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How to simplify the website localisation process

How to simplify your website localisation project

A decade or two ago the extent of most business’s online strategies would have been whether or not to bother having a website. Now there are all sorts of things to consider, from social media marketing to optimising for mobile and, if you are looking to reach an international audience, localising your website.

Localisation can be a huge project but there are ways to simplify the process. It can also be hugely important when it comes to reaching new markets. The World Wide Web theoretically puts the whole world at your fingertips but in practice there are cultural and linguistic barriers to overcome.

There’s a temptation to think that a single English language website will suffice but numerous studies have shown this is not the case. A survey by Eurobarometer found that only 18% of EU internet users who visited foreign language (typically English) websites said they would frequently buy online in a language other than their own. A more recent survey by independent researchers Common Sense Advisory, meanwhile, found that more than half (55%) of international consumers only bought from websites where information was presented in their own language. For some nationalities, such as the Japanese, this rose to 70%.

Design with localisation in mind

It can greatly simplify your future efforts if you design your website with localisation in mind from the ground up. Keep the bulk of your content relatively simple to allow for easier translation later. This includes avoiding specific cultural references, humour and images that would not necessarily translate. This doesn’t mean you should stay away from such content entirely – you want your site to be engaging to whichever audience is viewing it – but these elements should form the peripheries to a simple core message.

In design terms, some tools are better suited to adapting your website at a later time. Using cascading style sheets (CSS), for example, allows you to keep your design elements separate from your content. This means you can switch out translated content without having to redesign each page from scratch. You will also need a flexible character encoding tool such as Unicode UTF-8, which can handle non-Latin scripts such as Hebrew or Arabic, as well as incorporating ‘non-standard’ Latin characters such as the German Ä, Ö, Ü and ß.

If you already have an English language website it can be just as time-consuming to internationalise it retroactively. Creating a single versatile template can save you time and effort in the long run however. Even if you are only looking to localise for one or two target markets initially, an internationalised main site can give you the flexibility to expand to new markets in the future.

Choose your markets

Full localisation is a major undertaking and it usually makes sense to limit your efforts at first. Google Analytics can let you see the geographical spread of your existing visitors but thorough market research is also essential before making such a commitment.

It’s worth noting that some languages can help you make inroads into several different countries and territories. French, for example, is used by large populations in Canada, Belgium, Monaco and Luxembourg, as well as former French colonies in Africa and Southeast Asia while Arabic is widely used throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

It’s possible to target your efforts by language but there are usually linguistic and cultural differences between individual countries, even when they share a common language. Targeting individual countries through Google Webmasters Geotargeting will allow you much greater freedom to tailor your content and specific keywords to those particular markets. You can also boost your SEO and give your localised site a more genuinely local feel by hosting it on a country-code top level domain, such as .fr for France.

Localise your content

The most important part of the process is to make sure your website is useful, relevant and engaging to your new target market. If the bulk of your original content is kept relatively simple and universal the translation process will be simplified. Working with native speaking translators you should also be able to add a more local feel to your website, including cultural references where they are relevant. Good translators can also help you to avoid any unintentional cultural faux pas and make sure that the whole website scans naturally for your audience. You should also ensure that elements such as currencies and time and date formats are correct.

Your localised websites do not need to mirror your core English language website exactly. They need to provide the visitor with everything they need but some content is more luxury than necessity. You might feel it important to have your company history, mission statement and a ‘meet the team’ section on your main website but you might not need to recreate these pages on multiple localised sites.

Identifying influencers can be a lot of hard work, especially as new influencers constantly appear while others fade away. But it can be worth the effort, as reaching out to a relatively small group of key people could have a major knock-on effect to your marketing campaigns.

Thanks to Christian Arno for sharing his thoughts and opinions in this blog post. Christian is the Managing Director of Lingo24. You can connect on Google+ or Twitter @Lingo24 .

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Facebook ad clickthrough rates – new research

New report reveals the effectiveness of different Facebook retargeting options

Value/Importance: ★★★

Recommended link: Facebook ad research

With the continued decline in organic reach in Facebook, opportunities for brands to get visibility for their brand page status updates is getting severely limited.

