WEBSITE GLOBALIZATION, INTERNATIONALIZATION, LOCALIZATION AND TRANSLATION (GILT)

There are many entities who handle translations and localization but very few who offer it in conjunction with a much more comprehensive and fine-tuned international business strategy.  Lombard Global, along with its partners, is one of these entities. Our daily experience in high-level international business strategy, sales and marketing, economics and finance provide us with an innovation platform that ultimately aligns global marketing and operations strategy with global interactive strategy.  In our experience, without buy in from senior leaders within the organization, the end result of such a detailed technical project might be impressive but could end up out of line with corporate goals, and therefore end up being a very costly effort.  This is why we start at the top of the organization, work to understand and confirm overall corporate and/or product and service strategy, break it down into region or country and only then begin detailed translation and localization work.  Along the way, results are communicated back to senior management and confirmed throughout the project team. Our goal is to produce a project result in which business has actually aligned with IT to truly brand the website globally. 

Lombard Global.  Localization Squared.

Just as we appreciate foreign nationals who speak English when they visit the USA, foreign nationals also appreciate even our own awful attempts to speak their language when we visit their countries offshore.  Research clearly shows that this principal also holds true with international ecommerce.  If a website is translated properly and attention is placed on cultural and psychographic issues unique to them, they will feel more comfortable and thus be much more apt to make a purchasing decision.  Globalization is not Americanization or Anglicization.  In its most basic form, people want to embrace the world and its cultures while retaining and enhancing connections to their own.   

Indeed, the USA is no longer the largest country in terms of internet users, with 215 million people connected to the web. With over 230 million users, China is now the largest as of June 30, 2008. In addition, the language composition is also changing.  More Chinese and Spanish speakers are getting immersed in the web at a higher rate than English speakers. Thus, there can be little doubt as to why multilingualism is getting more traction these days.  LOCALIZATION INDUSTRY RESOURCES

When we are assigned the task of taking an entity global, one of the first things to globalize is the website. Oftentimes, simple translation and/or international search engine optimization or internet advertising campaigns can make your small to medium-sized firm “instantly global” at a relatively low cost of entry.  For larger entities, investing in a fully integrated localization and translation campaign will not only increase your top line, but will increase the bottom line as well.  For example, global companies who have budgeted for the maintenance of multilingual communication programs will ensure that they are executed on time and within budget.

High-quality localization demands much more than straightforward translation of text. Localization requires a total integration of your Website into the unique standards and cultural norms of each target.  Designing such a website –one that attracts customers, develops trust and loyalty and is invulnerable to competitive marketing actions-is akin to branding the website.    

Today, the process of developing customized global websites is termed website globalization, which in turn includes two complementary processes: website internationalization and website localization.  Together, they address issues that go beyond language translation and include the local date, time, purchase order, zip codes, currency calculators, and many other icons and features that make websites understandable and readable to international customers. Internationalization refers to the back-end processes of creating technical compatibility that support front-end customization. Localization is front-end customization, whereby websites are adapted to meet the needs of specific international target markets.  Although very few websites achieve true cultural customization, there are some sites which are starting to make solid efforts at website globalization.  They include www.kodak.com and www.ikea.com.   

INTERNATIONAL SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION AND MARKETING (SEO/SEM)

Qualified prospects can arrive at your website from all over the globe. Lombard Global’s international search engine optimization and marketing services ensures that your site achieves prominent visibility within the search results of the most important search engines for each geographic market. If you are marketing your products or services on a global scale, participating in international SEO and/or SEM is crucial to your success.

 
There are numerous factors that enable Lombard Global and its partners to effectively provide you with international search engine optimization and marketing services. First, we have a dedicated international search team that continuously monitors and explores new trends in foreign search engines, as well as the most recent trends in global user behaviors and preferences. This team is also updated on trends by collaborating with our back-end internationalization experts, front-end localization experts and our translation specialists and network. The dynamism of this shared work along with focus on specific SEO and SEM issues translates into more qualified traffic, more leads, increased global brand recognition and ultimately, more sales.

The Internet is forecast to become the #2 paid advertising medium by 2012, behind only television. Already, more than 90% of people use Internet search to find and research products and services. Our search engine marketing services can get your products and services on the first page of Google’s organic (free) listings, usually within 24 hours. We use a proprietary search engine tool that was created specifically for the purpose of getting high Google ranking, fast. Because Google ranks differently in every country, we customize our efforts for your targeted country.  Contact us for a free demonstration of how we can get your products and services to page one.
 

CONSULTING OFFERINGS

CUSTOMIZED WEB DESIGN: Designing culturally customized web sites that draw targeted customers

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: Generating the sought behavior at the site (be it a purchase or otherwise)

CONSUMER LOYALTY: Building trust and loyalty among site visitors

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY: Identifying and thwarting competition.

A sampling of our services includes the following.

Customized Web Design

Are your sites culturally customized for your target countries or culture groups? Using tools discussed in the book and our experience in this area, we analyze existing sites and offer recommendations, or provide guidance for establishing new web site/s.

Web Site Visitor Analysis: Source Countries

Are your site visitors from the targeted countries? A country-by-country analysis of site visitors, pages, and hits.

Web Site Visitor Analysis: Mode of Entry

What percentage of customers comes to your site via a personal bookmark or typing your URL, in comparison to arriving at your site through a search engine?

Competitor Analysis  

Which web sites are your site's relevant competitors?  Besides traditional methods of identifying competitors, we analyze the search terms used by your visitors to arriving at your site.

Web Hosting  

Many of the services we offer require specialized data (as seen in the above examples) and will require that we host your site, to collect such data. We offer web hosting plans and in-depth statistical reports on site traffic that are unique in terms of strategic value and cost. 

Other Services

Web surveys, branding on the Web, segmentation on the Web, statistical (univariate and multivariate) analysis of Web data, and overall marketing research.