Although translating your ecommerce store isn’t an absolute requirement if you want to internationalize your business, it’s pretty much a must if you want to be successful.
Consider that, according to CSA Research, 76% of online shoppers around the world favor purchasing products in their mother tongue, and 40% of the study’s respondents avoid buying from sites in other languages.
Embarking on the journey to translate your ecommerce store opens doors to a global audience, presenting a wealth of opportunities for increased reach and revenue.
However, the path to successful translation involves strategic steps to ensure a seamless transition for diverse language speakers.
Uncover the key strategies that’ll elevate your store’s accessibility and appeal to a broader, international clientele!
Determine Your Target Languages
First, you should identify the language or languages spoken by your target audience. This ensures that your content will resonate with the shoppers you’re hoping to reach.
To determine target languages, analyze your customer demographics, consider the geographical locations of your audience, and conduct market research.
Note that while some of the largest online retailers may translate their websites into a wide range of languages to target as many consumers around the globe as possible, if you have a small business, you probably won’t need to take your store translating to this level.
Insights into your target audience’s linguistic preferences and cultural context will guide you in selecting the most relevant languages, allowing for a more personalized and engaging ecommerce experience, ultimately contributing to increased customer satisfaction and conversions.
Choose Your Translation Approach
Next, you’ll have to decide whether you want to translate your ecommerce store manually or use automated translation tools.
Opting for manual translation by human experts ensures linguistic precision and cultural nuance, delivering a more authentic and relatable experience.
Automated translation tools, while efficient, may lack the finesse of human understanding.
Consider factors such as budget, content complexity, and the desired level of personalization.
Combining both methods, using automated tools for bulk content and human translators for critical elements, strikes a balance between efficiency and quality, offering an optimal solution for a comprehensive and effective ecommerce translation.
Translate Your Content
You’re now ready to translate the essential content of your ecommerce store, including product descriptions, category names, and key pages.
Translating customer reviews and testimonials as well adds authenticity and social proof.
Furthermore, providing translated FAQs can help enhance customer support and user experience.
Make sure that the purchasing process, including checkout and payment pages, is available in the selected languages.
Remember to also pay attention to cultural nuances and ensure that translations resonate with the local audience.
Additionally, make sure the translated content looks the same on different browsers including Brave and Tor, as well as in different devices like mobile phones and PCs.
Consider that a 2020 survey by Statista determined that one of the top issues that global consumers face when shopping on foreign sites translated into their native languages is poor-quality content, with 34% of respondents stating that this is a problem they encounter.
Taking the time to accurately translate the various pages of your online store can therefore help you to stand out from the competition and attract new customers!
The next step involves ensuring that your menu items, categories, and navigation labels are accurately translated to reflect the language preferences of your diverse audience.
Tailor the structure to align with cultural norms and user expectations in each target language.
Implement user-friendly language-switching features, such as dropdown menus or flags, allowing visitors to easily switch between language versions.
Offering clear and culturally relevant navigation enhances user engagement, improves accessibility, and helps visitors effortlessly explore your ecommerce offerings in their preferred language.
When developing your B2C or B2B eCommerce strategy it’s crucial to integrate these principles to create a seamless experience for business partners and clients alike.
This in turn will ultimately contribute to a positive and effective multilingual online shopping experience.
Localize Currency and Pricing
You’ll also want to be sure to localize your site’s currency and pricing to help build user familiarity and trust. Adjust product prices to align with the currency preferences of your target audience, avoiding confusion and facilitating smoother transactions.
You can avail of geolocation tools as well to automatically display prices in the local currency based on the user’s location.
Don’t forget to also clearly communicate currency conversion rates and any additional charges to enhance transparency.
By tailoring the currency and pricing elements to each market, you create a user-friendly environment that resonates with diverse customers, fostering a sense of comfort and encouraging increased engagement and conversions.
Optimize Your SEO for Each Language
Another very important step to take when translating your ecommerce store is to optimize your SEO for every language that you’re targeting.
This is essential, as the SEO needs are bound to vary among different languages and countries.
You’ll therefore have to work on customizing meta tags, keywords, and content in alignment with the linguistic nuances of your target audience, conducting thorough keyword research specific to each language to boost your rankings on search engines like Google.
In addition, you can add hreflang attributes to signal to search engines the language and regional targeting of your pages.
Remember to also check that URLs, meta descriptions, and image alt attributes are accurately translated.
Monitor and Update
Finally, you’ll need to monitor your translated website often and update it as needed to maintain relevance and functionality.
Regularly review performance metrics, user feedback, and market changes to identify areas for improvement.
Update translated content promptly to reflect product changes, promotions, or evolving trends.
Test website functionality across different language versions, guaranteeing a seamless user experience.
Check for broken links, outdated information, and potential cultural misalignments on a regular basis.
By staying vigilant and responsive, you ensure that your ecommerce store remains dynamic, culturally sensitive, and continues to provide an optimal experience for a diverse, multilingual audience!
