As a full-service digital agency, Imarc works with many global brands and many that are on the verge of becoming a global company. If you are a company who falls into either of these buckets we thought we’d share some of the key steps you should keep top of mind when building your global website.
- Work with a Content Management Systems (CMS) that Features Localization: At Imarc, a key part of our initial phase of a project is Strategy. We uncover endless amounts of detail about your business, where it stands now and where it plans to go in the future. If global expansion is a part of that plan, this will have an influence over the CMS we recommend for your project. As is the fact with most things in life, some CMS platforms like Craft and Drupal just get the job done better.
(Craft CMS toggles between US and Asian Pacific)
- Think Multicultural Even When Not Multilingual: During the Design Phase of your project, when selecting imagery and a color palette for your site, it is important to remember that your global website is not just meant for English audiences. What might look great visually, may not appeal to all of your markets and in some cases, could be offensive. Global companies must respect each user with the use of the selection of the right images, colors and language throughout site and buyer’s journey.
(Fourth.com presents a British English and American English version of the site)
- Use Multilingual Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Planning for SEO is a given with any website however, many companies overlook the fact that customers may be searching for them by different terms in different countries. Keywords that are appropriate in the U.S. may not be directly translated into other languages. Instead, it is important to partner with the right agency to ensure each keyword that is selected is based on the target country they are trying to reach. For more on SEO and global websites, check out our blogpost on URL structures.
Deciding on a global approach that works best for your business ultimately comes down to your company’s unique goals and objectives. If you have any questions about what direction is best for your company, let’s talk!
Looking for more best practices? Check out our Clean Code eBook to learn how your code affects everything from SEO to profitability.
