Creating a localized website will be a lot easier if your website is already easy for your international visitors to read. Ensuring your website is easy to read for foreign visitors to your website is an important step in internationalizing your website. So how can you do make your website easy to read for your international visitors?
Most of the reasons why national websites fail to communicate with their international visitors are directly related to not implementing all of the standard best practices in creating a good website.
You have probably heard of most of these guidelines when creating your company website for your original market. But did you really apply them as best you could? Simply failing to implement a few of these will turn your international clients away and leave them with a bad impression of your company.
Remember for non-native English speakers something else happens before they begin to read your website. Their brain will recognize whether the website is in English or not and decide if they are capable or willing to read English at that time. This can take a few seconds before they actually begin to read your website.
Your foreign readers may be tired, may not feel like switching to a foreign language at that time. If their brain captures anything at that time that they perceive as an extra effort on their part, they will move on. This is when it is critical to have an easy to read website for your foreign business development.
Here are some questions to review your website with for that first impression:
Is Each Web Page Easy On The Eye To Read?
The majority of internet users today are non-native English speakers. English could be their second, third or even fourth language. Even if their language skills are sufficient to understand your website, they will probably need to concentrate more than you to read it. Make it easy for them. Provide them with:
• Titles and subtitles
• Headings and subheadings
• Short paragraphs
• Short sentences
Titles, Subtitles, Headings and Subheads
These add greatly to the readers' ability to understand your web pages quickly and easily. Remember to ask yourself how your international reader got to your web page.
What could your international visitor possibly want to ask you at each specific point in time on each web page? Use your titles, subtitles, headings and subheads as often as you can to communicate effectively to answer those questions.
Write titles and headings that:
• Mean something to your reader
• Give clear and easy explanations
• Tell your story as they scan through and get it
• Features and benefits work well
Short Sentences and Short Paragraphs
Short paragraphs will make your pages easier to read. Foreign readers are put off even faster by long paragraphs appearing to be difficult to read.
If your paragraph is more than 4 or five lines long, look for ways to make it shorter. Can a part of your paragraph be put into a list format? Cut out unnecessary words. Break it into different paragraphs. A one sentence paragraph is acceptable online.
Keep your sentences short. In each of your sentences, keep the subject, verb and object close together in each sentence. If you need to indicate additional information, find this information a place of its own.
• Use a new sentence.
• Put it under a separate heading.
• Can it be put in a list format?
Are You Saying Anything That Could Be Misleading?
International readers may easily be confused online. After this their first questions will probably include:
• Is this website in my language?
• What does this company do?
• Where is this company located?
• What are they saying?
Keep these questions in mind when you write your website. Continue to ask yourself what any of your visitors could be asking themselves and keep your international visitors in mind.
Consistent vocabulary.
Here are two examples to avoid:
Referring to one object as both a "Gadget" and a "Widget". Or using one industry's vocabulary in another industry where another word is used. This mistake can have disastrous effects if translated.
If you are offering one free report and calling it both a "Guide" and a "Report" in different places in your website, your international readers might have a harder time figuring out that you only have one free report to give away. This could make them feel frustrated and generate negative feelings when they can't find the second "report".
Are You Communicating Clearly To People?
Are you presenting your story clearly, putting everything into a context that is simple to follow? Make your story so simple to follow anyone would be able to understand it even if they haven't slept for a day or two.
Put first things first and follow through. Second things go second. If you feel you cannot do this easily, look for a way to tell your story differently. Can you use visuals or lists. Turn a process into:
• A number of different steps,
• List them and number them and
• Put each step on a separate web page
Are You Talking To Your Visitors?
Talk To Your Visitors
Say "you" when talking to your reader. And it is also preferable to use "you" when not talking about a specific person instead of "he or "she". Foreign visitors will understand this better.
Audio
If you have sound starting on your website automatically, ask yourself how this sound comes across in different cultures. Could it possible be annoying to anyone in any way? Some like it fast. Some like it slow.
Clear and Easy To Understand For Everyone
These are just a few elements to consider in creating websites. Implement them and implement them satisfactorily. Your foreign visitors may not necessarily find your website easy to read in English, but at least they will not be put off or confused.
If you do not internationalize your website, the negative effects on your international readers will be greater than on your national readers. Can you measure the cost of not communicating well with your international prospects and clients?
There has been a shift in internet user demographics with more non-native English language users today than in the past. Give your website a global reach with internationalized content.
You can also read up on how different cultures communicate and use their websites. You will find a list of books in the Resource section of CindyKing.biz.
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