If you’re wondering whether you should get your website localized for international audiences, the short answer is yes. According to the Common Sense Advisory, 75% of consumers worldwide prefer to buy from websites in their own language. Even if they speak some English, or their mastery of the English language is good, trust is much higher when purchasing in their native tongue. If that statistic wasn’t enough to spur you into action, check out the top benefits of multilingual websites here.
Better Communication
It’s no surprise that multilingual websites improve communication with your international clients. After all, if you can’t understand a website and don’t know what it’s selling, your chances of buying from it are slim. When you keep in mind that three quarters of all online shoppers prefer to buy in their own language, translating your site for them will meet their growing needs.
60% of foreign language speakers never even look at sites in English. So, if you want to take your product to a new market this year, rolling out a different locale of your page isn’t going to be enough. Improve communication with all your customers and localize your site into their language. Be sure to change currencies, date formats, units of measurement and images too, as these are all important factors in the buying decision.
Higher Sales
This may come as a shock to you, but less than one fifth of all traffic on the internet comes from the United States. So, if your product or service is popular at home, you’re missing out on 80% of all total traffic and potential sales if you fail to make your website multilingual.
As globalization excels and access to smartphones and internet connections rises, our tastes are beginning to merge. If you translate your site into French for your French speaking audience and Spanish for your Spanish speakers, you’ll be opening up vast new markets for your product.
Improved User Experience
A well localized website (not just a one-size-fits-all translated version of it) leads to improved user experience and greater client satisfaction. When customers can navigate your site without facing error messages in English, currency that they’re not familiar with, or images that are of no relevance to them, their user experience is heightened.
A better user experience leads to improved metrics. They’ll spend more time on your pages, your bounce rate will decrease and your conversions and CTR will soar. Not only will you see the boost in sales, but your SERP ranking will improve as well.
Killer SEO
While we’re on that subject, multilingual websites lead to killer SEO. When you meet the needs of your customers around the world, search engines respond accordingly. If your site is optimized for key search terms used in local markets, loads quickly for users around the world and generate positive UX and reviews, your SEO will rise. Not only that, but many search engines, including Google, place great importance on local SEO. So, if you can demonstrate that you meet local needs or have local presence, your ranking will increase globally at a local level.
Happier Clients All Round
You can’t please all the people, all of the time. But, by making your website multilingual, you can create a lot more happier clients all round. As many as 90% of internet users in the European Union stated that they preferred websites to be in their native language. So, you’ll be pleasing at least nine out of ten European customers by localizing your website to their language. You’ll be able to compete with local businesses and large international companies on the same level and have satisfied customers responding to your tailored message.
There are so many benefits to having a multilingual website. While it’s true that you’ll need to factor in the initial cost or translation and localization, the ROI is clear. If you want to break into new markets and do business successfully around the globe, start rolling out multiple language versions of your website today. Who knows what kind of sales figures and customer numbers you could be looking at next year?
Source: Translator Thoughts
