Does your website work for a global audience?

3 Nov 2014

With almost three billion people now using the internet, it’s time to consider how an international audience experiences your website.

The very definition of the world wide web means that if your business has a website, it’s instantly accessible from anywhere in the world. But is it global friendly?

Let’s look at five of the many ways you can ensure your website’s a hit everywhere from Honduras to Hungary.

1) Small beginnings

Around 6,500 languages are spoken in the world today so it’s impossible to ensure your website works for every audience. But start simple; identify one language which has the potential to bring in the best conversion rate. Use the Audience tab in Google Analytics to track down where your site’s traffic is coming from.

2) What’s your domain?

Using a country-specific domain can help optimise your site in that country. So if Google Analytics shows a high percentage of your visitors are Italian, a .it domain is an effective method of targeting searchers by location and can reassure Italian visitors that the site is relevant.

3) Are you a good host?

We all expect web content to load onto our screens in seconds – and global visitors are no exception. Speed optimisation is essential so consider using a content delivery network (CDN) where your servers are hosted in key locations to speed up your site’s performance.

4) Convenient contact

How can global visitors contact you? Offer an alternative to expensive international calls, for example, an email address, Twitter handle or Skype.

5) Language matters

Research by the Harvard Business Review found 72 % of consumers spend most of their time on websites in their own languages. Translating every page on your site can seem a tall order, however. So why not select the most visited or relevant pages and start with those?

Bad translation is worse than no translation. So why not leave step 5 to the professionals? Intonation only uses mother tongue translators, so contact us today to ensure your website content crosses languages and cultures while still communicating a consistent message. Contact us today on 0800 0966 825 or email us on info@intonation.co.uk