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Organize Your Web Content Now for Better Translation Later

Your website is the key to your business. It’s the digital face of who you are and what you do. When consumers search for businesses online, they want to be directed to a website. Businesses that don’t have a website are often left out in the cold as consumers click away to find a business that does.

The Absolute Need for a Website

Your small business needs a website. It doesn’t matter what business you’re in. Blue Corona explains how consumer behaviour has changed to adapt to modern technology by providing this example.

The telephone was a disruptive new technology in the late 1800s and changed the way consumers did business. As more and more households began to use the telephone directory to find local products and services, business owners realized advertising in it was a smart bet. By the 1930s, the majority of U.S. and Canadian households used the directory on a daily basis.

Then came the World Wide Web. As more and more consumers realized they could find what they needed online faster and more effectively than a phone book, behaviour shifted away from using the printed directory. By 2011, more than 59% of consumers were already going online to find local businesses. In 2019, that number has reached 97%.

The Absolute Need for Localization

Consumer growth has gone from the neighborhood to the world.

Now that you have a website, you need to optimize for cultural transmission. Consumer growth has gone from the neighborhood to the world. Translating your website into multiple languages meets today’s consumer demand. While English is still the top language of the Internet with over one billion users, it’s closely followed by Chinese at 804 million users, Spanish at 337 million users, and Arabic at 219 million users (Digitalmag.com).

Much like the way that online searching has replaced the phone book, worldwide business has replaced the local shop.

The Absolute Need to Plan Ahead

You might not plan to localize your website this year or next year, but you must keep certain things in mind as you fill your website with content today. Culturally-specific references, puns or geographic issues will have to be translated and localized into proper context for your target audience. The words you write today can become a jumble of confusion when you’re ready to take the next step. To more easily localize your content, find ways to relate to your audience without using jargon or sarcasm. Simplify terms now that could become complicated to translate later.

If you have a specific tone that you want to use across your brand, be sure that it’s appropriate in other countries. Informal tones work well in a North American business context, but not so well in Japan. In cases like this, you’ll need to find a translation company with the expertise to take your words and make them work wherever they go.

Our translators work across many industries to provide the right words and tone to represent your business needs. As you move into a new era in global business, choose a partner who can move with you. Contact us today to learn more about our multi-language pairs and how we can help you roll with consumer demand.

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