Research findings from independent research firm Common Sense Advisory show a strong correlation between business success and the number of languages found on a brand’s website. Using a range of measures, greater breadth of language support goes hand in hand with brand success. But there’s more to global engagement than simply translating content. In this presentation, industry veteran Ben Sargent reveals research findings and best (and worst) practices from the world’s most prominent websites. Topics include best practices for metanavigation and global social engagement, using screenshots examples from global brand websites; which languages are favored by what industry; and, how business success correlates to language support in the global user experience.

1. Fundamentals of
Online Engagement
for Global Brands
Brand2Global 2013
Benjamin B. Sargent
Global Content Strategist
Copyright © 2013 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc.

2. What we’ll cover today
 Findings
– Data from the 2,409 most prominent websites
 Future Trends
– The Panlingual UX
Twitter: @CSA_Research or @b2sargent

3. About Common Sense Advisory
 Global business and language research
– Translation, localization, globalization, etc.
– Dedicated multinational research team
 Independent industry research firm
– Vendor-neutral, buyer-agnostic
– Qualitative and quantitative research
– Interdisciplinary demand-supply methodology
 Clients in 30+ countries

4. Major finding from our study
 Greater breadth of language support

 Business success
Measured by company size, website traffic, or brand strength

5. Based on 2,409 prominent websites
 Forbes global 2000
 Fortune 500
 Alexa top 500 global sites
 Interbrand 100 best global brands
Further reading: Global Website Assessment Index,
Multilingual Websites, The Top 100 Global Websites

6. Specific industry drill-downs Percent of
prominent
industry
websites
supporting
these
languages

7. Industrial sectors show
different commitment to
translation
Average number of languages
per prominent website, by industry

8. AQ and WOW
NEW: 2013 numbers
Chinese = 22.4% of people, 7.1% of money
English = 20.7% of people, 36.0% of money
Japanese = 4.2% of people, 10.5% of money
Spanish = 8.8% of people, 7.6% of money
German = 3.3% of people, 7.7% of money

9. When companies invest in the wrong languages
Underserved
languages
Further reading: ROI Lifts the Long Tail of Languages in 2012
(free with registration)

10. Summary of language findings
 Language popularity
– By country and company size, broad agreement
– By industrial sector, differences can be dramatic
 Average number of languages per website
– Per company, correlates to success (size, brand strength, traffic)
 Business growth = increased language support
– As companies grow, in any industry, they add languages
 Global brand managers lack critical data
– Overinvesting in some lower value languages
– Underinvesting in some higher value languages

11. How many languages does it take?
23 = 90% of web users in 2013, versus 21 in 2012
36 = 95% of web users in 2013, versus 34 in 2012

12. Why yourbrand.com needs 98 languages

13. Next 46
Next 20
Next 10
Next 5
Next 3
Next 2
Spanish
English
S Chinese

14. Wikipedia’s 222 languages with 1000+ articles

15. Wikipedia’s 119 languages with 10,000+ articles

16. Top 8 best practices for a global UX
 Automatic country- and language-relevant content
– Both zero-click strategies

18. Top 8 best practices for a global UX
 Automatic country- and language-relevant content
 Backup navigation to country and language
– One click for each, if possible

19. No way out

20. Further reading: Website Globalization Case Study: Booking.com

21. Top 8 best practices for a global UX
 Automatic country- and language-relevant content
 Backup navigation to country and language
 Content and data filtered for country
– Products, pricing, campaigns, news

22. Promotions
Products
Logic
Data

23. Top 8 best practices for a global UX
 Automatic country- and language-relevant content
 Backup navigation to country and language
 Content filtered for country (products, pricing, news)
 Forms tailored to each user
– Country, language, culture, customs

24. Locally relevant fields

25. Top 8 best practices for a global UX
 Automatic country- and language-relevant content
 Backup navigation to country and language
 Content filtered for country (products, pricing, news)
 Forms tailored to country, language, culture, customs
 Country-aware, legally-compliant transactions

26. Distribution rights,
fine print, taxes

27. Top 8 best practices for a global UX
 Automatic country- and language-relevant content
 Backup navigation to country and language
 Content filtered for country (products, pricing, news)
 Forms tailored to country, language, culture, customs
 Country-aware, legally compliant transactions
 Language and time-zone-aware post-sales support

28. Time-zone
intelligence

29. Top 8 best practices for a global UX
 Automatic country- and language-relevant content
 Backup navigation to country and language
 Content filtered for country (products, pricing, news)
 Forms tailored to country, language, culture, customs
 Country-aware, legally compliant transactions
 Language and time-zone aware post-sales support
 Site logic adapts functions
– Based on country/language combinations

31. Top 8 best practices for a global UX
 Automatic country- and language-relevant content
 Backup navigation to country and language
 Content filtered for country (products, pricing, news)
 Forms tailored to country, language, culture, customs
 Country-aware, legally compliant transactions
 Language and time-zone aware post-sales support
 Site logic adapts functions
 Content transformation from/to any language

32. Twitter and Facebook in situ MT
Kimbra Shay

33. …but miss important language settings

34. Most long tail users speak multiple languages
• 3 out of 4 people bilingual
• Nearly 2 of 4 trilingual

35. Professional opinion is changing in 2013
Over 50% of web users sometimes or frequently use
machine translation.
Further reading: Can't Read, Won't Buy

36. In situ MT translates any-to-any language
Further reading: “Transformative MT” (upcoming), Human-
Enhanced Machine Translation

37. Review: These elements create a panlingual UX
 Zero-click relevant content
 One-click navigation for backup
 Country-filtered content/data (products, pricing, news)
 Country-tailored forms
 Country-aware transactions
 Time-zone specific support
 Adaptive functionality
 Language tools built into UX

38. Thank you.
Ben Sargent
ben@commonsenseadvisory.com
+1.978.275.0500 x 1010
• Research: www.commonsenseadvisory.com
• Blog: www.globalwatchtower.com
• Twitter: @CSA_Research or @b2sargent
Insight for global market leaders