How to Develop A Successful Multilingual Website Strategy

Introduction

The relentless pace of business globalisation is, in turn, driving the advancement of multilingual websites as effective business tools, allowing organisations to reach a global audience through their internet activities. Companies are realising that, ultimately, it is the structure, empowerment and recognition gained by their global web strategies that enables them to achieve their long-term business goals.

The challenge is to design, build, localise, host and maintain content-rich multilingual websites cost-efficiently that enables centralised content management, which allows an organisation to manage and publish material relevant to specific international markets.

When you decide to go multilingual, some typical questions arise:

• How can we keep content consistent throughout the different language/country versions?

• How can we ensure that as much content as possible can be re-used or shared?

• How can we assure brand consistency throughout the different country sites?

• How can we empower local markets?

So, what is the best practice for establishing a global online brand? And what are the key considerations that need to be taken into account?

1. Establishing a global brand

Amazon, eBay, British Airways, Virgin, BP, Coca-Cola, Gap, Microsoft, Apple, Vodafone, etc...

Welcome to the world of global branding.

But what exactly is branding? There is a misconception that branding is about the creative side of business; the logo, the advertising, the copy, the look, the image. Well a brand certainly encompasses all of those things, but that isn't the full extent of it. Branding is, in a nutshell, the entire customer experience; the relationship between the company and the customer.
The challenge facing organisations is to establish and maintain their brand on a global basis, and ensure consistency across geographical barriers, whilst at the same time ensuring recognition and relevance in different countries and markets. In order to develop globally, it is necessary to think locally.

The internet has emerged as a key global brand enabler (Amazon and eBay wouldn't exist without it) and a company's website is generally the first point of contact for customers, prospects, suppliers, partners or investors to get information and engage the brand experience. A website provides the opportunity to establish your brand globally with the flexibility to change and maintain localised content across different markets and in different languages.

Make the overall interaction attractive, relevant and convenient to your website visitors. Talk in their language and you have a better chance of attracting and retaining them. These are the key success factors for establishing a global online brand.

2. Having a global online strategy

The internet is the perfect vehicle for reaching a global audience, allowing an organisation to deliver the visual, the informative and the emotional aspects of their business; in short, the brand. Unlike any other communications or marketing media, a web site is the one place where the entire identity of a company is conveyed in a matter of seconds, and with only a few mouse clicks. Either the entire experience works, or it doesn't. Although the internet may indeed be a global community it does not erase cultural and linguistic barriers, in many cases it can actually magnify them. Issues of design, presentation, and copy that appeal to one culture may not necessarily appeal to others. If we consider that there are dozens of languages spoken in the United Kingdom alone, and that many companies consider this as their domestic marketplace, then there are obviously some serious issues for marketers to address, even on our own doorstep.

When you use the internet as a communication medium then you have a powerful opportunity, and an immense challenge. Either way, not having a multilingual online strategy is simply no longer an option for those wishing to develop their business to its full potential.

3. Why build a multilingual website?

A multilingual website demonstrates that you think, work and deal internationally. It is probably one of the most cost effective ways of marketing a company, capturing new users, building relationships with clients and giving your brand a truly global outlook. The internet was originally dominated by English speaking users and sites. However, times are changing quickly with people from all over the world having internet access. English speakers now account for only 29% of the global online population and 99% of all users will search the net in their native language first wherever possible. Having an English-only web site severely restricts the amount of visitors you can attract; it’s the online equivalent of only opening your shop for two days a week.

Research carried out by Nielsen-Netratings described 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. Results showed that internet use in the traditional strong holds of the USA, the United Kingdom and Germany are levelling out. On the other hand countries such as France, China, Italy, Russia and Japan are seeing substantial growth. Having the ability to communicate to a whole new global audience in their own language will undoubtedly yield results not only in financial terms, but also in terms of marketing and creating brand awareness.

With every language added to a website there is the potential for substantial increase in sales as you expand your market reach. Even if a multilingual website is translated into only a few of the major world languages (Spanish, French, German and Italian) there is a potential four fold increase in sales revenues.

A multilingual website shows that an organisation is thinking about its customers. As with all businesses, if customers think you care, they are far more likely to deal with you. For many cultures there is an issue of trust when it comes to buying online. Offering them a language alternative allows customers to feel secure about what they are buying, how they buy it and who they buy it from.

A multilingual website, if designed properly, overcomes potential cultural and linguistic barriers and automatically puts the user in a 'cultural comfort zone' as they are able to navigate, understand and interact with the website in their own language.

