E-ging Solutions is a world-leading translation company with specialties in website translation.
I think the benefit of translating something is fairly obvious to most people; being able to communicate with people in their own language. However, what we are seeing from a Sales perspective, is the resistance from the decision makers to approve funds for a larger than expected project. We often see this when a quote is provided for a website localisation project; costs can come in higher than anticipated and the decision maker decides not to have their website translated at all, in order to ‘save costs’. But is this really saving them money?
Website localisation widens the market that you are communicating with; you’re talking, or more importantly, selling, to more people and your sales figures will increase as a result of this. People engage more when information is in their own language.
Rather than seeing a website localisation project as a cost, decision makers and company heads should be considering the ROI and viewing this as part of their long term internationalisation strategy.
If you find yourself struggling to persuade your manager or budget holder to bite the bullet and approve a cost for a website translation, here are a few helpful reminders for why doing this is a great idea for the development of a business (and who knows, you might even get a pat on the back for it as well!)
1. It can raise your company’s profile
Do your competitors have their website in other languages? If yes, you are falling behind, keep up! If no, be the first within your industry to do so and become a ‘lead the way’ organisation. In competitive marketplaces, brands spend millions on marketing to make their product stand out, when in fact speaking to your customer in their language is a great way to be noticed.
2. It can increase the number of visitors to your website
56% of people spend more time on sites in their own language than in English, or boycott English language URLs altogether.
This statistic from the Common Sense Advisory is astounding – this is essentially over half of your target audiencewho have already ruled you out before they’ve even looked at your website or product because your website isn’t in their language.
Having a fantastic website is one thing, but how do you get visitors to find you? Effective Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be a daunting prospect to those who don’t understand how it works, but if you’re using a professional translation partner, they’ll have the knowledge on this. You just need to know that effective SEO means your site will be positioned higher on the results list when someone types a key term into a search engine. The higher you are, the more likely someone is to click on your page – how many times do you go to page 23 of the results to find a website?
3. It could increase the number of new customers
Not only will you see an increase in visitors to the site, but as a result, a website in the customer’s native language will see an increase in sales too.
According to the Common Sense Advisory (CSA), 55% of people only buy from websites when information is in their own language.
Think about it – have you ever bought from a website where the product description isn’t in your native language?
In real terms, one of the software companies we work with, Lantek, saw a 25% increase in global business as a result of localising their website. If you applied that statistic to your website sales, do you think your boss would still turn it down?
4. It will increase the number of returning customers
It’s all well and good selling to someone in their language, but aren’t returning customers easier to capture than getting new ones? After sales care and customer service is a big part of this – 83% of consumers require some degree of customer support while making an online purchase (source: eConsultancy). If your customer can contact you in their own language, they are more likely to buy from you again.
5. It will increase sales figures!
Despite all the great stuff that goes hand in hand with translation; being able to communicate with more people, bringing the world closer together etc – we have to remember that if you are making a decision on behalf of a business, it needs to make business sense. The only 2 factors in a business making a decision are if it either; increases revenue, or drives down cost. Localisation has proven to be a revenue driver, and so hopefully armed with the above facts, it will be a much easier decision to make in the future of your business!
