items. Have a look at www.lilo.global to get your business going global.