Long gone are the days in which eCommerce site localization means just translating language and accepting localized payment methods. In a high stakes environment, where a global roll out of direct localized sites can mean millions of dollars of investment, eBusiness professionals responsible for managing international customer-facing websites must localize effectively or risk damaging the reputation of their brands and stifling growth.

Forrester published a report today that outlines seven mission-critical areas to any website localization initiative. Among these imperatives are:

  • Consistent Domain Structures.  The best practice in a domain name strategy for a multinational company is to maintain a strong global brand by using the same domain strategy across the globe. There are four common URL strategies available to firms today: country code top-level domains or ccTLDs (e.g., acme.br), subfolders (e.g., acme.com/br/portugues), subdomains (e.g., br.acme.com), and brand-level global top-level domains or gTLDs (e.g., annualreport.acme). The report provides detailed considerations for each domain convention.
  • SEO-optimized site content.  It is essential to make sure the website’s translated content is easily discoverable for consumers and is positioned to rank at the top of dominant local search engines. eBusiness leaders must understand search engine market share and local market semantics in order to come up on top.
  • Market-specific customer care. eBusiness leaders must understand how customers want to interact with their brand for customer service. Customers’ reliance on different service channels (e.g., call center, email, online chat, and social) vary by market, and well localized websites will dedicate resources to channels relative to local preference.

For the rest of the seven must-haves, Forrester clients can check out the report here. I’d love to hear your thoughts: What do you think are the key website localization tactics?

Thanks,

Lily