According to this Social@Ogilvy report, the organic reach of brands’ posts may soon reach zero, meaning that brands will no longer be able to reach their Facebook fans at zero cost. They recommend advertising as one option, which begs the question of the clickthrough rates and costs of Facebook ads. This new report from Facebook retargeting service AdRoll provides useful data for brands to make the case for investment in Facebook advertising.

The research shows that overall clickthrough rates of both News Feed targeting on desktop and mobile were significantly better than general web retargeting according to the report, with desktop having 8.1x higher CTR and mobile having 9.1x higher CTR. The report also shows how incremental impressions, clickthroughs and impressions compare to standard web retargeting.

The report also considers desktop and mobile ad clickthroughs and costs separately. The study demonstrates that the CPM cost of News Feed ad impressions on mobile is 57% lower than News Feed impressions on desktop, and mobile ads generate a 10% higher CTR. This results in a 61% lower

CPC for ads in the News Feed on mobile compared to the News Feed on desktop.

Although actual Facebook ad clickthroughs rates aren’t given in the report, the benchmarks from this report suggest investment in these Facebook ad retargeting options could be worth testing if you’re not already using these techniques.

The free report also has a useful introduction to different Facebook ad formats and retargeting options such as URL-based Web Custom Audience retargeting (WCA) and FBX.

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Introducing Pigeon: A new Google algorithm [@SmartInsights alert]

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read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1lxUvzM

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read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1s5oAfK

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In every web development project, at some point, the designer and the developer disappear into their offices for a period of time and come out with some finished work. During that time, they are creating universes for their client, building web pages out of lines of code and pixels, tailoring everything to the needs of the organization that site will represent.

read more

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read more

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read more

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First, the new Twitter profile page is made to look more like other social media sites such as Facebook and Google Plus. A large header that spans the top of your profile page can give your business a huge opportunity to promote your product or service.

read more

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read more

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read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1vDbtT9

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Using Diagnostics Reports in the Sales Process

Don’t include your sales appeal in your error report. Your e-mail SIG is sufficient to convey who you are, your firm, and the solutions you provide. If and when you get a “thank you” email back from your C-suite target, you have the option of advancing the discussion.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1vDbtT7

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Facebook identified 689,003 English speaking users to run a psychological experiment on, for the duration of a week. They began to manipulate the newsfeed of a group of these users to remove posts with a negative emotion attached to them, and removed all posts with a positive emotion for the other group.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1lXZu1D

via IFTTT

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When it comes to grills, 69% of purchase decision makers are male. But with women Grill Masters on the rise, are major grill brands shying away from male-centric content and focusing on family? We took a look at the Weber and Char-Broil Facebook communities to find out.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1z7TQPL

via IFTTT

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read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1kejuZl

via IFTTT

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According to the Adobe Digital Index Travel 2014 Report, Americans will book $61 billion online between Memorial Day and Labor Day, an all-time high, up 15% YoY. The increase in smartphone screen size and data speeds combined with vastly improved mobile travel sites and applications is driving this year’s increase in bookings.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1lTmmiO

via IFTTT

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The chances are very high that your place of business has a Facebook page and I’m willing to bet my dog, Swayze, on the fact that you’ve seen a decline in your business’s organic reach since the beginning of the year. Do I think you should yank your business page off of Facebook? Nope. Here's why.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1lTmjn7

via IFTTT

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read more

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via IFTTT

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Most advertisers know that Facebook offers some impressive targeting capabilities. With around one fifth of the world’s population on Facebook, the reach is massive, to say the least, and combined with the granularity of Facebook’s user data the marketing opportunity really is insane.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1xgNUCm

via IFTTT

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“We decided to move up market to replace and expand on the Salesforce for Google AdWords product,” says Aaron Bird, co-founder and CEO of the up-and-coming marketing analytics powerhouse. “We added a number of features so companies can track ALL marketing in Salesforce and match that with revenue.”

