The economic potential of online communication is $45 trillion, according to research by Common Sense Advisory. Clearly, the Internet is rich with opportunities to sell your products globally.
According to that same study, however, if you have only an English version of your website, you're limiting yourself to one-third of that revenue.
Your website is your storefront to the world. If you want to reach targeted locales around the globe, you'll want to consider localizing your website to meet your audiences' unique needs—and there's more to doing so than translating your copy.
1. Create a positive user experience with custom layout and navigation
Various cultures may have unique website design preferences based on what they're used to seeing online. Creating a positive user experience for your global audiences includes adjusting your website's structure to fit their needs.
Consider, for example, Coca-Cola. No two of the company's many websites are exactly alike (and there's good reason for that).
If we compare the United States version on the left with the Pakistan version on the right, you can notice differences in layout, navigation, and even the amount of content shared.
But how do you know which layout is best for each locale?
To start, you can look at other websites in your target regions as examples. There are also some widely studied cultural adaptation theories that may help; for instance, a handy guide (PDF) was put together in 2000 by Aaron Marcus (a user interface and design consultant) and Dr. Emilie Gould (a communications studies professor at State University of New York at Albany). It's just one of the many tools available for marketers, Web developers, and designers alike.
The language you go into could also affect your website design structure, because some languages are read differently. For example, Arabic is read right to left, so your design may need to be re-oriented accordingly.
2. Hit the mark with multimedia
Another important factor in localizing your website includes multimedia content.
Picturing people of the same nationalities as the target culture in your multimedia content can make your messages more relatable and therefore it can elicit a greater response.
It's also a good idea to research cultural norms to better understand how to portray people in your content. For instance, images of people putting their feet up on coffee tables to relax may not be good for a website in India or the Middle East, where feet are considered unclean.
Other areas that warrant attention include gender roles. Using a woman instructor in your e-learning videos may be less effective in countries, such as Saudi Arabia, where men hold the more authoritative positions.