SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE NEWSLETTER

December 2007

To Sell the Product, Speak the Language

Contributed by Myriam Siftar, MTM LinguaSoft, www.mtmlinguasoft.com

Evaluating your marketing strategy? Don't forget about the potential of foreign markets or about non-English speaking minorities here in the US. If you want to sell in these markets you need to speak their language.

The price of not translating is high:

Business buyers are 3 times more likely to buy if addressed in their own language
Consumers are 6 times more likely to click the buy button on a website when information is presented in their native tongue.
Hispanic-Americans are the fastest growing minority in the US and approximately half of those who use the internet are Spanish-language dominant.

In marketing to non-English-language populations, language is not the only consideration. The specific words used, graphics, even colors should be selected with the culture of the target population in mind. This is called "localization," and is just as important as translation.

Make sure you consider the possible benefits of translation and localization for your business.

WEB Tidbits

SPEAKING OF DOING BUSINESS INTERNATIONALLY... Google is the most popular Web destination in the United States, but a study from comScore networks found that Yahoo! is more popular than Google in Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. If your marketing strategy extends to these regions, check your website search engine rankings in both - you may rank #1 in Google and not even appear in Yahoo!

Do you know if your website attracts your target market? Find out!
Order your BASELINE site performance report today.

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