Website Localization: How To Capture The Local Market
Posted by Josh Reinhart on Mon, Oct 17, 2011
We’re all connected. In a virtual world, technology forces continents, cultures and corporations into commingling. In this new era of globalized, online marketing, businesses have capitalized on sharing their message with a global market. In doing so, however, some business owners may have overlooked the importance of capturing their local markets through website content.
As content marketing continues to evolve, so must your website content. There are three strategic things to remember when trying to maximize your exposure to—and impact on—your local markets.
This is the cardinal rule of communication. Unfortunately, because it’s so basic, it’s too often forgotten. Chances are, you talk to your grandmother differently than you do your best friend. Your grandmother may be sensitive to topics or ideas that we just don’t think about in our day-to-day activities and communications, whereas you can talk about anything openly with your best friend. A global outlook demands business owners to think about their online clients through similar filters, and ask themselves some tough questions.
As a whole, what does your target market enjoy? How do they enjoy it? What motivates them? What fears do they have? What’s absolutely taboo in their culture? A recent GlobalMe white paper offers us meaningful insight as to best practices in website localization, and the importance of doing it correctly.
Don’t make a rookie mistake by thinking online translation services are the answer. In fact, they may drive people away from your business. There is a methodology behind localizing your Website correctly. Echo International shares their 5-step approach to accelerated and efficient global releases, and their comprehensive overview encourages a holistic but flexible approach focused on risk management and long-term cost reduction. After all, who isn’t interested in a safe way to increase their bottom line?
And doing it the right way is important. See why in Johan Gozali’s SlideShare presentation on web localization, which points out the pitfalls and dangers of bad translation in business, offering the following two examples:
- In Mexico, the Spanish translation for the popular “Got Milk?” campaign reads “Are you lactating?”
- Pepsi’s “Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation” was translated into “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave” in Chinese.
It doesn’t take a marketing and public relations expert to tell you why that’s not good for business.
According to Byte Level, budding markets are injecting the "World" into "World Wide Web.” More simply, English is a minority language on the Internet. Events like the “Arab Spring” have give rise to fast-emerging, newly social and economic markets. No matter where you stand on the issue, the “Occupy Wall Street” movement is impacting current social and economic arenas.
Business owners need to know how these current world events can influence their global markets and act accordingly to amplify their own marketing efforts.
Keeping a finger on the pulse of your audiences, as well as their cultures of communication and the world events surrounding them, are key components of optimizing your website content and allowing your business to evolve in a way that meets the most current needs of your customers.