Is Your Website/ Blog GLOBAL Enough?

Monday, March 12, 2012

Is Your Website/ Blog GLOBAL Enough?

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The key question for all operators of websites constructed for either informational purposes or commerce purposes is increasingly this one: "Is your website 'global' enough?" By 'global,' several aspects must be assessed -- and as international and world commerce on both the supply side and the consumption side increase, each of these aspects is increasingly important:

1) Your website, unless you are a limited-geography service provider (i.e., florist, auto repair, pizza delivery, and the like) in a small area, must be focused on your topic as seen from a multinational perspective, and not from a single country or cultural perspective;

2) Your graphics (I do dislike being politically correct) must include a melange of persons and scenes from a diversity of world cultures, to demonstrate cultural awareness, sensitivity and to make your site feel more comfortable and welcoming to all visitors. Of course if you are running a racist or radical organization, you probably do not have to meet these requirements;

3) If you have newsreels, tickers and RSS feeds coming in, they should be from internationally diverse sources . This gives people a less insular view, and a broader, more captivating view...a view that a greater percentage of viewers can relate to as it may apply to them;

4) You would do well to have an automated translation service embedded in your website our blog, with as many language choices as possible, and most viewers are much more comfortable reading your site their own language;

5) The use of international symbols such as flags, or a word cloud of welcoming phrases in a variety of languages is an intelligent touch. You can find these on other websites...especially informational services, such as Wikipedia.

The extent of how "global" that your site is will become increasingly important in its ratings (by the various services which publish those), and in international search engine ranking results. As I've been preaching in The Global Futurist Blog and in The Internationalist Page Blog, "Get Global!"

Secondly, get used to the notion of "Globalized SEO." It's going to matter.

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Google passes Facebook as best global website of 2012

By Emil Protalinski | February 7, 2012, 9:25pm PST

Published in ZDNet

Please read the entire article and then click the "BACK" button on your browser to come back home (that's here!) and read about the implications of this for the world economy, the technological future, international marketing and your company's internet presence. Don't Worry. We'll wait for you...

Read Article

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And now that you've returned, please read the Press Release which follows and then click the "BACK" button (yes....again!) on your browser so we can discuss the importance of "globalizing" your website and social media, and some of tools available to make this process as easy as possible to commence:

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AIT Releases the Latest Version of the Industry-Leading Translation Management System

Advanced International Translations (AIT) has officially released the latest version of its Projetex solution, the industry-leading translation management system. Launched to support translation project managers at language service providers (LSPs) worldwide, the translation management system automates the project administration, recruitment, accounting and customer relationship management aspects of a translation/localization business.

[Read the rest of the Press Release, and then return to us!] Give that "BACK" button on your browser a workout.

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Here are some automated translation devices which you may wish to embed in your websites and blogs to get things going:

MICROSOFT
http://www.microsofttranslator.com/widget/?ref=MSTWidget    [Requires Custom Page Coding]

GOOGLE
http://translate.google.com/translate_tools    [Easiest, and does not require custom page coding. The code is printed below]

<div id="google_translate_element"></div><script>
function googleTranslateElementInit() {
new google.translate.TranslateElement({
   pageLanguage: 'en'
}, 'google_translate_element');
}
</script><script src="//translate.google.com/translate_a/element.js?cb=googleTranslateElementInit"></script>

VIRTUAL LANGUAGE
[goes anywhere on your website or blog - no custom coding required. The script is set forth below the site's address.]
http://www.virtual-language.org/

<div id='vl-widget-wrapper'>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://virtual-language.org/css/widget.css" type="text/css">
    <a id="vl_link" href="http://www.virtual-language.org" title="Translation Widget">
    <img src="http://virtual-language.org/img/buttons/6.gif"
           style="border: none;"
          />
    </a>
    <script id="vl_js" type="text/javascript" src="http://virtual-language.org/js/widget.js?w=1"></script>
</div>

Getting "globalized" earlier will give you an advantage over you more insular competition. It's time to get started
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Douglas E Castle for The Global Futurist Blog and The Internationalist Page Blog

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