Why website translation makes sense (especially to your clients!)
As the global market becomes ever more accessible thanks to the Internet, the number of companies opting to have their websites translated is on the up. Localising your website can boost your company's international sales considerably, especially if your website is marketed online effectively in foreign languages. Moreover, offering foreign language versions of site content has been shown to extend the length of time potential clients spend on your site perusing the finer points of your product or service.
So you've made the decision to have your website translated. What next? Well, the most obvious factors to consider first are which language(s) to select, and how much of your site to have translated. Then there's the question of how much "localisation" will be required to ensure that you don't use analogies which are completely lost on your target readers or - even more importantly - that you don't offend potential clients by making unfortunate comments which are culturally inappropriate. The path to a fully localized website is precarious indeed, and one which it is best to tread in the company of an experienced guide who can help you side-step the worst of the linguistic and cultural potholes.
Selecting the language(s) which will best enhance your export prospects is simple enough if you already know your target market(s); for example, if you export exclusively to Brazil and France then obviously you'll be opting for Brazilian Portuguese (not the same as its European counterpart!) and French. However, if the world is your oyster and you really are prepared to sell to all four corners of the earth, then selecting the most appropriate three or four languages to plump for, might not be so easy. If this is the case, then it's well worth investigating which are the most sought after languages on the Internet. And just to help you with that... voici the 15 languages with the most content on Wikipedia - a reflection of the most active language communities on the Internet:
- English
- German
- French
- Japanese
- Italian
- Polish
- Swedish
- Dutch
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Chinese
- Norwegian
- Danish
- Russian
- Finnish