There are 6,909 living world languages. In Europe alone you’ll find 230 living languages. There are 2,058 living languages in Africa and nine living languages in the Middle East. Clearly you can’t localize your marketing materials for all of them. But before you decide to launch into Europe and simply translate into French, Italian, German and Spanish, evaluate which audience is key, which languages would best help you capture this group and how far you need to drill down in your language choices to make an impact in the market. When you establish your website in an international environment, the content, the language it is presented in, and its “look and feel” will have an impact on its success. The challenge is determining how “localized” you should make your site.

Branding and messaging are often lost with a bad translation or mistranslation. The failure to connect emotionally with your audience might not be indicative of the market’s true potential. Before you push off from shore, read “International Markets Await the Well-Prepared,” written by the co-founders of Global Language Solutions and published at Women Entrepreneur magazine, for some important cultural items that could possibly sink your boat on the way overseas.

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