Continued e-Commerce Boom in 2006 Means High Demand for Website Localisation and Translation Services

With e-commerce growing exponentially and predictions that almost 80% of Internet users will be non-English speakers by 2010, there’s little doubt that website localisation and translation are high on the priority list of most forward-thinking international businesses.

Recent announcements from both Google and Yahoo confirm that leading search engines intend to give consumers increased control and wider choice in 2006. It’s no surprise, therefore, that companies intent on boosting export sales and expanding into new markets are queuing up to have their websites localised.

Christian Arno, MD of leading Internet translation and localisation company Lingo24 explains: “The World Wide Web has opened up huge untapped markets that were previously inaccessible, and localising the content of their website is the best way for export companies to ensure they reach as many potential foreign customers as possible.” However, the localisation process can be highly challenging since, as Mr. Arno is swift to point out, Internet users prefer websites which are available in their own language and which comply fully with their cultural norms. His comments are borne out by official figures which show that websites localised by professional localisation and translation companies provide the most effective direct route to target export markets, making them considerably more profitable than their unlocalised counterparts. Indeed companies which had the foresight to localise early on have seen an excellent return on investment, and this is now encouraging others to follow suit.

Localisation is one of several buzz words – including globalisation, internationalisation, transcreation and translation - which have become part and parcel of modern e-commerce terminology. All of these processes may differ slightly in their technicalities, but they have one important thing in common, and that is that each plays a vital role in improving markedly the commercial success of websites internationally. As Christian Arno concludes: “Having a strong multilingual and multicultural Internet presence is no longer simply desirable for businesses: in an increasingly competitive e-marketplace, it is rapidly becoming an essential pre-requisite for commercial survival.”