In today’s digital world, almost every company has an online presence. This means that you have the potential to reach any market across the globe, but it also means that there is more competition than ever before. Here is where localization services come into play by helping you stand out from your competitors, reach, and connect to a wider range of customers.
So, “Why is it beneficial to translate my website?”, you may ask. Because, although you may think that English is sufficiently widely spoken to reach the vast majority of customers on the market, that’s simply not the case. Studies have shown that unless you speak to your target audience in their language, they’re not likely to purchase from you. Now, let’s dive into the top 7 benefits of translating content into a different language/s (these are just a couple amongst the endless list of benefits).
This simple equation may seem pretty straightforward, but you must be wondering, how much more customers can I reach? English is indeed the most used language, accounting for 25.9% of internet users, but this means that there are 74.1% of users that won’t make it to your website if it’s only available in English.
By translating your website to Chinese (the main language spoken in China is Mandarin Chinese), you’re increasing your reach by 19.4% alone. That’s already almost double the number of customers from translating only into one other language. Imagine the potential reach you could have by localizing your content into multiple languages.
Making your website or app available in multiple languages will not only increase your reach but also your customer retention. Yes, traffic is important, but it serves no purpose if visitors are quickly leaving the page once they fail to find their language. People are far more likely to spend time on your page if it’s in their mother tongue. And the more time they spend on your site, the higher the chances of them spending money. We all know that the higher the investment (of time), the higher the odds of seeing it through (to checkout).
Localizing your content to adapt to your customers’ culture will also build trust and a personal connection with your brand. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as copy-pasting your content in Google Translate and transferring it back to your site. Localizing requires professional translation undertaken by a qualified translator who can adapt the target language to the specific target culture. Successful localization will make your customers feel understood and valued. But do it wrong, and you could cause a misunderstanding or, worst-case scenario, kill your brand entirely.
As an example of unsuccessful localization, let’s think of Electrolux. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Swedish home appliance giant, Electrolux, decided to infiltrate the US market. They came up with a slogan and translated it into English (clearly without the help of a localization specialist). The slogan went “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux”. Although in their defense, they were advertising a vacuum cleaner, their campaign wasn’t very successful. Americans must have been asking themselves, “how awful must that Electrolux be that nothing sucks as bad as it does?”. Needless to say, they didn’t enjoy a massive amount of sales in the US and, after 4 years, they left and started selling vacuum cleaners under a different brand name.
Search Engine Optimization and Marketing are crucial in today’s digital age. Implementing multilingual SEO will help you rank higher in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), making your website visible to a wider range of markets in multiple languages. Additionally, if your page is in the national language of the searcher, Google is far more likely to display it.
Think of it like this – the more languages you translate your website into, the more keywords you’ll have for optimizing your content. Maybe your main industry or niche keywords are not even highly searched in your language, but rather in another language that your website is missing. Translate your content and you could boost your rankings on SERPs without having to invest in expensive ads or marketing campaigns.
It goes without saying that if your competitor’s website is translated into another language, they’ll have the lead in the market. By localizing your content first, you can surpass your competitors and penetrate a new market before they do. But if you’re late to the party, don’t hesitate and question whether translating your content is worth it or not. It most definitely is.
Thanks to globalization, customers not only prefer but expect to be served and cared for in their native language. If you want to engage the French-speaking market, for example, you must speak to your potential customers in French. They’ll appreciate the attention to detail and care you provide your audience with. Even if your competitors also have their content available in that language, at least you’ll have leveled the playing field.
Translating your website’s content for local markets is not only recommended, but sometimes it’s even mandatory! Some countries legally require certain content, such as Privacy Policies or Terms & Conditions, to be translated into the local language. Forgetting to do so could cause your company to enter into unwanted legal disputes that could be easily avoided. Translation and localization agencies such as LMI Translations are also able to evaluate which content should be translated first.
The cool thing about translating your website’s content is that you’ll notice continued growth. It’s not just a one-time gain – you’ll be increasing your customer base exponentially over the years. In turn, your company will gain a stable global presence, outranking competitors, and cultivate long-lasting relationships with your customers. The more languages you cover, the more potential for growth. Localization is a way of conquering the global market without having to spend millions on ads that might not even reach your ideal audience. It’s a sure way to get the best bang for your buck.
The benefits of translating and localizing websites and apps are limitless. But it’s paramount to entrust this task to professional translation and localization service providers such as LMI Translations. Otherwise, you could end up confusing and off-putting your target audience.
For brands looking to expand and speak internationally, high-quality translation and localization services are essential to triumph.
Your path to success in the international sphere will depend on your ability to translate your content and localize your product, service, app, and the related platforms such as websites, into a new language (or languages).
We can help you realize your localization objectives, from translated websites to mobile apps and ad campaigns. Book a call with us now to get the conversation going and start working on your content strategy and growth plan.
Your business just might be a powerful multilingual money-maker.
