The Power of Multilingual Content for E-Commerce Success

Ciklopea 10 months ago 5 min read

E-commerce has revolutionized the way we shop. With just a few clicks, we can order whatever we want from the comfort of our homes and simply wait for the package to come to our doorstep. In today’s world of modern consumerism, running an e-commerce business is definitely lucrative.

However, unlocking the global potential of your e-commerce business requires more than just a sleek website and appealing products. If you want to reach a wider audience beyond the speakers of your native language, you need to invest in multilingual content.

Ensuring your content is available in multiple languages is mainly about inclusivity, but there’s also a lot more to it.

Why Investing in Multilingual Content Pays Off

 

Why Investing in Multilingual Content Pays Off

When you offer multilingual content, you’re breaking down language barriers and making your e-commerce platform accessible to people from different parts of the world. In other words, you are enabling your international customers to browse, shop, and understand product descriptions in their own language. This creates a sense of belonging and shows that you genuinely care about the way they interact with your brand, which in return can encourage them to buy more.

When you offer content in their native language, you open doors to previously untapped markets. It’s like unlocking a treasure trove of potential customers who are more likely to engage with your brand and make purchases when they can understand and connect with your content.

What’s a great example that illustrates just how important it is to translate content or invest in development in different target languages? Customer reviews.

According to Gartner, there are two key benefits to offering customer reviews in their native language: easier promotions and better customer understanding. You should develop a system that will allow you to gather genuine reviews from local customers. Reviews that are written in native languages are more relevant and more likely to resonate with target customers.

Your potential customers are likely to feel more at ease and confident in their decision-making process if they can identify with existing customers. Reading customer reviews from someone who has a similar cultural background will positively impact their user experience, which will in turn lead to higher satisfaction rates, repeated visits, and recommendations to others.

Improve Your Online Visibility Through Local SEO

 

Improve Your Online Visibility Through Local SEOMultilingual content plays a crucial role in boosting your SEO and improving discoverability for e-commerce businesses. It can significantly impact your online visibility on various local markets.

When you create multilingual content, you optimize your website for different languages and regions. This means that when users search for products or services in their native language, your website has a higher chance of appearing in search engine results. If you target specific keywords and phrases in different languages, you will generate organic traffic from diverse regions. This also means higher chances of attracting potential customers.

Google and other search engines have become our main means for seeking out answers. They act as filters of relevancy for us and we trust them to show us the results that will satisfy us. Think about it: when was the last time you clicked on the second page of the search engine results page? Because these algorithms are so advanced, you’ll likely find what you’re looking for on the first page.

It’s worth mentioning that the top Google local search result accounts for almost 25% of the total   clicks. This means that, when you invest in multilingual content, you gain a competitive advantage over businesses that only focus on a single language. If you make your e-commerce website available in multiple languages, search engines will improve its rankings in local search results. This will help you stand out from competitors who may not have localized their content, and it increases the likelihood of attracting local customers searching for products or services in their preferred language.

Expand Geographical Targeting with Multilingual Content

Multilingual content resonates best if it goes beyond linguistic translation. When you take into account the cultural nuances and preferences of specific regions, you’re setting the stage for the development of meaningful relationships with international customers. Many businesses might consider translating and localizing content as being “over the top”, but that’s where your opportunity lies.

Ensure that your content aligns with local cultural norms, customs, and sensitivities and you’ll demonstrate respect and understanding for that specific region. This level of cultural sensitivity helps you build trust with customers.

Besides the fact that multilingual content inevitably helps you connect with your customers, it’s also important for different marketing and ad campaigns. One of the most common ways to re-engage your customers is by targeting them based on their online behavior. The best-known example in e-commerce relates to friendly reminders about abandoned shopping carts. Typically, you send customers an email and encourage them to finalize their purchase or provide an additional incentive such as a special discount or a bundle offer.

In any case, ad copy, creativity, and tone of voice play a big role here, and addressing your customer in their native language can increase the chances of them making a purchase.

Get Closer to Your Global Customers by Speaking Their Language

 

Get Closer to Your Global Customers by Speaking Their Language“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” This is a quotation that has been wrongly attributed to Nelson Mandela. Even though the famous activist and politician never said these exact words, they are nonetheless true.

Let’s say that you’re expanding your e-commerce business to the DACH region. You would need to translate your website, potentially even create a different country-level domain name (.DE), and ensure all product descriptions are translated, as well as customer support materials.

You would also need to adjust your content to align with German cultural preferences and style. German consumers are known as savvy buyers. They have a distinctive purchasing pattern and are typically uncompromising in their expectations – both in terms of customer experience and product quality. They will carefully read through customer reviews, evaluate pricing, and they can easily return the product if they are not satisfied with it. In addition, they expect a seamless mobile experience when they shop online, because that’s the norm.

Bearing all that in mind, if you’re targeting the German market, you should not only ensure your e-commerce has content in the German language but also be extra careful about the shopping experience you’re providing them. This might require different product copy. For example, if you own a fashion brand, you want to provide information about the way you’re sourcing your materials and include high-quality photos that potential customers can zoom in on.

Ready to Grow Your E-Commerce Internationally?

If you’re planning to launch on new markets, you need to ensure your e-commerce is available in multiple languages. Instead of trying to handle this in-house or with the help of freelancers, why wouldn’t you outsource your work to a reliable, one-stop-shop type of language partner?

If this sounds tempting, reach out to Ciklopea today. We know you have smarter things to do with your time, such as marketing your products and services or strategizing your next big business milestone. We’d be happy to be a part of it.

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