John Mulligan

Prepare Your Site for Going Global

 

For many companies, localization is an afterthought. Whenever I inquire of people in the information technology and/or e-commerce industries whether they are planning to localize their Web sites, I am told, "We are concentrating on the English version first."

This kind of thinking often turns out to be costly for future expansion into international markets, because the initial design of the back end and front end of your Web site will determine future localization costs.

If you don't do some planning before you build your Web site, reengineering it later to accommodate localization needs will be needlessly expensive. Whether you plan an international Web site outright or just "concentrate on the English version first," your base Web site most likely is going to be the foundation for all future language versions.

Below are three pointers for planning your Web site. They will save you money when the time comes to localize your site.

Up-Front Market Research
Define the issues and develop the strategies necessary to meet your business objectives and match your vision.

Up-front market research will lower the cost of localization by identifying issues that will affect marketing across the globe. Pay particular attention to Web site features that customers in your target market(s) will directly interact with, such as page layout, graphics, site navigation, etc.

One useful approach to attaining market insight is to review your competitors' sites. Once you know how far they have progressed beyond "English only," move on to reviewing some of the major multilingual Web sites (those of Microsoft, MSNBC, CNET, ZDNet, and Symantec). Note if and how their page layouts and graphics differ from one language site to another. See how they bring each language site version in line with the base site.

Finally, decide where in the localization spectrum you want your Web site to be. (Will you localize your shopping cart only or translate every page of your site?) Keep this in mind when designing your Web site.

Site Design
Now that you have an idea as to what you would or would not want a localized version of your Web site to include, you need to keep in mind that your site's design has to accommodate the need for both universality and cultural specificity.

Most companies' localized Web sites link off a main home page and have a design and layout that complement the base site. Companies do this because they want their localized sites to have an integrated look and feel, rather than appearing to be disconnected Web sites lumped together at one address.

Consequently, attaining a balance between universality and cultural specificity while maintaining the crucial elements needed for company branding should be one of the overall goals when designing your Web site. Remember: Think long term rather than short term. Thinking in terms of "English only" ? or, for that matter, French or Arabic only ? prevents you from seeing the larger picture.

My advice is to begin by developing a simple design without cultural details specific to any target country. Then let it be the foundation for your other localized sites.

Here are some points to keep in mind when thinking of a design for your base Web site:

  • Keep the layout simple and avoid cultural icons such as an American flag or a Russian sickle. Try to avoid adding elements that would give the site the "flavor" of the target country.
  • Keep the page layouts and color choices similar throughout all the pages of your base site. This way, you can use your base site as a template for your localized versions, thus saving money. Keep in mind that if you can review color and graphic issues before you build your site, you will reduce costs considerably when you localize.
  • Choose visual elements that can work across cultures. Once you localize, these elements can help further integrate all your foreign-language sites together. So it's important that they remain consistent across all your sites and that you make your initial choices carefully. If you need to choose different images or formats for localized versions, they should still be representative of your base site.
  • Do not lose sight of the purpose of your Web site. It should serve as a tool that communicates the benefits of your products or services to a customer, with the goal of provoking an action, such as a purchase.

Site Testing
Thoroughly test your site to make sure that it can handle different character sets, localization of scripts, etc. This will ensure that your internationalization efforts were successful, and that your Web site can handle localization when your business is ready to go global.

With the growing number of non-English-speaking users logging on to the Internet, more and more companies are focusing on internationalizing their Web sites to reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to expand into foreign markets ? and so should you.

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