multilingual website

Should I translate my website?

How often have you been searching the web for a product or service and have come across a website which is all in a foreign language and you can't make head or tail of what's going on? The product looks interesting and it would be great if you could read all about it. But, it is in Japanese or Chinese, so you leave the site and move on to the next one. That company has just recorded another bounce on their analytics.

So, if your client base is in a foreign country where English is not their first language, how many potential enquiries are you missing? How many bounces is your website recording, just because it is only in english?

Having a multilingual website means that all of your target market can view your website in their own native language. They can understand what your products or services are all about and can research the detail and then make an informed enquiry. 

If you’re thinking about expanding your web presence into foreign markets, you need to make sure your website is properly localised. There are many factors to consider in website localisation. These include translation and localising the content. 

So, in terms of translation, over 70% of web users worldwide so not speak English. So the starting point would be to translate the content of your website into the languages of your target market. The next important step would be to localise the content, thereby making the content applicable and suitable to the culture of that language. There may be content which may be offensive to another culture. The list goes on and it all depends on how far you want to take it.

Your website would need to use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to keep the content of your website separate from the design and layout. This becomes important when switching between different languages fairly seamless and does not jeopardise the design of your website.

Search engine rankings will greatly improve, not only on Google, but on search engines such as Yandex, Baidu, 123khoj which are top search engines in Russia, China and India respectively.

The amount of traffic your website will receive and the amount of new business generated will most likely be of some significance if done properly. So now you ask yourself about if you receive an enquiry in Russian, Chinese or Arabic, how are you going to understand the enquiry and how are you going to respond? Well that can all be taken care of quite simply, as you will receive your enquiry and use our translation tool to translate it into English. Then you reply in English and translate it back into their native language. 

The next question you are asking yourself is how expensive is it to have a multilingual website and how hard will it be to keep the website current in all the languages? Cost wise, it is a lot more affordable than you think. Updating the other languages is very easy using our translation process and our Jojo CMS. As far as you are concerned, it is all completely automated. Behind the scenes, the updates you have done in your native language come to us and we translate them into the other languages and then post the new copy to your website.

Conclusion: Expand your current website into a full multilingual website and generate a lot more business. If you don't have a website, let us design and build a multilingual website for you. You can have 2 languages or 20 languages. The choice is yours.

Translation Services

When Kentucky Fried Chicken translated their slogan “Finger lickin' good” into Chinese, it came out as “Eat your fingers off”! The right words, said the wrong way.

This amusing but potentially brand-disastrous example demonstrates how vital it is to translate the meaning, not merely the words. Today’s reality is that literal translation no longer meets the market when the use of colloquialisms and modern interpretation of language can create far better understanding and more positive response within the global marketplace. 

Your chosen translation service provider should provide accurate, market-friendly print and voice-over translation services for every possible application – print media, multilingual websites, voice-over recording, simultaneous translation and interpretation for court cases, meetings and presentations. They should also have the capability to provide voice-over services in virtually every language, regardless of whether they do the initial translation. In every instance, they must make sure that clarity of communication and easy-understanding are the first checkpoints.

Working with foreign languages is an increasingly important aspect of New Zealand's drive in export growth and in our relationships abroad, and with our immigrant communities. Interfacing basic translation with today’s fast-evolving communication tools puts our clients that vital step ahead in highly-competitive global markets.

Understanding is knowledge. And the clearer the understanding, the better the knowledge. Every word must count, communicate and contribute to your success wherever your voice is heard in the world.

Website Design and Development

Businesses and organisations, nervous in the knowledge that a website is essential if they are to survive and succeed, can be overwhelmed by the challenge and the complexity of new communications. 

It can be easy to go too far, too fast and too soon, running the risk of overlooking the basic building blocks that under-pin one's operation. It’s just as easy to hold back, delaying and deferring decisions in the hope that something will just “happen” for you.

Just how commonplace these dilemmas are – and how damning the consequences of either approach can be have been effectively outlined in this TVNZ bulletin. 

The ideal way is to simplify, demystify and develop the website design for the client, working through every stage to build sites that meets the clients' initial requirements while being capable of rapid expansion as needs evolve. This usually involves holding the client's hand throughout the process, guiding the client and educating them throughout this what can be a daunting process.

Once these initial structures and strategies are effectively in place, many business owners and managers quickly realise that their websites are in fact only one aspect of a broader digital strategy, and that they need to formulate forward plans to include social media, email marketing, electronic advertising, rich media . . . all cohesively working with their websites. Once again, the designer or developer should guide the client through these steps.

Skills, services and systems focus on ensuring a clients’ website is the central component of an ever-broadening universe of digital corporate communication. Brand personalities, identities and strategies are interlaced with evolving technical components, and with an ability to function within specific campaign and promotional requirements.

The developer should inter-relate closely with the clients’ in-house marketing teams to formulate website planning, develop assets and create an on-going maintenance programme that greatly enhances communication output. The websites should meet every need for functional efficiency, delivering the multiple channels of engagement that are at the core of today’s international business world.   

Your designer and developer/programmer should understand the ways into, through and beyond the Web – and grow your understanding as they work alongside you - the client.