Business Website Translation: 6 Ways It Can Help You Thrive

Shira Pik-Nathan

July 19 , 2023 · 6 min

In today’s global world, it’s important for businesses to think beyond their own borders in order to be successful and stand out amongst the competition. For your company to grow and expand beyond the local market, having a multilingual website is vital.

Translating your company’s website content will help you meet market expectations and improve your conversion rates. But before starting the process of translating the content of the website, consider who your target audience is, and make sure you know the answers to these four questions:

What country or region are you targeting?
What are their needs?
Do they speak more than one language?
What products or services are they interested in?

With that considered, you can decide which sections of the website you need to translate and adapt to capture the attention of the new market you’re targeting, and how best to do so.

Contrary to what many may believe, multilingual websites aren’t simply created by installing some automated translation plugin (at least, good ones aren’t). Instead, it means that a professional translator has carefully prepared the content in a localized way, keeping with the culture and language nuances of the audience. This may seem like a significant investment of time, money, and other resources, but most businesses find that it’s well worth it for the benefits of having a localized website. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits multilingual websites can bring to your business. Also, check out the best website localization services for all your needs.

6 Benefits of Business Website Translation

1. Expand Your Reach

Having a website available in multiple languages allows you to reach a much larger audience. After all, why limit yourself to a single market if you can target a more significant number of consumers simultaneously?

If your US-based tour company sells tours and experiences in major US cities, but you see that you’re getting traffic from various countries in Europe, why not offer them the opportunity to browse your website and book a tour in their own language? Think about it – by optimizing your website, you can attract a bigger audience and grow your business.

Around 379 million people speak English as their mother tongue. Yet, 75% of the world’s population does not speak English at all. So, it is essential to consider other languages if you want your business to go global. For example, Spanish is the third most used language, after English and Mandarin Chinese, so why not translate your site into this language as well? There’s a broad target out there – you should be going after it if you want your business to skyrocket.

2. Build Trust & Improve Brand Image

When an audience can access a website translated into their language, they feel respect and appreciation from the brand. People value this effort and reward it by giving you their trust – and their money.

But it’s not just a matter of respect; internet users feel more comfortable when reading articles or searching for products in their own language. With a translated website, even if you are on the other side of the world, your customers will feel more connected to your brand.

As for building a brand image, a multilingual website ensures that your brand is providing a better customer experience for all parties. It shows that you care about your customers, no matter where they come from. It also shows that you are a reputable global business, which is impressive to customers, especially if you’re aiming for a more sophisticated clientele. Building a positive international brand image speaks volumes about your brand, and it will make sure that you are trusted, recognized, and remembered by your target audience.

3. Increase Sales and Conversion Rate

Any company with a multilingual website can access and participate in international business, obtaining significant growth opportunities. To improve conversion rates, companies need to reach customers in their own language. CSA Research shows that 72.4% of consumers said they would be more likely to buy a product with information in their own language. This statistic speaks for itself. Whether you’re selling physical products and goods, or promoting a service, you won’t convert visitors to customers if they can’t understand what it is that you’re selling.

4. SEO Optimization

With a multilingual website, not only will you increase your sales, you’ll also be able to improve your rankings on the local SERPs. With SEO-optimized content, your site will have greater visibility when people search in their own language on Google or other search engines.

For example, if someone in Spain is looking to buy clothing online, and your Canadian brand ships to Spain, but your website is not translated, the chances of them finding you and making a purchase are slim. However, if you translate your product descriptions, blogs, and meta data, your site may actually show up in the results when they search comprar zapatos on Google. The more visibility your site has, the more likely you are to make a sale.

5. Optimize Customer Centricity

There is no denying that customers are the lifeblood of your business. Without a solid customer base at hand, you cannot expect your business to thrive. Therefore, shifting your focus to improving your overall customer-centricity and experience will pay your clientele greater homage and will earn you bonus points in their eyes. There are several aspects to consider in tending to customers.

Creating an easy-to-navigate website – in the customers’ own language – will save visitors time and effort in searching. It will also encourage them to come back to your site, even if they don’t convert to actual customers on the first visit. First impressions are the most important, so creating a positive experience for every visitor will ultimately turn them into paying customers.

6. Gain a Competitive Edge

As important as acquiring customers is, you can’t do so without topping your competitors. Companies that are similar to yours might target similar consumers, and might even offer them a service or product that is better than yours in some way. But that doesn’t have to mean you lose. To ensure you’re trailblazing the industry, put your entire focus on the power of professional website translation. Why? Here’s a little secret – not that many brands nor competitors will bother to translate their website.

For your business, this means gaining the upper hand in offering a service that doesn’t just target nationally, but internationally as well. Plus, it has been proven time and time again that customers are more likely to buy from a site translated to their mother tongue. So, even if other companies can compete with you in other ways, providing that native experience to customers could be what ultimately pushes them to choose your business over your competitors.

So, Going Multilingual?

Now that you know the benefits, you might be ready to take the next step in your localization journey and start translating your website. Keep in mind that your multilingual website should be designed in a way that makes your audience feel like they are reading content written by a local, so merely translating the content isn’t enough. You need real localization experts who know your target market to reap the benefits your multilingual website has the potential to bring. Learn how you can translate your website with BLEND. Need to translate a Drupal website, or you need your WordPress website translated? We can help with that, too. Check out how Rail Europe localized its website into 7 languages for inspiration.

Get in touch to see your options for website translation with BLEND and get started today.