Globalize Your Web Site

The Web may bring the world to your storefront, but you won't get much global action if your entire site is geared toward residents of Terre Haute, Indiana. If you're serious about doing business outside of the U.S., you need to provide suitable content for those specific cultures - and in the local languages.

The Web may bring the world to your storefront, but you won't get much global action if your entire site is geared toward residents of Terre Haute, Indiana. If you're serious about doing business outside of the United States, you'll need to figure out where you want to go and then provide suitable content for those specific cultures - and in the local languages.

To globalize your Web site, your first course of action is to prioritize what areas you want to target. Once you know that, you have to decide how far you want to go to localize your content for each country.

Obviously, the first challenge is language. While many Web surfers around the world read English, your site isn't going to get very far unless you learn the local tongue.

A number of services and software packages are available to translate English into a variety of languages. If you rely on automated translation software, however, you should still hire a native speaker to proofread your multilingual site. Translation products are improving, but they simply don't produce idiomatic results that will seem natural to native speakers - especially on nontechnical subjects. You also need to translate images or charts that contain words - something machine translators will most likely miss. Fortunately, most automated translation operations also offer human-aided translation services. Be sure to read Do Translators Specialize in Particular Industries?

To be truly global, you need to create content in many languages. New database-driven solutions to manage multilingual content are the best way to manage and update a large multilingual Web site. These systems store content in a database, allow you to edit and update it in English and then dynamically generate the content in whatever language you choose. One of the top vendors in this market is Transware.

Once you address the language issue, you still need to consider your content's relevancy. Just as American audiences have little interest in Britain's cricket scores, local U.S. legal issues probably have little impact on businesses in Singapore.

The standard way to create appropriate content for a particular country is to hire writers based there. Local writers can produce more authentic copy and provide more useful information than merely translating your U.S. content.

It's not always easy to find good local writers, however, and managing them from thousands of miles away can be tricky and expensive. If you plan to provide significantly more local content than a few writers can provide, or if you can't afford to hire and manage your own editorial staff in multiple countries, you may want to partner with a local media company and distribute its content. Local newspapers often license their content, and it's possible that your business could offer a product or service in return.

If your Web globalization project is going to be quite large, you may want to partner with an interactive agency that specializes in building Web sites for a global audience. To make your Web site as authentic and relevant as possible, choose an agency that specializes in your target countries. Leading firms that have an international presence include Modem Media, Sapient, and Agency.com.

Be sure to read Stategies for a Global Presence on the Web for an interesting case study on how one Japanese company successfully used the Web to pursue business opportunities in the U.S.

AllBusiness.com has more tips on finding the right domain name for your new business website.

Copyright © 1999 - 2007 AllBusiness.com, Inc. All rights reserved.

Back to Top Email Printer Friendly View

RATE THIS ARTICLE
Rate it:

Not Yet Rated: