Multilanguage Website Planning Tips

Having internet access at our fingertips means anything in the world is a few clicks away. What does that mean for businesses? Well, having a multilanguage website will certainly help your business attract more customers. Here are some planning tips to help you localize your website.

Websites are viewed by a global audience that can speak a variety of languages. English language content only fills up 30% of the internet, so there is definitely more room for website expansion in other languages. Needless to say, users are much more inclined to purchase a product or service if presented to them in their own language. Below are some tips put together to help you plan your Multilanguage website.

1. Registering Your Local Website Address
Although you can use your existing web address to provide multiple version of languages, that is actually not as effective compared to registering for a local domain. Local domain such as ".co.uk", ".cn", ".es", ".fr" will provide much better search engine optimisation. They also provide clear signposting to the search engines as well as to the users. Local users are much more confident in using a local site compared to a ".com". Putting up a local physical business address in the About Us page will also help to establish your local presence.

2. Know What Your Audience Wants
When you are producing a Multilanguage website, always conduct usability tests. Ask the local users to test out your site and give you feedback. The user's journey on your website is very important because the easier the process, the more likely he/she will convert into a customer. Different languages sometimes require different interfaces to create a good user experience. However, do stay away from translation software such as Google Translate and Yahoo! Babel Fish, as they are not reliable. Direct literal translations or sentences that make no sense will definitely irritate your users. Although it is more expensive to hire a professional translation company to do the work, it is well worth it. Remember, your business reputation is priceless.

3. In Line With the Local Culture
A Multilanguage website does not stop at providing different language contents, but it also needs to be culturally relevant. The photos and styling of the page need to be in line with the local customs and trend. You might also want to choose a colour scheme that is more popular with your local target audience. You can always get this done by hiring a website designer. Make sure all your flash designs or animations are also shown in the target language.

4. Localised Search Terms
The search terms that work for your English website will not work in another language. There is no shortcut. You will have to start from scratch by doing keyword research in the target language. Then incorporate these keywords to your new language site.

5. Buttons to Change Languages
It is a standard practice to put the "choose language" option on the top right corner of your web pages. So much so, it is now a convention. Make sure that when users toggle between languages, they are not taken back to the home page. That is just not professional. They should be shown an equivalent page of the same content in the language they have selected.

6. Simultaneous Publication across All Language Platforms
Make sure you create a publication system at the early stages. When your website has 10 different languages, it is very easy to get lost in things. What you can do is to contract it out to a professional translation company that have an arsenal of translators ready to translate your English content to another language. If not, you can do it manually, just remember to keep track of all your languages.

Conclusion
All in all, building a Multilanguage website involves a massive amount of work. But good planning will be the key to your success.

Steve Greenwood writes for a specialist Translation Agency based in London called Prime Languages. If you are looking to build a Multilanguage Website, contact Prime Languages who are localization specialists.