Enter New Markets and Grow Internationally with Your Multilingual Website!

If you live in Algeria and you want to buy some products from a brand that is based in Germany, you would probably prefer that the price be displayed in Algerian dinars rather than in Euros. As well, if you're Indian, a cow would be a holy symbol for you, but for someone located in the United States, it may represent a beef burger!
For companies targeting users in international markets, or local markets with a variety of languages spoken, it’s a logical step to be interested in having a multilingual website. This is a must-have for marketing and lead generation efforts. Customers want to feel understood and appreciated; they have more trust for companies that serve them in their preferred languages—especially when that content is localized for the specific linguistic and cultural subtle differences of their markets, it makes them more likely to do business with that company.

Making your website a multilingual one is not as simple as it may appear, many factors must be considered when localizing a website's content.

Culture is important to consider. It affects everything we do, say, read, hear and think. Websites cannot escape the influence of culture, for example, images carry many cultural messages within them as it reflects a lot about your company, service or product. In addition, using specific colors in some countries may repel customers, such as using red in South Africa since it represents mourning and violence.
Culturally authentic translation accurately sends the signal to customers that this is not just a sales or transactional experience; it suggests that the company is taking them into consideration and cares for them and their preferences, and understands their needs. For example, customers and website visitors react positively when companies serve them online in their preferred and local languages, localized specially for their markets.

This takes us to the number one goal of website localization; increasing sales, considering that the return on investment from website localization is enormous; a solid international strategy, in synchronism with high quality of translations makes all the difference to your profit margin. It is essential to reach the highest number of potential customers without spending more than what your company can afford.
 
Does your company have a multi-lingual website?
If not, your company is not just blowing an opportunity for increased traffic and engagement; you are letting your global customers down and you no longer meet their expectations, ruining your chances of international success.

The right website localization does not just involve adding a plugin to your site saying “Sorry if that lets you down!” Some companies believe they can translate their website in-house. This often results in costs overruns, delays, and substandard online customer experience, those do more harm to the brand than good. Working with a service provider who has experience in localizing websites will allow this process to go as smoothly as possible.
 
This takes us to the question you may be asking yourself "How does website localization benefit my business?", here's the answer:

- Reach global markets, with a marketing message about your products or services in a way that your target audience sees relatable. It gives users around the world the option of browsing your localized website with ease without misunderstanding your message.
- More user-friendly websites. If you localize and customize your website to meet your customers' expectations, such as including the option of choosing foreign currencies for your market, this leads to customer satisfaction.
- Expand your business. A recent survey by Common Sense Advisory indicates that 84% of international customers prefer shopping for products and services from websites that provide information about the products in their native language. Thus, the best way to enhance your sales is to localize your website, software, application, etc.
- Revenue increase. As a result of meeting your customer expectations and customizing your website content for them, they will be more into your products or services offered on your website. This makes your audience more responsive to your call-to-actions, convert to qualified leads, and close more sales deals.  

Many companies can provide good quality translations. However, full turnkey solutions are designed to handle all of the complexities that make website translation such a burden for your IT team. If you are planning to redesign your website, it is the perfect time to localize it as you can minimize website localization costs when you plan ahead by choosing text-free graphics knowing that they are also good support for SEO, along with the ability to access the text easily. In addition, you should ask yourself “Have your site designers considered factors like how your text will look if it runs from right to left, as in languages like Arabic and Hebrew?”

If you were still considering which country to target, maybe you should consider the top 10 languages used on the internet today. Among the top four are English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic. If you are considering targeting the Middle East, 226 million internet users use Arabic and it is the fourth highest language used online.

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In the end, localizing your website is crucial to be placed in your marketing strategy, so that you can approach a wider audience without miscommunication and get the mentioned benefits. If you're already tasked with the job of making your website more engaging to customers around the world, lucky you! We can help you create an outstanding localized website so you do not have to worry about it, we will take good care of it!