2. International Website Basics
• Be aware of cultural differences
– Avoid American symbols
vs.
– Avoid hand gestures or body parts
– Avoid religious symbols
– Avoid controversial photos
3. International Website Basics
• Make your content easy to read
– Keep your message simple and to the point
– Do not use humor
• American humor is often misinterpreted
– Especially sarcasm
– Publish a glossary
4. International Website Basics
• Ensure design will handle text expansion
English welcome
Russian
добро пожаловать
German willkommen
5. International Website Basics
• Avoid placing text in graphics
– Graphics and text will remain unchanged while content in text
boxes changes languages
Welcome to our website
Добро пожаловать в наш вебсайт
(Content in graphic does not change) (Content in text section changed to Russia)
6. International Website Basics
• Use an international friendly CMS (such as Kentico)
– Provides for local format
• Calendar
• Currency
• Date/Time
• Numbers
– Allows for text expansion
– Right to left reader support
– Automatic time zone conversion
– Language translation
– British vs. American spelling
– International symbols
7. International Sales
• Let your potential customers know you welcome
their business
– Explain services you offer to accommodate their concerns
– Use photos with names
8. International Sales
• Show your physical location
– Use Goggle maps
– Use photo of office and/or building
9. International Sales
• Use proper international order forms
– Know international rules and regulations
– Provide correct international shipping costs and fees
10. International Sales
• Be accessible by phone
– International customers like to engage in phone
conversation to establish relationships
– Offer a friendly reception
– Be prepared to deal with accents and dialects
– Have multi-lingual capability
11. Brent Pauley
brent.pauley@terradon.com
Tina Cobb
tina.cobb@terradon.com
401 Jacobson Drive, Poca, WV 25159
304.755.1324
Internationalize & Optimize Your Website to Generate Export Sales
