In today’s highly globalised, tech-driven economy, it’s the new normal to see even small businesses serving a market that spans geographical boundaries. Thanks to the online marketplace, businesses can now connect and serve customers from all over the world at a fraction of the cost, effort and labour of traditional business methods.
However, not all those who take advantage of technology to drive their move to new markets have been successful, and a huge cause of this is the prevalence of misconceptions that business owners have about the role of technology in their ventures. Contrary to what some may believe, simply putting up a website isn’t enough – you have to invest in ensuring that the right website delivers what your target audiences are looking for.
With a customer-oriented Web design, Northampton businesses can see to it that their online presence can play a pivotal role in securing their entry – and eventually gaining a strong position – in the international market.
But how exactly do you build a website that caters to an audience from different locations or that uses different languages? Take it from the leaders in the industry – Google Webmaster Trends Analysts Zineb Ait Bahajji and Gary Illyes recently shared the top three tips for creating the right homepage for your international users. If you’re planning to do business in more than one country or with people of different languages, consider the following options:
1. Show the same content to all users worldwide.
In this option, everyone visiting your website will see the same exact homepage. However, Google adds the recommendation to show a notification to suggest a location- or language-specific version to your users.
2. Let users choose their preferred location and language version.
Visitors will arrive at the same homepage, which has a country and language selection feature. For this option, Google recommends the use of the x-default rel-alternate-hreflang annotation for the country selector page. This is an important tip to consider because Google says the x-default value helps them understand the settings and purpose of your pages.
3. Show content depending on the user’s location and language settings.
You have two ways to do this: Automatically redirect your visitors or dynamically serve HTML content according to their preferred settings. For this option, Google recommends doing the following for all your pages:
- Use rel-alternate-hreflang annotations;
- Ensure that Googlebot is not blocked from crawling and indexing localised pages;
- Provide an option (ex. a drop-down menu) for users to switch versions.
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