YNOT – When a company is looking to expand its website’s reach, it should consider whether or not translation is necessary. To answer this question, marketing managers need to consider which countries they already sell to and which countries they are trying to target. They also need to consider the type of products they sell. This sounds obvious, but you would be surprised at the number of companies that do not take the time to think through these questions properly before they put a business case together for website translation.

Let us look at a few examples at the extremes. First, consider a company that markets technical or specialized products and services in English and is looking to expand its client base. The type of customers who require the products or services are likely to speak English no matter where they reside. Therefore, the company can get away without translating its entire website.

However, the website still must be found by potential customers, who are likely to type their searches in their native language. In this case, the company needs a homepage that has been translated into the local languages potential customers may use, summarizing the products the company offers. Local search engines in the target countries will register the homepage, which then can link to the company’s normal English pages. Using this approach will cut down on translation costs.

At the other end of the spectrum is a company that markets more common products — household products, entertainment, games, etc. — in English. In this case, the company needs to translate as much of its website as it can afford in order to make it as easy as possible for end-users to find the website in their own language. When there are many similar websites available, consumers whose native language is not English do not hesitate to skip “English only” sites even if they are fluent in English. Unless the company has some other type of competitive advantage, such as early product availability or excellent service, it needs to translate its entire website to compete in any non-English markets it targets.

These examples are at the extreme ends of the market; most websites probably fall somewhere in between. However, no matter what type of product or service it offers, a company with an English-only website must consider that not offering its website in multiple languages may turn away a portion of its potential customers. Not everyone understands or wants to read in English.

The best solution to the translation question is to study the situation carefully and spend the translation money where it is necessary. One approach that has been successful for many companies is go one step beyond the front page-only translation and translate the important portions of their site. Translated pages are added to the main site as a micro-site, and customers can access the translations via flags on the homepage.

With this approach, start-up translation costs are kept to a minimum, but customers can access more than just the basic information in their local language. As sales revenue increases and more money becomes available for translation services, the company then can invest in translating other portions of its website to expand its appeal to customers.

This article was contributed to YNOT.com by TranslationsXXX, an adult website translation service employing certified translators in 30 languages.