1. People are 4 times more likely to purchase from a website that is in their own language. Would you make a purchase from a website only in German? I imagine the answer is ‘no’, so why would a potential client buy your goods or services if your website is only in English? If your answer to this is, “because everyone speaks English”, think again. Whilst 57% of all websites are in English, according to the 2012 Internet World Stats, 44.8% of Internet users were from Asia, that’s more than double the amount of those from Europe (21.5%). If nearly half of all Internet users worldwide don’t speak English as their first language, there are a lot of potential customers that you are missing out on and equally that are overlooking what you have to offer. As Willy Brandt said, “If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen sie Deutsch sprechen.
2. Marketing copy can get lost in translation. Read your marketing copy – does it contain idioms, slang, rhetorical questions, UK specific references? These often do not translate into other languages so go either completely misunderstood by the reader or, worse still, give a negative impression of your website if they are inadvertently offensive or confusing. If you have your website translated, not only will the reader have a clearer idea of the goods or services you offer, the text can also be localised to appeal more to the target market. After all, you wouldn’t want to make mistakes like these with your marketing copy, would you!
3. Your website may already be being “translated”. When users enter a website not in their language using Google, it will ask them if they want to translate the page, worse still it is possible to have your settings so that all pages not in your mother tongue are automatically translated by Google when you enter them. Errors made by Google Translate are well documented, would you really want to risk having your website translated by a machine which makes mistakes like this? There is no substitute for having a human being who is fully fluent in both languages read your copy and render it into the target language, taking care to ensure every nuance is covered.
4. The benefits are endless! You could find new suppliers, open your mind to new ideas, concepts and ways of working, identify gaps in the market abroad, demonstrate a willingness to communicate with clients and suppliers in their language, introduce a new product to a foreign market and show up in foreign language search engines to name but a few. The position of English as the most widely used language on the Internet is being brought to a swift end, primarily by Chinese and Spanish, so translating your website is a savvy step to take to ensure that you are ahead of competitors straight away.
5. It may be easier than you think. Having your website translated and localised need not be a challenge. You have already done the hard work by writing the copy and availing yourself of the technical skills needed to create and maintain a Business Language Services can translate the text from your website and the database behind it into your required language, providing   high quality translation, managed by a dedicated Project Manager and proof read by an independent linguist. Google recommends between 250-300 words per page and based on this, your website could be translated and localised in a matter of days – so what are you waiting for!