Starting Your Global Web Site?
Choose a Language!

1) Click here to see the top 30 native languages that represent nearly 615 million internet users, and what percentage each language holds.

2) Another statistics page to help you develop your global web site reveals how much each country is spending online - if a country has a large presence, but isn't spending, what's the use (for a business) to promote in that language? This is a general consideration, you may have very valid reasons for promoting in any given country, irregardless of spending statistics. Keep reading.

3) The last statistics page that I want you to look at has to do with projected online spending and language use. This will help you to see which countries are expanding, and how much they are expected to grow and spend.

Have you looked at the statistics? I also have a page (World Statistics) that is the hub of all the statistics that I post on this site, you might find other helpful information there.

Now, if you are interested in a general expansion for your upcoming or existing global web site (these are non-english directions only), the number one recommended choice for a global web site in Europe is German. The number one recommended choice for a global web site in Asia is Japanese. Other recommended choices would be French, Spanish, Korean, and Dutch. These choices take into consideration the current state of affairs and the projected future, plus a few other considerations. But, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese speaking countries (Brazil and Portugal), and the Scandinavian countries are not to be discarded.

For that matter, no country is to be completely discarded, the final choice(s) depend on many factors - for example, if you have excellent representatives already within your company that speak, say, Dutch, or one of the Scandinavian languages, or Portuguese, even though these countries aren't the "biggest spenders", they may become the easiest to utilize because you already have your in house marketers in place and ready to roll. Thus a potentially good ROI project. Does this make sense?

If you have already chosen your language(s) of choice for your global web site, then I recommend that you go my language translation service and get up to 5 free translation price quotes from top quality online translation agencies. Click on the above link to learn more about my free and unique, no obligation, language translation service - designed to save you time and stress!

To explore your international promotions (country/language) decisions even further, I have created a list of questions that one should consider before choosing a target country, based on my experience. The more yes answers that you have below, the more favorable is the possibility of creating a successful global web site.

Keep in mind that this is a very general check list, I have more than likely left out possible factors that may be critical to your situation

If you have specific questions that haven't been answered here, you can e-mail me by: clicking here - If I don't know the answer, then I will put you in contact with someone who does.

I have made this list as a simple guideline to help you avoid nasty surprises and possible blind spots that anyone might overlook while creating a global web site.

Also, keep in mind that my emphasis is towards online expansion, not physical expansion. I don't want to get into the legalities of opening up an in-country office, tax codes, etc., etc. These issues can be addressed, but it would be better if you write to me directly, I represent a well established international marketing solution provider, and I can help you get in contact with an appropriate expert. See the e-mail listing above.

Here are the questions - I hope this helps.

• Do you have an in house representative that is proficient in the target language to handle the customer service side, or at least a native speaking representative that is willing to do this for you if they are not in house?
  
  
• If you don't have a native speaking representative, are you willing to make the expense of hiring an "on call" online translator or international marketing agency that provides a translation service? Another possibility is to purchase translation software. Generally, I don't recommend this click here to learn why (coming soon!)...
  
  
• Have you conducted a survey to be sure that there are enough potential clients in your target country/language to justify the cost of creating a valid global web site?
  
  
• Even with a survey, are you limiting your initial global web site costs to a minimum by translating a "test" product to see if in fact there is a valid market before you translate the whole kit and kaboodle?
  
  
• In general, does the target country/language have a sufficient online presence to justify this global web site expense? Did you look at the above statistics links?
  
  
• If you sell a physical product, have you explored possible in country solutions to reduce shipping costs, are you familiar with freight expenses, timelines for deliveries?
  
  
• Have you contacted a legal expert from the target country, or at least your own legal counsel, to be absolutely sure that you won't run into unknown legal problems?
  
  
• Have you tested your service in the target country to see if there are hidden bureaucratic snags or other obstacles that might bring your systems to a surprising halt?

I could keep going with this list, but I think you are probably getting the picture by now don't take anything for granted when working in a foreign market. Whenever possible, anticipate a problem by brainstorming your individual systems and then test them in this new environment. Do this especially if you are American, if you assume that the rest of the world does business like you are used to it being done in America, you could be in for a surprise or two.

As you can imagine, the actual translation of a site, product or service is a breeze if you have the right translation agency - see my Choosing An Agency for your Global Web Site page, compared to the challenges that might present themselves once you have your new global web site live and running.

I have found it to be enormously rewarding to have had the opportunity to work in a "foreign" country. It certainly hasn't been without its more than fair share of challenges and "low blows", but it has also been filled with blessings and consciousness expanding new points of view. Be careful, yes, but not so careful as to be paralyzed by the unknown. Don't hesitate too long, this wide open window of opportunity might start closing soon.

Be sure to examine my Choosing An Agency page, this will help you to evaluate a translation agency before hiring them, to be absolutely sure that they are quality providers.

The last step is to make your newly translated global web site, product, or service visible to the target country and native language visitors. I offer solutions to this challenge on my Global Marketing page.

Other popular links for those of you that need a:

Spanish English Translation (or English Spanish Translation)

English to French Translation (or French English Translation)

English to German Translation (or German English Translation)

English Polish Translation (or Polish English Translation)

Swedish English Translation (or English Swedish Translation)

English Russian Translation (or Russian English Translation)

English Italian Translation (or Italian English Translation)

Dutch to English Translation (or English Dutch Translation)

Web Translation

Online Translation

Most Sincerely,

Timothy Warnock

Founder: www.Translate-to-success.com, and
Publisher: The Translate to Success Newsletter