Many authors defend the fact that one of man’s basic needs at present is growth. We want and need to grow, progress, advance… in all areas of life, not just our private lives.
For many companies, “taking the next step” means expanding into other markets. Some choose to do so without translation, which is completely valid, although it does involve a series of important limitations. Others, however, decide to communicate and connect with other markets (i.e. cultures) through translation.
Some businesses are well aware of the location of their potential customer and the language into which they need to translate, thanks to their every-day experience and to the customers that reach them. For example, a Spanish restaurant, 20% of whose customers are French, is already well aware of the fact that translating its website, its blog and its menu into French would have positive repercussions on its business.
However, if this is not your case and you don’t know where to start, here are 3 simple tips that might help you decide which language to translate into first.
Analyse the traffic of your website
Tools such as Google Analytics will help you find out where the visitors to your website are from. If one country stands out, this is a good clue. Translating the contents into the language spoken in this country might help attract more traffic to your site and ensure these visitors stay longer on your website and become customers. At Google Analytics you can consult this data in the Audience > Demographics menu.
Find out about the tourism in your city
Where do most of the tourists who visit your region come from? For information on this, consult the statistics from your town or from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) (Spanish National Institute of Statistics), among others.
Check out your competition
Think about other businesses that offer a product or service that is similar to yours. Consult their on-line content (website, blog, social media profiles, etc.). What languages do they translate into? This is a very simple strategy that can offer clues as to the languages with most potential.
Free advice on translation
In the digital era, translation is the ideal strategy when you start to expand. It requires little investment and, if it is done properly by professionals, will help you find out whether your product, service and business philosophy fit into the new market.
What is the worse that could happen by trying? You could find out that this market is not for you before you invest thousands of euros in riskier and much more expensive expansion strategies.
If you like, we can discuss how you can enter foreign markets. Contact us and we’ll give you free advice.
