Websites for international audiences Going global on the web

Alex Fenton – PPTT 2.0 - Technical Development lead Email: a.fenton@salford.ac.uk | Twitter: @alexfenton

1. Country specific websites

2. Speed

3. Standards

4. Language

5. Template

6. Access

7. Search and Social Media

IntroductionWebsites for international audiences

1. Country Specific websites

1. Country Specific websites

• Purchasing the relevant country domain names e.g. www.yourbusiness.fr – Could be expensive

• Using sub-domains e.g. fr.yourbusiness.com – cheaper but could be difficult to manage

• Using sub-folders e.g. www.yourbusiness.com/fr - simpler, cheaper and good for the search engines

2. Speed – Test before you go global

2. Speed – optimise and test your site

• Test your website’s speed using real and automated methods

• Connection speeds vary around the world and on different devices

• Your website should load within a few seconds• Try automated testers such as tools.pingdom.com/fpt• Optimise your images and other media to improve

speed• People and the search engines will not wait for your

website to load

3. Website standards

• Make sure your website complies with latest standards• Use standards test websites such as W3C• Make sure your website works properly on IE, Chrome,

Firefox, Safari, Android and Iphone• Make sure it is accessible to people with disabilities

4. Language

4. Language

• Professional translation of your content into your target languages – some or all pages?

• Automated translation using tools such as Babelfish, Google translate or translate widgets – Not as good as professional translation

• Use clear language• Use of animation or imagery to convey a message –

check cultural connotations

5. Website template

• Text as graphics? – Use font replacement instead from services such as google.com/fonts

• Website design should be adaptable to longer or shorter text depending on the language

6. Website access from around the world

6. Website access from around the world

• Webstats – Use them to understand which countries are accessing your website and how

• Testing around the world – use testers and people to test how quickly and accessible your site is in your target countries

• Blocked? – Check that your website is not blocked in your target countries, for example, the Great Firewall of China www.greatfirewallofchina.org

7. Global Search and Social Media

7. Global Search and Social Media

• Is your site visible in the search engines that your target audience is using?

• Google is often, but not always the most popular search engine, depending on the country

• Which social networks are your target audience using? Use Passport to Trade to help your understand

• Use relevant social media networks to connect with your target audience in your target countries

Questions?a.fenton@salford.ac.uk - @alexfenton