Going Global? Don't Let Your Business Get Lost in Translation

If you want to sell overseas, it will be to your advantage to translate your website and company literature. Language is an important factor in different purchase categories. 

In a recent survey the majority of those were under the assumption that, since English is the most common online language, it would be acceptable to have an English-only site. This may be why you think that there is no need to translate your website into languages other than English. However, the truth is that most web users are located outside English-speaking countries.

This underscores the need to translate your website into other languages so that you can access a global market and ensure a wider reach, especially given the fact that 72.1% of the total sample spent most or all of their time at sites written in their local language, with the percentage rising to 89.1% for those with little or no English skills.

Website translation also gives the audience a personal touch. If you translate your website, you are showing respect and appreciation towards the people you are targeting and you are depicting your business as being internationally professional. It’s much easier to influence people in their native language, as it removes ambiguity in the understanding of the text. All this only serves to give credence to the slogan “Think Global, Act Local“.