Is it Worth Translating Your Website for International Business?

The internet has made it absolutely necessary for businesses to be competitive across a variety of mediums, borders and cultures. Even small brick and mortar businesses must find ways to maintain loyal customers in the face of increasing competition from all over the world. As such, a strong web-based presence is always a good idea for any business that wants to be successful in the long-term. Many businesses face a tough decision with respect to international commerce and engagement: whether or not translating the website into multiple languages is worth the effort. Below, we’ll discuss whether this strategy is a sound effort and what can be expected from the effort.

The Reality of Consumer Behaviour

The first and perhaps most important data-point regarding international business pertains to shopper behaviour: customers are much more likely to purchase a product or service if the website is in their native language. This is the biggest motivator for businesses that would like to expand their horizons into new markets. However, translation services can often be expensive and require professional services in order to deliver proper results. As such, businesses that have explicit targets in specific countries may find translating website content to be useful, but businesses that wish to merely broadly target a variety of different languages and countries may not find it feasible.

3 Reliable Ways Small Business can Improve Business Processes

At its core Business Process Management (BPM), is a systematic approach to making an organisation’s workflow more effective, efficient, and more capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment. As you might imagine, BPM is a wide-ranging subject, and there are a number of different areas you’ll have to focus on in order to create a well-rounded business. Three approaches described below can help small business owners improve their business processes to be able to compete effectively.

Social Media

The days of social media simply being a means to catch up with your old school friends are long gone. In recent years, it’s become a powerful tool for businesses looking to improve their corporate brand, communicate with customers, and even find potential employees. Social media has also become a valuable collaboration tool amongst businesses who employ staff who work remotely across numerous different locations. Microblogs allow project leaders to more effectively communicate their project details with the rest of the department, while others can create and share short videos that relay a summary of a meeting that not everyone could attend.

5 Guaranteed Ways to Improve Brand Awareness of Business

Having a unique and memorable brand helps you build awareness of your business and create a long-term position in the marketplace. Brand awareness is a measure of how well your brand is known within its target markets. Your brand is a welcome mat or a locked door to potential customers, and by building up your brand name in the online and offline arena you will potentially reach more clients and customers. There are many ways to increase your own brand awareness:

1. Exhibit – Exhibiting can be expensive but it is also a great way to get in front of hundreds of people attending a conference or trade event. With expense in mind it is important to choose where you are exhibiting carefully so that you can reach your target audience.
2. Experiential stunt – The aim of this is to create a bond between the consumer and the brand by showcasing the brand in a fun, memorable experience and if they are truly successful increase brand awareness. This can be expensive, with Red Bull providing some great examples in the past through its Formula 1 teams, BMX events most notable would be its Space Jump in October 2012.