Mass Appeal
Laurel Delaney runs GlobeTrade.com and LaurelDelaney.com, Chicago firms that specialize in international entrepreneurship. She can be reached at ldelaney@globetrade.com.
By
Laurel Delaney
Got a website? Good start. But when dealing with global
customers, you have to take a giant step further.
According to Internet World Stats, internet users who do not speak
English now outnumber internet users who do. Constructing a
successful global website-one that users can navigate
effortlessly--is a must.
John Yunker, president of Escondido, California-based Byte Level
Research, says language is only your first concern. "People
often assume the most challenging aspect of web globalization is
translation," he says, "but often it is such things as
customer support, fulfillment and usability." Yunker offers
these tips:
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Ease your way into global markets. Start with one
market or one language, and be consistent.
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Build your site for speed. You may have a
broadband connection at home, but most of the world connects to the
internet through dial-up connections.
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Feature more than just a few pages of translated
content. You don't want to disappoint users who discover the
site doesn't fulfill what it appears to promise.
"Test your site for international readiness," adds E.
Smith Yewell, president and CEO of Welocalize in Frederick,
Maryland. "For example, can it process foreign date, time and
currency formats?"