A few decades ago, multinational corporations had control over the global markets and small companies had very little ability to compete with them. Fortunately, the rules of doing business are totally different now. The internet and modern technologies brought positive changes and provided every market player with a chance to gain high profit.
Today, any company who puts forth the effort to execute an effective multilingual content strategy is able to get a slice of the intercontinental pie. If you still wonder why content localization is so important for high conversion and business development, take a look at the following reasons.
1. Reach a larger target market
You should never forget that not all people in the world speak English. And if content on your website is presented only in one language, you significantly limit your target audience. This is a shortsighted approach to doing business in a globalized world, so you should review your strategy and make it multilingual.
Just imagine the thousands of people that may become your clients if you provide them with content in their native language. When you localize your website, you will be able to get more visitors from the countries in which only 10% of the population speaks English. For instance, you will increase traffic from big markets such as China, Russia, Argentina, Algeria, and Brazil.
In the modern world, marketers and content producers shouldn’t consider a foreign language as a barrier for a business development. Today, every company can localize content with the help of advanced tools and professional services. Enterprise companies can leverage translation and localization services from SDL (a DivvyHQ partner). Or smaller companies can source from a service like PickWriters and browse their list of translation companies.
2. Make your website more user-friendly
The point is that even if an individual can read in English, they still may prefer to browse a website in their native language. As a rule, people feel more comfortable if they don’t need to translate everything in their heads.
Let’s imagine that you studied Spanish at school and today you want to buy a piece of luxury authentic furniture from a Mexico-based ecommerce store. In which language you will place an order: in English or Spanish? It’s more likely that you will select English to make sure that you will make an expensive purchase without any unexpected issues.
As you can see, content localization helps to ensure that a user clearly understands every single sentence on the page. It allows eliminating any misunderstandings between the website’s visitors and company. When information is available in the native language, a customer faces no barriers to complete an action.
3. International Search Engine Optimization
One of the most important reasons to localize content is international search engine optimization. People from different countries search for the same products on Google using different keywords. Obviously, if you don’t translate and localize your content, you have no chances to catch the attention of those foreign customers.
Let’s consider a simple example, which demonstrates that even people who speak English, but belong to the different cultures, name the same products differently. Americans usually use words “paper towels” and “panties” while British call these items the “kitchen roll” and “knickers”. Now you can imagine how badly your non-localized content is ranked by Google overseas.
So, if you want to make sure that your website will get top position in search results, you should choose the appropriate focus keywords for every single market. International search engine optimization is essential for any company that wants to target overseas traffic.
Moreover, you can consider content localization as a competitive advantage of your business. If your rivals haven’t translated their websites yet, you will be one step ahead of the international competition. Your content will attract more visitors and will generate higher conversion.
4. Improve brand loyalty
When you localize content, you show respect to other cultures. For better or worse, globalization has changed the world and some countries have struggled to save their identity. For this reason, some users try to avoid online resources in English and only seek relevant information in their native language.
Modern companies should translate content to support the local cultures. This is the only way to build trust in a relationship and, consequently, increase conversions. An effective multilingual content strategy will help you to accomplish this goal.
When you care about other cultures and support the diversity, target audience becomes more loyal to your brand. This is a great paradox of today’s digital market: if you want to operate globally, you should know how to satisfy the needs of your clients locally.
Most of the people enjoy an opportunity to browse the web pages in their native language. So, if you want visitors from China, Angola, Guatemala, and other countries to stay on your site for longer, you have to localize your content.
5. Clarify shipping information
If you ship your products worldwide, you should be able to provide your clients with clear information about the time and cost of delivery. Every visitor should be able to choose a currency of payment and customize parameters of shipping. If a delivery fee depends on the weight, you should also clarify which unit of measurement your website uses: kilograms or pounds.
Take into account that if you have no time and money to translate a whole website, you should consider localizing at least basic content like landing pages, a local news section, shipping details, and contact information. A visitor who doesn’t speak English should feel comfortable placing an order or completing another action.
International Markets Await
There is no doubt that content localization is an essential step towards international site optimization. Your marketing efforts could bring in twice the results if your content is translated for your foreign target audiences.
If you want to operate in the international markets, you should provide visitors with valuable and interesting information in their native language. It will help you not only increase conversions, but also take your business to the next level.
For even more on this topic, check out this recent post by DivvyHQ Co-Founder Brock Stechman: “Translation and Localization and the New Frontiers of Content Planning“.