As you know, the internet has no borders or boundaries. The potential audience for your content is worldwide, and without a doubt, there are people from different countries who visit your website every day. But ensuring that your content is accessible to a worldwide audience can be daunting. Everything from the content you write to the security you set up on your site is important. Making your content readable and appropriate for these audiences is also important. Here are some ways to make your web content work for an international audience.
Be mindful of your target audience
The best thing you can do in your business is to ensure that the content is appropriate for your target audience. This means that you need to know who your audience is, what they want to know, what they need to know, and even what they don’t want to know. With an international audience in mind, be careful to also use plain language as things like similes and comparisons don’t always translate well. Put content in easy-to-find places that make sense to your audience so they can find the answers to their biggest questions.
Plan ahead for your website
It’s important to plan ahead as you develop your website. Planning ahead can help you avoid making costly mistakes, save time and money, avoid legal issues, and avoid cultural and technology issues—all of which can be particularly challenging when developing content for an international audience. This includes building your site to follow all compliance laws. For example, if you are processing – or even just collecting – personal data of European customers, you’ll want to make sure you comply with the EU General Data Protection (GDPR) guidelines. If you are not sure of how to do this, there are plenty of GDPR compliance services available to help.
As you start developing your website it’s important to identify who will use your website and how they’ll use it. Check that all content is clear with respect to cultural references. Keep the content simple and understandable. It should be written in the simplest language possible, avoiding unnecessary jargon or technical terms that could confuse readers from other countries.
You should use clear and concise sentences that are easy to follow. Avoid using complicated phrases, compound sentences, or sentences with multiple clauses. Using short paragraphs can be especially helpful to readers on mobile devices. You can even employ the use of bullet points when needed.
Design a responsive website
A responsive website automatically adapts to the size of the device or browser you’re using, so it looks good on your desktop computer as well as your smartphone. This is a good idea because it means that a single site can be viewed by people with different screen sizes and resolutions without breaking anything. If you have an international audience, it also helps avoid having to create separate websites for different countries, which would cost more money and take more time.
Invest in quality translation services
When it comes to content translation, you want an experienced and well-established company that knows how to handle your industry. You’ll also want a company that’s up-to-date with the latest technology in order to make sure that your translated content reads as smoothly as possible. This means using a combination of machine translation alongside bilingual editors who can ensure that the content reads as close to natural as possible.
Consider cultural as well as legal implications
When you’re adapting content, it’s important to consider cultural as well as legal implications. Cultural differences can influence how users will interact with your website. For example, you might consider the differences in languages, customs, and traditions when writing for an international audience. It’s also important to consider any legal implications that might arise from adapting content for an international audience.
For example, in India, there are strict laws about what kind of information a company can share with its employees about salaries, and how much it must pay them, so you need to make sure that your salary calculator tool is accurate if it uses data pulled from other sites or databases where this information is stored.
Conclusion
Adapting content for international audiences takes a bit more intentionality. But with the right framework for GDPR purposes, focusing on clear content, and being aware of legal implications in some cultures, you can create a website that spans international borders.