flagsFor more than five years now I’ve been managing numerous websites for a global software company. When I first started I inherited a site that offered content in French, Thai and UK English. These local language sections offered probably about 10% of the US English content. When it came time for a site redesign we made a concerted effort to expand the footprint of the international sites and further expand the number of languages to reflect our global reach.

In undertaking this effort I’ve learned some lessons that you might want to consider if you’re undertaking a new project or even considering a redesign:

  • It’s invaluable to have a resource within the country that you are creating a variant for. While there are translation services and tools online to assist you, having a live person in region will make a huge difference.
  • One example of working with someone who is a native language speaker in the respective country you are developing for is that there are many nuances from language to language that you might otherwise overlook. Elements that may seem simple such as translating common navigation elements from English do not have a direct literal translation. An example of this would be the navigation element for “Home”.
  • If you’re going to undertake providing translated content, be earnest at trying to ensure as much as possible is translated from the primary source itself. Don’t overlook navigation, contact forms, etc.
  • Once it is built, don’t neglect it. Ensure that the content on you’re local language sites are as current as your English site.
  • For your own sake, integrate as much as you can using Cascading Style Sheets rather than static graphics. This way, you’re allowing for ease in translating elements on your site where you could rely on local mangers rather than a graphics person or having to amass a large repository of images. This will also save time when there are edits… and there are always edits ;)
  • Ensure that elements such as headlines allow for longer lengths in languages other than English. The amount of characters in a US English headline can grow by as much as 25% or more in languages such as German.
  • On your US English website, design a means for people to easily locate the local language version of the website. Put a callout item atop your page such as a series of flag icons, a globe, etc. where visitors can intuitively find an avenue to their respective language. Most of your traffic will likely come to your primary homepage. From here it’s up to you to direct them to most appropriate content.
  • Are you displaying dates on your site for News, Events or Press Releases? Date formats vary globally. For instance, 3/10/09 may be March 10, 2009 in the US, while in the UK it is October 3, 2009.

There are other considerations to take on as well such as using country code top-level domains (CcTLD) for your web presence as well as ensuring your site is maximized for organic search using localized terms. Those can be topics for future posts as each branch off into much deeper directions respectively.

One other aspect of multilingual site management that I am in the midst of right now is developing a global strategy for using social media to enhance our company’s brand and increase traffic to the local language sites. Once I have some good points from this topic I’ll share those here as well.

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