Top 7 Mistakes to Avoid For Building Multilingual Website
One of the most important aspects of creating a multilingual website is knowing your target audience and outlining your available resources. When you want to expand your business internationally, it should be within business ethics. Remember that you cannot use the same strategy and the vision that has worked well in your country. The same relates to your multilingual website, which is why one must consider the following factors.
Top 7 Errors to Avoid While Building Multilingual Website
- Avoiding carbon-copy translations. When you build a multilingual website, take time to think about socio-cultural adjustment among other things as you create the content. Of course, your Western ideas may not fit within your Middle Eastern or Chinese branch where the line of products and campaigns will be different. Using the same concepts and content will show that you do not respect your foreign audience and the local markets.
- Ignoring the word length and the language specifics. You may not know it if you do not have a linguistic background, yet your translator must mention this aspect to you in advance because languages like German and Spanish have certain words and expressions that will be much longer compared to English. It will affect the menus, graphic elements, and website resolution. Discuss this issue before any work starts and ask for a glossary to choose the best words in a foreign language.
- Translating every single bit. It is also called an undertranslating, which means that a person strives to translate it all, which may make it a bit strange for the end-user. Since some concepts and terms are international, one must check things twice to ensure that buttons, menus, and various global aspects are left the way they are.
- Missing the official documents. Unfortunately, even large business projects and companies fail to translate the official agreements and the privacy documents. In most cases, one will see the English version for the foreign parts at best or no document at all. It is recommended to approach a certified translator by turning to translation services online that can provide you with reliable help. Remember that any official document that you offer to your foreign partners is your safety check that will help to avoid international disputes.
- Failing to link social media content. When you build a multilingual website, do not forget about linking your social media profiles by exchanging various posts and links. It will keep your website active and will help the search engines to encounter your website with the help of updated data. One must not overfill your website with those extra bits to keep the right balance, yet sharing social media posts in your news section will be helpful.
- Font and Hard-Code Issues. Turn to localizable strings and do not code more than what must be done by localization experts. Since it is one of the most frequent localization challenges along with the use of odd fonts, one must keep the font sizes correct and use the same scheme when it is possible. Check the software that your localization expert will use to make sure that you provide all the necessary information.
- Lack of proofreading. This aspect is often ignored even by professional web creators, which is why one must edit and check the final content in terms of personal names, numbers, addresses, critical bank account data, and those things that you can check yourself. Ask the translation specialist to proofread things twice since you have a right to remind about it as you create a multilingual website.
Implement Various SEO Tools
While it usually comes along with professional localization, remember that you have to use foreign SEO keywords and LSI phrases that will be based on your vision and things that are popular in the target country. Talk to your translation expert about your objectives, ask for a glossary, and make appropriate changes. Remember that SEO methods that you implement are not static when going multilingual, which is why one must keep the track of both positive and negative dynamics.
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Melony likes to explore the global markets and technology. Her posts provide both theory and practical implementation, which makes her ideas accessible. Follow Melony to brainstorm your business ideas internationally.
