Your website is driving away non-English speaking customers

Top of the day to you out there!  I’m Donna J. Jodhan and today I would like to shine the spotlight on how your website is doing when it comes to either driving away or attracting non English-speakking customers.

 
 

Your website is driving away non-English speaking customers

 

Did you know that English is the fourth most spoken language in the world today?  This may be a big shock for many of you to hear but according to many International experts, it is.  The top three spoken languages are:  Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, and Spanish.  This is probably why so many companies often find themselves in difficulty when they are unable to detect why it is their well-written English web content has failed to attract consumers from other countries.  So many companies continue to assume that English is the language of the Internet and it is still the main language of business but when it comes to the most popularly spoken language, it is not. 

 

As I continue to stress, consumers generally like to do business with those companies that are able to produce web content in their native language and they are even more impressed when the web content is appropriately translated to reflect their native tongue. If you take a minute to think about it:  You are an English-speaking consumer and you would like to buy a product that is produced in Japan.  You visit the website to purchase your product but when you get there you discover to your chagrin that the website does not have any English content.  It is totally written in Japanese.  You do not speak Japanese and consequently you are unable to make your purchase.  What will you do in order to facilitate your purchase?  More than likely you will search for another website, one that has been written in English, and one that sells the same or a similar product.

 

For future reference, you will probably not revisit the previous website and you know what?  That company has just lost your business for good and it does not end there.  You will undoubtedly tell your friends and family about that particular website and lo and behold!  That company is going to lose other potential consumers.  If only it had had the foresight to have developed its website in other languages.

 

I am going to leave you with a reference to investigate.

Your website is driving away non-English speaking customers …

Trouble is, when you’re talking native tongue, English is the fourth most-spoken language in the world behind Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, and Spanish. If you want to leave out approximately 3.2 billion non-English speakers, go ahead, …

Ecademy: user blogs –

http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=blog 

 

 

I’m Donna J Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.

Donna J Jodhan is the president of Sterling Creations

Now you can view blogs and editorials written by Donna at:

http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com (Donna Jodhan!  advocating accessibility for all)

 http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 (access and accessibility)

http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php (accessibility issues in Canada)

http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com (accessibility and disability issues on the international scene)

http://www.onestopbookcafe.com (under the café talk link) 

http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html (important answers to consumers concerns)

https://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html (monthly editorial)

https://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html (blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants)

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About Donna Jodhan

Donna Jodhan is an award winning blind author, advocate, sight loss coach, blogger, podcast commentator, and accessibility specialist.
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