According to the Chinese Proverb, to learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world. And in today’s digital world, multilingual websites, also known as localised websites, provide great benefits to business growth locally, regionally, and even internationally.
How?
By giving more people a window to your business on the world’s biggest stage: the internet. The best part? You don’t even have to learn a new language to look at the world differently, you just need to find someone who does, who can translate it for you.
Implementing multilingual content on your website is one of the cheapest and most reliable options for expanding your business’ audience, identity and profits. A localised website has the potential to transform your business exponentially. Not to mention that having multilingual web content will become increasingly important to businesses from a competitive perspective as globalisation continues.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the top 4 benefits of creating a multilingual website.
1. Increase your audience
English is the most common language in which content appears on the internet. However, did you know that only 25.9% of internet users engage with English content?
So what does that mean for you and your business?
It means that you will not be able to reach 75% of internet users if your website only contains English. In Australia alone, over 200 languages are spoken collectively.
It is therefore paramount for businesses who want to grow their audience to have multilingual content on their website.
By providing multiple language options, you’ll be opening up your business to new customers, and this will help improve your business’ sales and profits.
2. Enhance your brand awareness
Brand awareness is the level of recognition towards the brand and services by potential customers. The greater brand awareness you have, the more people will be familiar with your logo, messaging, and products. And that’s where a multilingual website can really add value.
Due to the assumption that most people understand English, even if it is not their first language, many people and businesses don’t consider the power of multilingual websites. However, perhaps unsurprisingly, you will communicate more effectively with the customers in their language and ensure that they recognise and relate to your brand.
3. Improve your SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the most important considerations for finding new customers online. Therefore, it only makes sense that enhancing your website’s multilingual SEO for different languages will do the same in new markets.
Multilingual SEO involves optimising the content on your website to include keywords in different languages, so your potential clients can find your site when searching online, in their language. The goal of any SEO is to establish a strong website presence with a clean, effective user experience that is easily discoverable — and it’s no different for multilingual SEO. When executed correctly, adding new languages to your website can increase your SEO ranking.
Naturally, there is a temptation to use Google translate or a similar machine translation engine to automatically make your website available in dozens of languages. But be warned — this is not a recommended strategy and may in fact have negative effects on your SEO rankings.
Google’s own quality guidelines state that they will take action on “text translated by an automated tool without human review or curation before publishing.” This includes their own tool, Google Translate. So, to avoid being penalised by cutting corners, make sure that you have professionals translate your website.
4. Get a competitive advantage
Businesses are always looking for a way to stand out from the crowd and gain an advantage over their competitors. Depending on your market, a multilingual website may make sense for your business and help you have an edge over your competition, by widening the playing field.
Many businesses put multilingual websites in the “too hard basket” because it is a big investment of time and resources to set up. But once your multilingual website is up and running, it will really set you apart from the pack.
A multi-language website will help you to boost cross-border e-commerce sales which could prove key as we move towards increasing e-commerce focused retail environments. It will also make your business stand out as it cares about customers of all backgrounds.
A win win… win?
When executed properly, multilingual websites will convey a customised message to your potential clients in all corners of the world. Larger audience, greater brand awareness and a competitive advantage — why wouldn’t you consider a multilingual website?
It may seem like a large investment of time and resources to start with, but you’ll be reaping the benefits of your multilingual website for years to come. Business owners take the time to ensure that their websites are easy to navigate. They post new content regularly, and they actively ensure that visitors have a safe and secure experience.
“The opinions expressed by BizWitty Contributors are their own, not those of BizCover and should not be relied upon in place of appropriate professional advice. Please read our full disclaimer."
