CindyWebsite Localization
So you are all excited you want to get more clients from one foreign cournty. Or maybe your company has a few good clients in a country and you want to develop that market further.
You are now ready to create a localized website. A website for a foreign country.
The very first thing you should do is start an analysis of your foreign prospect. One part of this foreign prospect analysis is identifying his online navigation habits.
Different Navigation Habits
- He will probably use his search engine differently.
- He will not get to your website the same way as your domestic internet visitors.
- He may not arrive on your website at the same spot as your domestic visitors.
- When he is on your website he will not have the same reactions to your website.
There are three main reasons for this:
- Different languages have different structure. The mechanics of the language are different. Some things just cannot be processed with the same logic in a different language. Sometimes they could more or less be processed the same way, but the foreign language has a better way for doing it, so people think of approaching things differently.
- Different buying cycle. Different cultures are used to doing business differently. This comes out in how they go about buying things.
- Differently cultures have different personality traits. We’ve all heard of the different clichés for different cultures. These stem from the fact that different cultures do things differently.
Analyzing your foreign prospects will be an ongoing process. Here is something you can do to get started:
Visit a website in your foreign market. Identify your foreign competitors and have a look at their website. Or try to find a website on a topic you know written by people in the foreign country. This will give you something to compare with.
Even if you do not understand the language, you can still get some valuable information. Spend a few minutes looking at this website and ask yourself questions like these:
- Look at how this website is different from what you are used to.
- How does it make you feel?
- Click through some of the links.
- Come back to the home page.
- Does the link through strategy seem logical to you?
- Does it appear different?
- Can you name a feeling the website gives you?
- Is it more vibrant than you are used to?
- Does it have a busy screen?
- Is there anything that surprises you?
- Does it make you laugh?
- Why?
- Where are the differences?
- What questions come to mind when you see this difference?
- Why do you think this website is different?
- Can you give the website a personality?
- What do you like about the personality?
- What is interesting about the personality?
- Does the personality tell you anything else?
- Would you want to come back to this website?
- Why, or why not?
Of course you will not be able to answer these questions. This is just a simple exercise to try to begin understanding your foreign prospect on his territory.
Repeat this exercise as you become even more familiar with your foreign prospect. You will begin to understand him better. It is amazing what you can learn simply by spending some time looking at what your foreign prospects are used to.
Multicultural communication is not a science. Good cross cultural communication comes from developing your own mindset.
To make your localized website a success it will have to communicate with your foreign market on their level. Your company will have to adapt its mindset to mirror the foreign markets communication and business style.
You can also read up on how different cultures communicate and use their websites. You will find a list of books in the Resource section of www.cindyking.biz.
Read more about foreign navigation habits on Get International Clients
-Knowing How Your Foreign Prospects Use Their Search Engines Can Get You More International Clients
Don’t miss these business guides on Get International Clients
- Website Internationalization 101
- Foreign Search Engine Submission Guide
Here are a few more Website Internationalization articles:
- Second Transition To A Global Market Internet Business
- Localization Is A Door To Innovation
- Which Directories are You Relying on?
- 4 Success Elements For International Business Development
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