These days, competing on a global basis has become the norm for many businesses. Modern technology has made it easier for even smaller businesses to compete with the bigger players on a worldwide basis. This is something that many businesses have been able to take advantage of, expanding their global reach and customer base and establishing an international presence.
If you are looking to attract a wider global reach for your website, you need to look at configuring your site in order to appeal to foreign users who speak different languages. In this article, I will discuss some web customization techniques that foreigners will love. This can make a big difference to the popularity of your site amongst a global audience.
Some of the ways in which you can adapt your blog to appeal to a global audience
In order to ensure you are competing effectively with your rivals, you need to ensure your website, blog, and all marketing materials cater for an international audience. Modern technology has opened up many opportunities for businesses to enjoy global success but making sure you are catering to a global audience is important. There are various ways in which you use web customization techniques to adapt your site and blog for foreign users.
- Utilize international language experts: Given that you will be providing access to people around the world who speak different languages, it makes sense you use foreign language experts to help with your website and blog. For instance, you can turn to places such as Preply for help with languages such as Spanish. All you need to do is head to https://preply.com/en/skype/spanish-tutors and you will be able to access the details of those who are fluent in foreign languages, which can, in turn, help you with adapting your website and blog.
- Create foreign language videos for your site and blog: Another thing you can do to attract the attention of your global audience is use video as part of the website and blog. You can have these created in a range of different languages, and many businesses have been amazed by just what a difference video content has made in terms of making their site more appealing to worldwide audiences.
- Provide language options: Some people add Google Translate to their website or blog so that foreign users can simply click on it in order to translate the content to their own language. However, you are far more likely to impress international audiences if you provide them with the option to actually view the site in their own language rather than just translate it via Google. You can base your language choices on the countries and languages that are most relevant to you. Providing versions of your site in different languages can make a huge difference and will show that you are serious about doing business on a global level.
- Offer different communication methods: One thing that annoys consumers all around the world is being unable to get in touch with someone easily. Obviously, if they are located in a different country to you, it isn’t practical for them to try and call or write to you. As such, you should make sure you offer different contact and communication methods that can be used on a global basis. This includes customer service via social media platforms, contact via email or web form, and even a live chat facility. If you have multilingual employees to respond to non-English queries, all the better.
- Use plenty of images in your content: One way of making your content easier for global audiences to understand is through the use of plenty of high-quality images. This not only makes the content easier to digest but it also breaks it up so that it is easier on the eye. People are naturally drawn to images and, unlike languages, they are recognized internationally so it will make your content easier for foreign readers to understand. One thing you should do is avoid using images with text, as this can cause confusion because the text will still be in your language.
- Circulate your content via social media: Social media is used by people all around the world. Therefore, one of the ways in which you can attract a global audience is to circulate your blog posts and website information via social media. This will allow for easy access by foreign users and will also give you the opportunity of gaining likes and shares, which can further expand your global reach and international success.
- Identify content that is culturally rooted: When we write we often use language and terms that are culturally rooted and would mean very little to someone from another country and culture. It is important to read through all blogs and content to ensure that you haven’t included content that is relevant only to your own culture if you want to appeal to a global audience. If you do use anything like this out of necessity, make sure that you explain it properly so that people from other countries can understand.
- Optimize content for different countries: You may find that the keywords that work well in your country when it comes to ranking won’t have much impact in another country. It is therefore well worth considering getting translators that work on your website to look for the most relevant and effective keywords for different countries, as this will provide you with a more effective way of optimizing for other destinations.
- Don’t forget your mobile site: If you have a separate mobile website, you should also think about adapting the content for this. People from all around the world now use mobile devices in order to go online and browse websites. This makes adapting your mobile content important as well as your desktop site, blog, and other content.
With the use of these tips, you can make your website, blogs, and other content far more appealing to global users. This, in turn, can help to drive traffic to your site, increase conversion levels, and ultimately boost your bottom line.
The importance of adapting your website and blog
So, why is it so important to ensure that your website or blog are properly adapted for global audiences? Well, consumers around the world are now more discerning and savvy when it comes to the internet. They all want the best experience possible when browsing a website or reading a post and this is not something you can provide if you are unable to properly adapt your content. Making sure that your content is properly adapted for foreign users means that you can make a big impact on the number of global consumers that take an interest in your brand, product, and services.
Many of us make the mistake of thinking that everyone around the world can speak and understand English. However, this is clearly not the case and this is why you need to adapt your content if you want it to be viewed by a global audience. The ideal behind adapting your site and content is to make people in other countries feel as though it is local to them. This provides a sense of availability and proximity for foreign audiences.
Missing out on a large proportion of your global audience
Failing to adapt your content could have a serious negative impact on your ability to conduct business abroad. For instance, statistics show that in 2015, Standard & Poor’s 500 companies sold 44 percent of their products to international customers. This shows that without taking the time to adapt your website, blog, and content, you could be missing out on a huge chunk of your global audience.
Let’s have a look at some figures from the Common Sense Advisory that will help to reiterate the importance of making your content and website accessible in other languages:
- Over 70 percent of consumers spend the majority of their time on websites that are available in their own language
- Over 72 percent of customers would be more inclined to purchase from a site that provided information in their own language
- More than 55 percent of consumers said that being able to access information in their own language was more important to them than price
These figures reflect the growing importance of adapting content to cater for global audiences and languages in today’s competitive world of business. This is something that could make a huge difference when it comes to the overall success of your business, which means that it is definitely an investment that all businesses should consider.
In summary
As you can see, making sure that your content, website, blog, and all marketing materials are adapted for a global audience is vital these days. While it will involve initial investment for your company, the figures above show just how much of a positive impact this can make. You can, therefore, reap the rewards of your initial investment through the customer gains you can make from consumers who are from other countries.
