How to enter the international market? Tips for website owners
If you are planning to take your business to the next level, then you cannot do without new markets. This requires a clear plan not only for the company itself, but also for your website.
In this article we will not stop on which markets you should choose, in which countries it is more profitable to develop. We will focus your attention on the features of working with the site, how to prepare it for entering the international market.
Mandatory site localization
Forget about translating your site using built-in plugins. This is not serious if you want to develop, conquer new markets, and build trusting relationships with partners and clients. You need not just translation, but localization and complete adaptation of the site to new markets. This should be done by a professional team of linguists and translators.
Remember that translating a website into English is not enough. This option is only suitable if you plan to develop your business in the UK, the USA, Canada and other countries where English is the official language. But even these countries have their own local characteristics that are important to take into account.
According to research, more than half of users never buy on sites that do not have a version in their native language. Having an English version is not enough in this case.
In addition, people look for the necessary information about goods and services in search engines in their native language. Therefore, if you do not have a translation, you will not appear in search results in the desired region.
Site localization, in addition to translation into a specific language, also takes into account adaptation of:
- currencies;
- measurement systems;
- dates;
- text formatting;
- buttons, menu;
- text on images.
This is more global work on the site than just translating text from one language into another. The cultural characteristics of users who inhabit the country or region in which you want to develop are taken into account.
Regular translation of new information
If your data often changes or updates, or new pages or product cards are created, then you need to constantly translate all versions of the site. In this case, it is important to have partners who can do this on a regular basis and in the shortest possible time.
The quality of your company’s work in the new market depends on timely updating of information. It is important to keep up with competitors and provide users with up-to-date information about services and products.
There are many tools for entering foreign markets. One of them is using a website adapted for new users. This issue must be approached with special attention and seriousness. And entrust site localization not to machine translation, but to a team of professional translators from Pereklad agency. Moreover, we work with 50+ languages.
Remember, when entering new markets, that you are primarily competing with sites and companies that have already firmly taken a place in this market. They are known and trusted. Therefore, it is important for you to immediately build a competent plan for the development of your website, which will include full localization of all the main pages of the resource.
