10 Reasons To Take Your Website Multilingual

By: Rabia Tanveer Posted on Thu, 07-04-2016

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E-commerce is perhaps one of the most successful business ventures, if done right. According to Forrester Research, the e-commerce industry made an astounding $279 billion in 2015, and that was just in the US market. Over the past 5 years, e-commerce businesses have made a tremendous impact on the global economy for the better.

Globally, the e-commerce market saw a 15% increase in business, which was largely due to a homogeneous global clientele. Since the early 2000s, the online retail business has seen great expansion potential for business all over the world.

Online shopping has become a trend and a choice for many people. Coupling this fact with the fact that the Internet knows no bounds with regards to language and cultures, many once considered remote countries, are becoming best selling regions for online retailers.

Online retail giants like Amazon and E-Bay have already globalized their websites; they have multilingual versions of their websites and they have reaped great benefits.

Amazon alone was responsible for 77.73% growth of the online retail market in 2015. And in its 3rd quarter, the company had a 468.2% growth rate.

Most of this growth came from sales Amazon made on regional websites outside of America. Their strongest regions turned out to be Spain, France and India.

Going multilingual helped Amazon achieve lofty business goals and this is perhaps one of the reasons it is the e-commerce giant of the world. Gone are the days of recoding, redesigning and redeveloping your website to create a multilingual version. Now, with services like Website Translation Service (or Website Proxy Service), you can create a multilingual platform without spending thousands of dollars.

Website Translation can do wonders for your sales and branding, and this is the reason why many experts swear by it. Here is why a steady e-commerce website should go Multilingual for added business benefits.

1. New Markets Galore!

The largest benefit e-commerce has to offer is a variety of portals to expand your business through. You will never be short of business and market space. Since the early 2000s, Asian and Middle Eastern countries have become a great market for e-commerce retailers.

Aside from English, the remaining 74.1% speak a multitude of languages ranging from Italian, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese to name a few. Internet users are no longer people aged between 15-35.  As social media becomes a major factor in Internet usage, even 70-90 year olds are using the Internet and prefer to do so in their native languages.

2. Advertising Costs Are Lower!

You can advertise new products or services based on demand and competition. Since e-commerce is a competitive market space, advertising costs can be monumental. However, consider this: if you are advertising in English, there will be more competition because this is the first language many companies use. Which leads to increased expenses on advertisement strategies, which are costly.

When going up against 100+ competitors, your advertisement costs can be extreme. But advertising in a multilingual market, say to Spanish-speaking clients, your advertisement costs will dramatically decrease because your competition will be smaller and you will see better results from your website advertisements.

3. Not An English Domain Anymore!

E-commerce businesses used to be an English language dominated domain. There was a time when Germany, the US, the UK and Sweden were the major business regions for the online retailers. However, since 2005, the trend has shifted and countries like China, Japan, Hong Kong, France, Italy and the Middle East are quickly becoming the best revenue generating areas for online retail.

Do you know that only 25.9% of Internet users speak and understand English?

4. Targeting Markets Has Its Perks!

There is no point denying that targeting markets bring better revenue than blindly aiming and hoping for best. Having your website in the language of your potential customers will not only bring more revenue, but it will also become a great form of word-to-mouth advertisement that has great potential of increasing your revenue.

If there is a market for iPhone parts in less privileged parts of Spain, having your website in Spanish would create a whole new market for you that you were never even aware of.

5. Sales Skyrocket!

Did you know that by adding a single new language to your website, you can increase your sales potential by 78%? According to Forrester Research, by simply adding 4 or 5 major languages of the world to your website can increase your sales potential to 400%. Website Proxy service is the best way to do this, because there are very few other ways, which are as economical.

6. Gain Customer Support, Trust And Loyalty!

There are few things that are more important than client loyalty and trust. In a business like e-commerce, where competition is intense, you need your customers and their loyalty. Customers can appreciate websites more that are in their native language.

If your website is in a language that your clients are not proficient in, they are less likely to trust and support you or become loyal to your brand. When you provide them a platform in their own language, you become preferred and that is what matters.

7. Competitive Edge And Bragging Rights!

How much money have you spent to gain a slight competitive edge over your competitors? Hundreds? Thousands? According to a research study by Forrester Research, an average e-commerce company spends at least $9,000 in 5 years to gain a so-called competitive edge. You could do that too. Or you can choose to go multilingual and grow, because very few of your competitors will be using the multilingual approach.

8. Branding Becomes Easier!

Since a multilingual website is a great marketing tool, branding will never be a difficult expenditure for you. A multilingual website can garner a tremendous amount of attention from the targeted market and word-to-mouth advertisement. With a multilingual approach, you will quickly become a brand name in your targeted region without having to advertise and market extensively.

9. Major Brownie Points For Caring!

Customers always love companies who show they care. Having your website in native languages will earn you major points. If you have one bilingual person handling your customer support, you can earn your customer’s loyalty and trust in a matter of seconds.

Plus, a multilingual website is the best way to show your clients that you are thinking of their convenience. It shows that you care about what your clients think of you. And history has proven that customers, who believe in the company, always come back for more.

10. SEO On Your Side!

Do you know that Google is banned in China? In countries like Japan, France and China, people use their local search engines and obviously these search engines are in their native tongue. Having a multilingual website will help you with your SEO ranking.

The benefits of website translation are endless. And if you choose a professional and experienced service, you can even save hundreds of dollars. Remember, a good and quality website proxy service is affordable and wholesome service whose main focus is to bring you the best results possible. And going multilingual is your best bet to increase your sales without spending ridiculous amounts of money on a sales strategy that may or may not work.