A global web strategy to reach foreign markets: our approach
Today, it is no longer a question of whether to globalize one’s web site, but how to improve the online experience for every foreign prospect and customer. In the internet age, an effective global web strategy is more than ever a strategic imperative. We have developed a 3 step process to grow an e-business and help it succeed internationally.
An ebusiness strategy to back your international expansion
Typically, companies without a strong globalization strategy adopt one of two approaches: they assume that their corporate web site, simply translated, will work as effectively in other parts of the world; or, they give their local offices the freedom to create customized sites.
Both approaches are problematic. Translated content on a corporate website will seldom effectively engage regional customers and prospects. The distributed approach often leaves local offices struggling to manage the efforts in the absence of well-defined guidelines, often producing their own site versions with widely divergent form and content that leaves a weakened brand.
The Openvalley agency follows a 3 step process to back your internationalization process on digital markets:
Stage 1: Analysis
Some of the most common issues with international websites happen because they have been created and optimized without real planning and research, just by extrapolating the content and structure of the main site version without taking into consideration that each of the languages or countries targeted have a specific audience, competition and industry behavior:
• The top products or services for other languages or countries won’t necessarily be the same than the ones of your main language or country version.
• The products or services in other languages or countries won’t be searched necessarily with the exact same “translated” phrases or keywords
• The sector or industry seasonality might be different in each country or language, with specific cultural or geographic influenced festivities.
• The competitors in different countries or languages won’t necessarily be the same, neither their unique selling proposition nor the offering that you will need to compete with.
• The search volume and potential organic traffic in other languages or countries will be different.
Therefore, when you develop and start optimizing for other languages or countries you cannot simply extrapolate what you already have in your current site. Of course, this will be used as an input but you cannot obviate the specific characteristics of each one of the countries and language audiences that you will target. For that reason the stage of analysis is key when internationalizing your website. One way to understand the searcher intent on foreign markets is learning what keywords your foreign customers are using, and multilingual keyword research is carried out. Another stage is the analysis of competitors. Thanks to big data, we have access to far more information on your competitors than ever before and Benchmarking is very useful to spot opportunities for the development of your strategy.
Stage 2: Build your international audience
Building the audience is a clever mix of website translation / localization, onsite optimization and off site optimization.
On site
Website translation / localization
As a company expands into these global markets, it must adapt its web presence to target key populations in their native languages. The shift to a truly global audience compels companies to adopt a web strategy that conveys information in the cultural, linguistic, and business context of the target audience — a concept known as “Website globalization”
Global marketers face tough deadlines and quality requirements. New content has to published in multiple languages, on a frequent basis to meet your business expectations, but also Google standards. Openvalley manages the localization of your website with innovative translation technologies, to give you the speed you need, while maintening high quality standards.
Translation / localization of ecommerce websites
Translation / localization of corporate websites
Quality Content is King
Content is what drives web strategy, this is what your foreign customers are online to find, either to answer a question or to do research on an issue. It is therefore imperative to understand the questions they are seeking answers too so one can provide the content they need.
On the web, international search depends on optimized content, and social engagement is boosted by shareable content. When targeting foreign markets, your company needs to produce great multilingual content.
International content marketing
User experience and technical optimization
In 2016, to reach your overseas customers, you need to focus on much more than keyword research, website technical optimization, and rankings in local search engines. The Openvalley helps you maximize foreign user experience, and get your website as visible as possible to global audiences.
Multilingual SEO – SXO
The technical aspects ofyour website are of particular importance to reach your foreign customers. As more of the targeted audience accesses the web through a multitude of devices and browsers it’s important to be able to control the delivery of the content in a consistent and speedy manner in order to deliver a great user experience. It is vitally important to remember that the clearer your communications with the search engines of your target markets are, the higher you will rank when your customers search for your product or service in local SERPs.
Multilingual on-page technical optimization
Off site
In 2016, any website strategy targeting foreign markets needs to be fully integrated with other marketing actions such as paid search, PR, crawl, social media.
Social media and linking
Social media management provide many ways to communicate with your audience, and Openvalley can help you to harness these areas of communication in the countries of your interest. Most successful companies manage to localize their social media strategies, rather than translate it, to match local culture and interests of the country that is targeted.
By engaging with influencers in foreign countries and getting them to talk positively about your product and services, we can effectively generate brand awareness in the country of your interest, and influence purchase decisions of your customers. Engaging with overseas influencers is a great way to get quality back links to your website.
Global social media
Contacting with Influencers
Attracting quality backlinks
Digital advertising
Launching an international paid search campaign is a good way to quickly build a digital presence in a foreign country, and the Openvalley agency provides services to efficiently and effectively reach an international audience online with search advertising.
International paid search
International emailing campaigns
International emailing campaigns also delivers great return on investment for marketers, and are a great way to grow your business abroad, and acquire new customers in foreign markets.
International emailing campaign
Stage 3: Follow up of the strategy
Understanding what’s working and what’s not working in marketing—otherwise known as marketing’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI) is a key step in the fomulation of any e-business strategy. Key performance indicators are of critical importance in the strategic and day-to-day management of any successful e- business. However, identifying the right KPIs and making the best use of them can be a challenge, particularly for businesses with international operations. One of the most valuable benefits of running an online store or a coporate website is the ability to effectively measure KPI’s and then use this data to optimize your e-business.
There are many Kpis :
- Kpis related to website traffic
- Kpis related to acquisition
- Kpis related to Social Media Reach and Engagement
- Kpis related to Email Marketing Performance
- Kpis related to Inbound Link Building
- Kpis related to conversions…
We need to remember that Kpis without context are less useful. We have to evaluate their performance against competitors or the industry at large. Through benchmarking, marketers can contextualise data to identify under-performing elements and amplify what is over-performing. They can focus on the KPIs that are important, and recognise whether they are achievable.
International e-marketing is no longer an option, but a strategic imperative. Contact the Openvalley team to develop a strategy tailored to the specific needs of your organization.