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This is the second in a three part series in conversation with Mark Rodgers, the Managing Director of Cipherion Translations where we discuss the opportunities that the internet presents to us if we wish to expand our business internationally.

In the first article we explored under what circumstances we should consider translating our website into another language.

I then went on to ask Mark what the three most common issues people have when looking to implement their website in a different language.

Mark: I think the first issue is that so many Irish business people seem to have this notion that everyone speaks English – and there’s no real need to translate. This shows a very ‘insular’ approach to global marketing and the real purpose of marketing which is to make it so easy for your customers to buy from you. So if selling to Germany – make it easy for the Germans by developing a website in German.

Wille Brandt, the German Chancellor in the 1960’s famously said ‘If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen’.

So the concept is not new and once someone has understood this perspective, we find that the rest is quite straight forward.

Secondly, budget is naturally a concern at the moment – but what’s important is not to confuse correct marketing strategy with budget constraints. Its possible to match budget to returns, so rather than spending €5,000 to translate your website into one language – why not try four languages – at €1,500 each? Dip your toe in the water first. Depending on results, you can then invest further in the target market that is showing best results.

A third issue we find is that once a website is available in a particular language, it then should be further marketed online. So it would be important to ensure that some Google Ad campaigns or SEO efforts are carried out in the different languages. Perhaps a French-intern in your organisation can start to develop a blog in French? It’s really no different to doing this in English.

And I suppose all these points are relevant once the organisation has developed a professional website in English. Professional does not mean expensive, but it does mean that the website has been well thought-out and have a professional appearance.

Krishna: Thanks Mark – I could not agree more with you in terms of your comment about making it easy for customers to buy from you.

A great question was also asked by Ann Donnelly in response to the first article who said

I do agree that a properly translated site is important if you are targeting such a market. But will visitors expect that you have staff that can communicate in that language? You’d need to manage that expectation so there isn’t disappointment when they come to communicate with you. Any ideas on best way to do that – especially for a smaller business that cannot hire multilingual staff?

Ann – I definitely agree with you that we should not raise expectations so that we are not able to deliver good customer service if we can not then respond in writing or verbally with a potential customer in the same language as the website is translated in. I personally think we have to factor that in when we develop a plan for expanding internationally whether or not we translate our website into another language.

I would recommend that if you don’t have those language skills in your team then if you are a small business you might want to invest in expanding your team perhaps with a virtual office who can pick up queries for you or as I have done in the past and found a strategic partner with the language skills you need.

But what other suggestions do you have – or what have you implemented when expanding your business internationally?

Additional Resources

You can read the first article in the series where we explore under what circumstances we should translate our website here.

If you want to discover how to win more business online and expand your reach internationally, you might want to attend the forthcoming workshop being run by the IIA and at which Mark will be speaking.

It is called ‘Winning International Business on the Web’ and takes place on the 18 November 2009. Find out more details online at the IIA website.