4. Stakeholders - who are they?

Embarking on a global online strategy means that you will have to identify, and give careful consideration to, the stakeholders. They can be defined as those who are involved in creating, managing, maintaining or using a multilingual website and, depending on individual circumstances, can include:

Customers and prospects - These are the key users who will interact with your websites globally on a day-to-day basis. They're the reason you're in business and are easily the most important stakeholders in your multilingual website strategy. It is therefore vital to understand and meet their requirements on a local level.

Investors - For any organisation seeking funding, the ability to communicate strategies, business plans and financial projections to international investors is vital. They need to be able to access information relevant to them easily and quickly, wherever they are and in a language they feel most comfortable with.

Media - It is vital for an organisation to be recognised and represented by global media who will generally expect to see press releases and other company news presented in local languages.
Business partners - Most global organisations forge strategic relationships with suppliers, resellers and other partners, often in different countries. The website must be able to present these relationships clearly within different territories and languages to maximise all business opportunities. The website can also evolve into extranet activity to enable partners to interact with an organisation directly in a secure manner.

Employees - A multilingual website needs to address the needs of employees, from regional sales people to distribution staff, who rely on it for localised information on products and services. In this case, the website can evolve into intranet activities for secure information exchange and interaction within the business itself.

5. Localisation

By its very nature, the internet is a truly international and multicultural engine that crosses global barriers. For global companies to build long-term trust with their customers worldwide, the most effective way is to address audiences in their local languages. Effective content localisation enables companies to leverage corporate assets in ways that reduce overall costs, accelerate revenues and build better relationships with customers and employees around the world.

Most companies have several quantifiable benefits that can form the basis for measuring the ROI of their web site localisation activities, including:

• Infrastructure cost savings

• Time-to-market revenue acceleration

• Impact of a stronger global brand

• Brand consistency

• Enhanced global customer relationships.

There are some qualitative reasons for localisation. According to research company Global Reach, around 75% of the online population was expected to accesses the Internet in a language other than English by 2005. To reach 70% of Europe's audience, a company needs to translate its website into at least five languages, according to one of Anna Bowman Translations Ltd’s most valued clients, Merrill Lynch. To further underline the benefits, IDC have calculated that customers are four times more likely to buy if they are approached in their own language.

6. Information architecture

Designing a web structure in which information is presented is complex enough for a single language website. When creating a multilingual platform, the complexities increase significantly but our experience in dealing with such issues means that the whole process should be straightforward.

However, the one thing that we do recommend is that we are involved from the beginning in order to discuss all complex design and optimisation issues with a company before they build a site. Simply creating an English language site and then presenting it for translation is not the most effective way to develop a multilingual presence online. Focusing on the information architecture at the planning stage can help with the development of a consistent multilingual website in a smoother and more cost effective manner.

Having a global website strategy is not just about translating words; it is about determining not only the brand experience, but also the user experience. The way in which users interact with a web site is fundamental to its success. Design, navigation and the way content is presented are all vital components, as is the capability for visitors to easily and quickly find content that is in their language.

In the development of multilingual site, there may be wholesale or subtle changes that may be required to the user interface to satisfy the requirements and demands of local markets. All of this should be determined at the initial design and development phases through careful assessment of user requirements in different countries. By doing this at an early stage we can create a generic platform, which can then incorporate multiple language content without the need to adapt the site dynamics each time a new language is added. Whilst it is true that there are technical implications for using a single site with multiple languages, especially with foreign search engines, our experience has taught us how to avoid the pitfalls that so many multilingual web sites suffer. The ‘single site’ approach streamlines operational efficiency and reduced the costs associated with multiple website maintenance.

7. Translation

Translation and localisation can combine to allow businesses to expand their global reach. There are a myriad of firms that offer we site translation, but very few fully understand the technical implications of building, hosting and optimising a site in multiple languages. Correctly applied, presenting translated information about your organisation can yield a tremendous return on investment.

The key to successful translation is consistent authoring of the original work. English copy needs to be written ‘with translation in mind’ and should be free from unclear statements, cultural references or any other types of ambiguities that can cause problems during the translation stage. The approach needs to be:

Write once. Translate into many. Sell more.

CONCLUSIONS

Having worked with a very large and demanding global client base for a significant period of time, the lessons we have learned at Anna Bowman Translations Ltd are invaluable. We have seen that local trust is best addressed in the local language. People become more loyal when addressed in their own language and, as a result, a company can build long-term relationships with its customers worldwide.

Key factors to focus on when developing a multilingual website strategy are: revenue opportunities, customer service, brand awareness, trust and cost reduction. Everything else follows on logically from these areas.

For both consumers and business buyers, companies must tailor their website to meet local needs and conditions.

Building long-term trust is fundamental for any organisation and addressing the audience in its local language is an important step to achieving that.

© Jonathan Bowman

Partner - Anna Bowman Translations Ltd
Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing