Your e-commerce site allows you to plan for the future comfortably and securely within your national market. But, what about for your international ambitions?
Haven’t you thought about increasing the visibility of your company, of making your products and services available internationally? The time has come to think about translating your website.
An e-commerce site in English: a limitless potential for sales
Why limit yourself to development only within your borders?
Is it the fear of the imperfect localization of your business?
Obviously, growing your business in foreign markets isn’t something you can just “wing”. Yet, offering your current online shopping site in English is a good idea.
Translating my e-commerce site
Translating your e-commerce site is crucial for substantially increasing your client base and your revenue. For most business owners, earning a large amount of their revenue abroad is a legitimate goal. A study from FEVAD shows that one site in two is made available abroad. Why not yours?
Are you committed to increasing your revenue? The first thing you must do is identify which markets you would like to reach on a worldwide level.
English is an important first step when it comes to translating your commercial offer. The language par excellence of commerce, English will allow you to grow across multiple countries.
Next, you will have to think about translating into the native language of each country. Clients are still more comfortable using sites that have been translated into their language. They’ll be more likely to finalize purchases as the translation will create a feeling of confidence and proximity.
An e-commerce site in proper English
Creating a feeling of confidence when it comes to business is no easy matter. This is especially true for business on the web where a feeling of proximity is difficult to translate. Like on your local site, you will have to reassure the consumers. You must create content with impeccable English. Creating product or service descriptions in broken English may have a negative impact on your conversion rate.
An e-commerce site in English isn’t automatically well done
Translating your e-commerce site with “automatic” solutions will not meet your business goals. A quality English e-commerce site should be handled by professional translators who will translate your site in a way that is both accurate and natural.
You should pay particular attention when it comes to translating:
- Your services;
- Sales page / product descriptions;
- Key words;
- General Sales Terms and Conditions;
- etc.
In order to ensure a quality overall product, you must focus on three primary elements for specific translations.
Business content, like:
- Catalogues,
- Product descriptions,
- Business news and promotions.
Customer relation elements, like:
- Purchases / quotes,
- Customer payment methods / debit cards,
- Date formatting,
- Units of measure,
- Customer service.
The technical applications that allow your site to run, like:
- Domain name,
- Domain extension.
The translation of business content takes on a cultural aspect. We do not translate literally. The translation should be filled with the customer experience of each country. We do not use the same methods for marketing to the English as to the French. This is why it is so important to utilise the services of a translator who knows the local market and masters the vocabulary of the business domain.
All of the elements necessary for interacting with a customer must be properly translated into English. The e-commerce site must communicate all of its information in a manner that is easily understandable. All of the steps that will lead to a sales conversion should also be translated, as well as legal mentions and sales conditions. The buttons, including: contact, about us, search, cart, confirm, and etc. should be translated into the language of your target country.
And as for the technical applications, the domain name and extension should also be chosen according to the country. Consumers think locally: they look for e-commerce sites in localized search engines.
An English e-commerce site or online shop is a great project which, in order to be a complete success, must be translated in a way that is beyond reproach and truly professional. It isn’t enough to be able write like Shakespeare; you must be able to give all of the meaning and sales incentives that correspond to your target country.