Question

Topic: Website Critique

Improving International Presence On Website

Posted by Anonymous on 11/8/2006 at 3:04 PM ET 125 Points
I have been asked to review at our website for ideas to give it a more international presence. In addition to offering content in other languages, what are some other ideas of what I could do to communicate a) that we have a global presence and b) to convince an international customer - primarily European, but also soon China - to do business with us?

Keep in mind that we will be working with resellers to handle our international sales. I realize that our contact us page would need to be revamped to include our international resellers up front. Perhaps a hyperlinked image of a global map...

The website is www.cleo.com. We sell business to business secure communication software, mainly used for supplier to manufacturer connections.

Any ideas, suggestions or resources are appreciated.

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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 11/8/2006 at 3:31 PM Member
    hello there, you need to have international marketing strategies, Phillip Kotler is an expert in that field. Basically you should pepare a mktg plan that has a wider target market scope and demographics. Because ou are into "convincing people then your site first of all should exude an emotional appeal.
  • Posted by Frank Hurtte on 11/8/2006 at 10:52 PM Member
    your site is very well constructed and well laid out. The addition of the ability to select the native language would be the best bet.
  • Posted on 11/10/2006 at 12:35 PM Accepted
    Frank's suggestion is a good one. This can do one of two things - it can either translate the existing site or pop you to a specific internationally run page (for example, take you to the site managed by your China division).

    But there are other options, especially if by presence you meant showing you have a footprint in these other areas.

    One option is to use the four top left menu areas on your home page, and add a geography selection within each. So if I am from China, when I click products, i see i can click China (or Asia) and then I am presented a menu of products that are tailored to the Chinese market. These might be 80% of the same products in the US - who cares? - the point is to show you are catering to specific needs. This of course means you need to create a lot of careful linking and/or new product pages as needed. *** If nothing else, I would definitely do this for the "partners" selection box. ***

    Another option is to add a fifth menu there that says "Geography." As with the above, you need to figure out if this then takes them to a new site/sitelet, or to a page that at least has the pertinent links to the existing site content (the former is preferable, but of course a lot of work depending on how much new content needs to be built).

    Finally, I would populate other areas of the site with "international" items. For example, in the "News" section, how about a press release about you opening an office in China? etc etc

    One last comment - your site is unbelievably product centric. That makes it really difficult to suggest significant changes. But this might be a good time to rethink how it is your site positions you to prospects and customers.

    Hope this was helpful.
  • Posted by jpoyer on 11/10/2006 at 11:54 PM Member
    awisch,
    I recommend when you implement the option to choose the native language, as Frank suggested (which I think you really need to do), that you do not simply translate it, but that you also re-write/adjust the text as needed to apply to that specific target audience. A common way to offer translated items is with the flag icons of specific countries ...

    Hope this helps,

    Jennifer
    XPRT Creative
  • Posted on 11/14/2006 at 11:25 AM Author
    Thanks eveyone for your suggestions. The comment about being product centric is interesting. I will keep that in mind as we do updates to the site.

    If anyone has any firms you highly recommend for translation, please let me know.

    Thanks again-
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