Ecommerce is a global game. Your online business cannot afford to focus on single demographics if it is to compete (and succeed) in a world where anyone, and everyone, has been offered a level playing field. The internet is expanding rapidly and devices are accessing information on the web from the remotest – or at least what were considered to be inaccessible – parts of the world.

Realizing that this creates an opportunity to venture into an untapped market, businesses are trying to woo new clients by catering to them in their own languages. The days where a website created in English was sufficient enough to generate profits are over. Fierce competition has not only forced businesses to create multiple language versions of their sites but have gone as far as creating ones for various dialects of the same language.

And so, if your business is to truly make it on a global scale, you too will need to toe the line. But how do you go about doing it?

Well, let’s take a look at what it involves:

It’s Mostly the Content – not the Template

One thing that will make your task a whole lot easier is the fact that you will majorly need to focus on the content of your site and not so much on the template. After all, if your template works for English visitors it will work for French and German visitors. Of course, that doesn’t mean you won’t need to do anything with it, though. Things like your site’s navigation buttons and menus will still need to be translated.

But when it comes to the content, things will get a little bit tricky. The easiest (and unprofessional) way to go about it would be to throw your content into the Google Translate grinder and get the mish-mash that will come out the other end. There is rare chance people will understand what it is your site is trying to say, but for the most part they will either be holding back a giggle or they won’t be able to make neither head nor tail of what it is all about.

This simply means you will need to have the translation done with the help of someone that has a good grip of the language.

SEO isn’t just in English

Just like you would continuously strive to improve your site’s ranking in Google SERPs, so too should your effort be with your new language of choice. Search engines, especially Google, now offer geographical variations of their tools. This means ranking in those results will require SEO and keyword research in the new language too.

A critical tip to remember is that sites with URLs from the country-proper will increase a site’s ranking than, say, a .com one; meaning abc123.fr will be viewed more favorably than abc123.com if the visitor is searching for a French keyword. So, focus on your French SEO on the .fr site.

Once all is Setup…

Now, there are various tools out there that promise to deliver multi-language solutions with a few clicks of a button – and we’re pretty sure they do perform well – but if you’re really going to do the job, do it all the way.

Don’t just create one site that will have one admin account for all pages in all the languages. Create a .com site and then create a .fr site (in reference to the example above) and keep the accounts separate. Add language links to your templates to facilitate switching between languages and you are set.

The main concern here will, of course, be whether own the domain names in the various countries’ languages or if they are already owned by someone else. If your brand is a registered trademark, you can probably legally take back the domain names which have been squatted on (talk to legal experts). Otherwise, you will either have to negotiate with the owners to reach a deal or move on to a new domain name and then quickly purchase its different TLD versions. You can, of course, redirect your visitors from the old domain to the new one until you are sure everyone knows the new address.

If you are still wondering whether it is worth it, think of a scenario where you have a certain offer for English-speaking countries and another,  different one, for the French-speakers. The simplest way to address them would be to have two separate messages on separate pages – clean, simple and easy.

… Don’t forget your Social Media Network

Yes, your website doesn’t start or end on the main page. Social media plays a key role in your site’s popularity and the exposure of your business as a whole. Therefore, don’t forget to create new versions of all your social media accounts – and update them all at the same time too.

And there you have it; with a little effort there is a good chance you will be able to double your client base as well as your profit margins. Just remember to use professional translated work from people who actually have deep knowledge of your chosen languages and you should be fine.