In 2015, your successful business needs to translate -- preferably, across borders and languages too, especially if you run an e-commerce based startup. Short of translating all your existing materials -- a potentially costly and time-consuming process -- how and where do you even start?
To find out, I asked eight entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)" what first steps they recommend you take and why.
Start blogging
If you want to start ranking well in other regions or languages, start blogging. It takes a while for search engines to begin displaying your content, so getting something posted is key. Make sure your content is well written and uses keywords that are specific to that region/language. Once you have some good content, then you can worry about where to post it and how to broadcast your message. Part of ranking well with search engines is having new content on your site, so blogging once a week is a good start. Write about how your company or product applies and is useful to people of that region and language. Do your research and get to know similar products or businesses on the market in that region.
-- Kyle Clayton, Set Jet
Put your contact information in a prominent place
You should make sure you have your company’s contact information in a prominent place on your website. This will help your site get discovered and build trust with visitors.
-- Lane Campbell, Syntress SCDT
Use the Google Trends country filter
Go on google.com/trends, write out a few words that you usually rank for and then use the country filter to compare how searches vary. This will give you information into the relative importance of keywords in areas that you are looking to rank.
Get writers who speak the language of the region
The biggest mistake people make when they expand into a new region is thinking you can just use Google translate to convert English to the new language. The problem with this is that in most cases, the translation is inaccurate. The Google algorithm can detect the language level and quality, so if there's a bad translation, the page will rank poorly. Worse yet, native language speakers will also be able to tell you used a translator and be insulted that you didn't even bother to use the language properly. This is a sure fire way to lose out on sales. Having a writer who knows the language write the page will go a long way toward demonstrating cultural sensitivity, and give you an edge over other businesses that don't take the same care.
-- Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now
Take different cultures into consideration
You should take into consideration that each region, country and community has its own mannerisms, customs, etc. For example, Starbucks has closed its operations in Israel, and local commentators have suggested this was because the company didn’t understand the culture.
-- Mina Chang, Linking the World
Allow for and respond to customer feedback
If you are willing to hear how your current customers feel about your product, and what improvements they would like to see, then you can use their feedback as the foundation for new content. Respond to their suggestions via multi-media so that they can put a person's face/voice to the message. You can then take what you've learned from that strategy and apply it to a totally new location (by hiring staff that would communicate in the language) with customers in that country. Outsourcing talent is now simpler than ever!
-- Cody McLain, WireFuseMedia LLC
Do in-depth research
In order to make a positive impact in other regions/languages, it is important to do some in-depth preliminary research about the area, the population, trends, consumer actions, existing businesses in the area, etc. You want to be able to see what your market reacts well to already in this new region and see where there is room for innovation. Are other popular websites for those who speak this language using a similar content strategy? All of these elements have to be researched in-depth so that your strategy is not created blindly. This research will give a direction to the next actions you will take.
-- Miles Jennings, Recruiter.com
Use SEM to test the waters
The first step is to identify whether people are even searching in other languages for your keywords. There might be such a low search volume that your entire effort would be a waste. I would try a Google Adwords campaign for a few weeks and measure the impressions and the impression-share to get an idea. After that you can decide where you want to focus your content strategy for your website.