Why your business needs a multilingual website

For decades, the internet has been dominated by English-speaking users. However, in recent years there has been a significant change in linguistic dominance over the web, resulting in a noticeable tendency to translate business websites into more than one language. Are you wondering what benefits come from having a multilingual website? Keep on reading to find out.

Building business relations on a global scale

Although English still remains the leading language of the internet, it is important to understand the benefits of hosting and maintaining a multilingual website. A well translated and localized website builds a brand’s credibility and helps overcome cultural barriers. Apart from that, having a website translated into many languages raises global brand awareness and contributes to the company giving off an international vibe. Multilingual web strategy is especially important when it comes to e-commerce.

Facilitating e-commerce

E-commerce blurs the notion of geographic boundaries, making every product and service more accessible and obtainable. A large majority of internet users look for a button to translate the website into their mother tongue for security reasons and general ease of use. It’s no secret that more potential buyers will decide to purchase your product if they can read the fine print in their native language to make sure they fully comprehend the agreement. The costs of translations are, therefore, minimal in comparison to the potential profits from selling your products and services overseas.

International perspective

People across the world are starting to acknowledge the benefits of having multilingual websites, as they facilitate communication and promotion of goods and services. Having your content translated into different languages helps with establishing a functional database of knowledge for potential users, consequently limiting the costs of customer service and tech support.

Building a cohesive image

In the era of home-grown search engines in countries like China, Japan and Russia, boosting SEO poses many challenges, as local search engines tend to pick and display searches in the dominant language. With that in mind, it is worth translating your business page into languages spoken by the people you want to establish business connections with. This will also work to your advantage even on home soil, because search engines generally allocate better rankings to multilingual pages.

Getting the competitive edge

It should come as no surprise that internet users often form their first impressions about a business based on its website. In today’s highly competitive web space, displaying information on a website in the native language of foreign customers opens companies to new business opportunities and ensures a competitive edge. A modern, user-friendly and multilingual web page creates an integrated image and, consequently, boosts international traffic.

Having a consistent online presence is a key principle of a well-functioning business. Successful business owners have already recognized the immense value of a multilingual website. Now it’s your turn.

Sophia Beirne is a dedicated tutor and writer. Currently, she develops her passion at Career FAQs, one of the leading providers of career and educational resources in Australia, where she provides career advice for students and job seekers.

Topics: Business Development and Promotion
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