The first thing when someone wants to find out about a company is to look for information on the Web - notice the word "World" in WWW?- so it's no surprise why the first step any company takes is to set up a website.
The beauty about having a web presence is that information on the site is accessible 24/7 by anyone and anywhere around the world. Therefore, it's important to take into consideration the origin of the targeted audiences and their languages of choice.
Some companies may only cater to clients regionally, and thus wouldn't need the multilingual support. However, companies that are selling goods and services on the international market would benefit by being able to support the languages of their customers, especially the ones that they are geotargeting outside of their own region. After all, neglecting such aspect may result in the loss of potential revenue.
Even though 1.35 billion people speak English out of the world’s approximately 7.8 billion inhabitants, the most common first language is Chinese, followed distantly by Spanish and then English. Now-a-days, the majority of companies with well-established global web presence will support at least 2 to 3 languages with the first being its native language, followed by the languages spoken by their targeted audiences.
Multilingual support is vital if a business operates internationally, or if a meaningful segment of its customer base speaks a language other than the business' primary one. Here are the key takeaways of why it's meaningful for having multilingual support:
Expanded Business Potential: If customers encounter a language barrier, they’re being sent a message that they’re not welcome or valued. And if they can readily get the information they need elsewhere (such as from your competitors), then that could turn into lost revenue.
Reaching New Markets: Ultimately, your product lives in a globalized marketplace. The more languages you communicate in, the more potential customers you are able to reach and be noticed by them. It displays the ability to service clients outside of your immediate locale.
Building Brand Awareness: Offering multilingual support helps a company to project a globally, well-established brand and amplifies its overall image.
Customer Support Efficiency: Customer support with a single language can become problematic and hard to manage. Multilingual support by one's native language allows the business to efficiently resolve more support tickets.
Having an intelligent multilingual website allows companies to stand out and provide customers with a positive experience.
Now that we have discussed the value of setting up a multilingual site, the next step is to make sure the message remains accurate not matter which language it's being displayed. It's a process of review which should not be overlooked. For more details, read the blog on "Lost in Translation - Why Language Localization Matters".
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