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1z7dPy7

via IFTTT

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The biggest difference between content marketing and advertising, though, is that one of the main principles of content marketing is getting out there and marketing the marketing, which isn’t something one would typically do with a traditional print ad or a digital banner ad.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1z7dPy3

via IFTTT

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Recruiting brand advocates and leveraging them as brand ambassadors is becoming an increasingly popular form of brand promotion. Word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends continues to influence consumer purchasing decisions more than any other source of information.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1kdivsm

via IFTTT

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In every web development project, at some point, the designer and the developer disappear into their offices for a period of time and come out with some finished work. During that time, they are creating universes for their client, building web pages out of lines of code and pixels, tailoring everything to the needs of the organization that site will represent.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1z7dPhH

via IFTTT

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So how might one establish a relationship before talking business? Give away some advice for free, share resources, start conversations and don’t be all about yourself, your company and the cash. Respect the fact that people have more options now than ever before and be a resource for those in need instead of trying to hard-sell those in need.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1kdix3w

via IFTTT

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Kick-ass bloggers are clear on their expertise, niche, and passion. They don’t panic and lie awake at night trying to figure out their niche. They know they are the sum of all their experiences. They look at their professional and personal journeys and know what instinctively feels right. Lack of passion leads to lack of clarity.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1kdix3o

via IFTTT

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There are all sorts of untapped marketing benefits available through social media, and when you use it like you know what you're doing, you make yourself - and your company - stand apart from the crowd. Take a look at the B2B benefits from social media use.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1z7dOdw

via IFTTT

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SEO has two main elements: on-page factors, which include site content, usability, and accessibility to search engines; and off-page factors, including the inbound links that influence the degree to which search engines think a site is important.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1z7dMlY

via IFTTT

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Don’t include your sales appeal in your error report. Your e-mail SIG is sufficient to convey who you are, your firm, and the solutions you provide. If and when you get a “thank you” email back from your C-suite target, you have the option of advancing the discussion.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1kdiuEW

via IFTTT

New Twitter Design Gives an Advantage to Businesses

First, the new Twitter profile page is made to look more like other social media sites such as Facebook and Google Plus. A large header that spans the top of your profile page can give your business a huge opportunity to promote your product or service.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1kdiuES

via IFTTT

Twitter Now Supports Animated GIFs

Perhaps taking a cue from Tumblr’s growing success, Twitter announced on June 18th that the web site, along with the Android and iOS Twitter apps, will now support animated GIFs. The announcement came, of course, via a tweet from Twitter support, and the reaction was an almost unanimous “Finally!”

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1z7dM5p

via IFTTT

10 Models Who Have Rocked Social Media This Year [INFOGRAPHIC]

Social media remains a popular medium for models to connect with their fans. After viewing this infographic produced by UK Models, it has become rather clear as to who is popular and admired among today’s general public. From Tyra Banks to Gisele Bundchen, these 10 models are sharing their looks but also their lives with their loyal fans.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1z7dNGH

via IFTTT

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Facebook identified 689,003 English speaking users to run a psychological experiment on, for the duration of a week. They began to manipulate the newsfeed of a group of these users to remove posts with a negative emotion attached to them, and removed all posts with a positive emotion for the other group.

read more

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via IFTTT

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from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1kdiqVv

via IFTTT

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So how might one establish a relationship before talking business? Give away some advice for free, share resources, start conversations and don’t be all about yourself, your company and the cash. Respect the fact that people have more options now than ever before and be a resource for those in need instead of trying to hard-sell those in need.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1omJvd8

via IFTTT

Why You Should Pay for Discovery

In every web development project, at some point, the designer and the developer disappear into their offices for a period of time and come out with some finished work. During that time, they are creating universes for their client, building web pages out of lines of code and pixels, tailoring everything to the needs of the organization that site will represent.

read more

from Social Media Today - The world's best thinkers on social media http://ift.tt/1iTHt5f

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7 Ways to Be a Kicka** Blogger

Kick-ass bloggers are clear on their expertise, niche, and passion. They don’t panic and lie awake at night trying to figure out their niche. They know they are the sum of all their experiences. They look at their professional and personal journeys and know what instinctively feels right. Lack of passion leads to lack of clarity.

