Take Your Website From Good to Global

Going global with your manufacturing company is a game-changer. Suddenly your customer base is made up of people from all over the world who speak many different languages.

With the new and exciting opportunities that come with owning an international company comes the real responsibility to convert potential customers into leads no matter their language, culture, or time zone. This is where content is crucial.

So many international businesses miss out on lead-customer conversion because their content is geared towards a specific country or region instead of a global audience. And while it’s an easy mistake to make, it can be devastating to a business.

Don’t worry though. We’ve got you and are here to share our best tips for making your website content international.

Stick to the Basics

When you write a post or page content, write it in a way an international visitor would understand if you were reading it to them. That means removing words and phrases that need more explanation or context.

The Weight of Measurement

Some of your customers will have no problem with the standard system of measurement, but many will be used to metric.

In this case, you can please everyone, and you’ll want to! Not being able to read specs and directions easily is frustrating to website visitors and may cause them to go somewhere else for what they need. So globalize your specs by adopting one or more of these measurement practices:

• • Use a unit of measurement that’s relevant to more people: “… within a two-block radius of our company …”
  • Use a custom field to automatically display the correct unit of measurement for the visitor’s country or using geo-detection based on the user’s browser.
  • Show alternate units of measure: “… within a six-mile (9.7 km) radius of our shop …”
  • If you include pricing or equivalent terms in your content, keep it specific and straightforward. Many monetary terms and phrases may not translate from country to country because of currency conversion.

Lost In Translation

It’s important to make sure your website’s calls to action are as effective in other languages as they are in English so you don’t miss out on any sales opportunities.

If you’re going to have your content translated, be sure to make surrounding graphics smaller and allow for more room on buttons. Want to make sure the translated text will fit where it needs to go? Add 40% more characters to get an idea. Your calls to action should be made up of a text layer that’s separated from an image layer. This makes for quicker translation and prevents you from having to create a separate image for each language.

Your calls to action should be made up of a text layer that’s separated from an image layer. This makes for quicker translation and prevents you from having to create a separate image for each language.

Remember it’s okay to give translators permission to substitute words with their shorter equivalents. In some cases, shorter might even look better!

Living For The Weekend?

TGIF? Think again. Not every country acknowledges Saturday and Sunday as the weekend.
You can look forward to the weekend, but it’s a good rule of thumb not to mention it.

Think Bigger

We love helping manufacturing and service providing companies grow to achieve their goals!

Whether you want to do more in-state business, go national, or become an international success, our team is ready to help with the digital side.

Have questions about how to grow your website with your business? Schedule a free consultation today or contact us. We can’t wait to meet your company!