The web is immediately international. And it’s on tap 24/7 to hundreds of millions of people, the vast majority of whom would prefer to conduct their web business in their own language. English speakers have a tendency to think everyone speaks English but while many foreigners do, research has shown web users are more than five times more likely to buy from a website with content in their own language. Importantly, three quarters of the Earth’s population speak no English at all.
The key point about the foreign language internet – meaning all web content not in English – is that it is an opportunity for all companies to increase revenue. Web-using native speakers of languages other than English significantly outnumber the English-speaking web population so those ‘not doing it internationally’ are missing a trick and – let’s be blunt – a whole pile of money.
The opportunity is even greater because competition online is much less intense in languages other than English. If you launch a web page in English, you’re battling billions of other pages on the search engines. If you do that in Danish, or indeed any other language, you’ll find it much easier to achieve prominence. At Lingo24, we launched a Danish micro-site at a cost of under £100/$160 at the beginning of last year. By September, sales had reached such a level that we could justify taking on a full-time Account Manager, and the Danish market has become a significant and growing slice of our business.
Your entry into the market could be big news to industry watchers in-country. Media attention alone wins you links, improved search engine positions and, crucially, customers. Seek out relevant media in the markets you target.
Combined, foreign language markets are likely to be worth more than your domestic market. Google is a great example. Google is now the dominant search engine in all but a handful of countries and derives the majority of its revenue from the foreign language internet. Google’s not a bad model to follow when it comes to making money on the internet, and it has products and services in hundreds of languages. So, where to start?
Develop your understanding of the market. If you have customers abroad, or domestic clients with links abroad, ask them whether they think your offering might be attractive internationally. Ask them for contacts who can validate your ideas and perhaps be your first customers.
Check out the competition. Use Google’s automatic translation tools to get the gist of what your competition are up to.
Evaluate the demand. Use Google free keyword tool to identify the key phrases you need to target in your foreign markets.
Have your site professionally translated. Google’s machine translation is adequate for understanding content, but completely unreliable for a company website. Use a professional translation company to get the message right for your customers. They should only use professionally qualified linguists who are translating into their native tongue.
Market your site online. The principles are the same as in English. Build links through partners, use pay-per-click, and try to get mentioned on sites your customers read. Following these steps will lead to a new revenue channel which will grow over time. Repeating the process in other languages and broadening the promotional efforts in each language will increase the contribution of the foreign language internet to your business over time. Result: a larger, better diversified business.
About the author
Christian Arno is the founder and Managing Director of global translation services provider and localization specialists Lingo24.
Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over a hundred employees spanning four continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over thirty million words for businesses in every industry sector and their turnover in 2009 was $6m USD.
December 9, 2009
Marketing