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Where Is the Ad Spend Headed? [INFOGRAPHIC]

The biggest difference between content marketing and advertising, though, is that one of the main principles of content marketing is getting out there and marketing the marketing, which isn’t something one would typically do with a traditional print ad or a digital banner ad.

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10 Models Who Have Rocked Social Media This Year [INFOGRAPHIC]

Social media remains a popular medium for models to connect with their fans. After viewing this infographic produced by UK Models, it has become rather clear as to who is popular and admired among today’s general public. From Tyra Banks to Gisele Bundchen, these 10 models are sharing their looks but also their lives with their loyal fans.

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Social Startups: Bizible Connects All the Dots from Marketing Contributions to Revenue

“We decided to move up market to replace and expand on the Salesforce for Google AdWords product,” says Aaron Bird, co-founder and CEO of the up-and-coming marketing analytics powerhouse. “We added a number of features so companies can track ALL marketing in Salesforce and match that with revenue.”

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Leveraging Brand Ambassadors

Recruiting brand advocates and leveraging them as brand ambassadors is becoming an increasingly popular form of brand promotion. Word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends continues to influence consumer purchasing decisions more than any other source of information.

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The Benefits of Using Social Media Like a B2B Boss

There are all sorts of untapped marketing benefits available through social media, and when you use it like you know what you're doing, you make yourself - and your company - stand apart from the crowd. Take a look at the B2B benefits from social media use.

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Why Social Media Is Essential to SEO Success

SEO has two main elements: on-page factors, which include site content, usability, and accessibility to search engines; and off-page factors, including the inbound links that influence the degree to which search engines think a site is important.

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Using Diagnostics Reports in the Sales Process

Don’t include your sales appeal in your error report. Your e-mail SIG is sufficient to convey who you are, your firm, and the solutions you provide. If and when you get a “thank you” email back from your C-suite target, you have the option of advancing the discussion.

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New Twitter Design Gives an Advantage to Businesses

First, the new Twitter profile page is made to look more like other social media sites such as Facebook and Google Plus. A large header that spans the top of your profile page can give your business a huge opportunity to promote your product or service.

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Twitter Now Supports Animated GIFs

Perhaps taking a cue from Tumblr’s growing success, Twitter announced on June 18th that the web site, along with the Android and iOS Twitter apps, will now support animated GIFs. The announcement came, of course, via a tweet from Twitter support, and the reaction was an almost unanimous “Finally!”

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What Happens in Just ONE Minute on YouTube [INFOGRAPHIC]

Every 60 seconds, YouTube makes an estimated $10,654.49; at least 1,388 channel subscriptions are formed; and 100 hours of videos are uploaded. Take a look at this infographic created by YouTubeDownloader illustrating what else happens in a YouTube minute.

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New Research on How World's Biggest Brands Leverage Social Marketing

How are the world’s biggest brands leveraging social marketing for business? That seemingly straightforward question has remained unanswered from a research perspective to this point. But a new study benchmarks the current state of social marketing, as well as uncovering a number of key strategies, tactics and business implications.

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How to Protect Your Reputation from a Social Media Crisis

With more information being created and shared online, it’s essential that organizations protect their reputation from a social media crisis. Here are four key areas to consider to help organizations navigate the new landscape, protect their reputations and ensure they avoid getting into legal hot water.

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3 Things You Must Do to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

More and more professionals are using LinkedIn as a sales tool. You want to be able to stand out from the crowd, so I am going to share with you 3 valuable tips to improve your LinkedIn profile that will help you be near the top of the list when people are searching for someone in your industry.

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Google+ on Its Third Birthday

Good luck, Google+, on your 3rd anniversary. I really like you. For now, only because of your potential and because I am always trying to impress your dad, Google. But what I would really like is to love to spend time on Google+. To leave Facebook behind and make G+ my number one social media wife. Right now, it's dead last.

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