​4 tips to take your website global

For prospering and ambitious businesses that are looking to engage in international business, a key factor in their overseas expansion plans will be to have a website that has a global reach and can build up a worldwide target audience. But what steps can you take in order for your company’s website to go global? Here are some tips…

Analyse your competitors

A business can only truly thrive internationally if the company in question has studied its market, and a competitor analysis also stretches to online capabilities. By carrying out thorough research on similar competitors with regards to starting points, the potential for various international markets and how other companies structure their international SEO strategies, it will go a long way towards shaping how you will be able to put together prioritises and targets for your own business, and its online potential for global markets.

Research search engines

Since the majority of people – especially first-time customers – will be finding you on the likes of Google and Yahoo, it is very important to check up on the different guidelines of the leading search engines with regards to international terms and conditions, rules and regulations. Not everybody takes the time to do this, but it could prove crucial depending upon where you are planning to trade. So, read up on Google’s webmaster guidelines and T&Cs for the likes of Big, Yandex and Baidu, since it could require you to tailor your web strategy completely for those countries.

Setup your website correctly

It’s crucial to ensure that your business has the correct domain and URL structure for each major country that you are taking your website into. Although some may not realise it, “.com” doesn’t always work in all countries, and there is a big difference between, say, “.uk” and “.es”. Each major international market will have its own domain terms followed by all leading traders there, and therefore it you want to become a serious player within business in those parts of the world, you need to ensure you have these domain terms and URL structures up to scratch.

Don’t take shortcuts with translations

A big part of that will be having the website copy written in the native language of those specific nations, and consequently the final major thing to think about would be to use a copywriter who speaks the native tongue of those countries. Google Translate might work for an internal project or a university study, but when we’re talking about products that could make tens of thousands or even millions per year, you need to look as professional as possible, and the likes of Google Translate can lead to mistakes which could deter potential partners and, as a result, hinder your business. Don’t take this chance, and instead ensure that you are investing in a native-speaking copywriter who will have all of the content written logically and legibly in the first language of each major market.