You cannot cater to a global audience only with a good website.
Surprised! Read on to know more.
As a travel company, you cater to a multicultural market. Hence, you need a multilingual website to bridge the communication gap across these cultures. Contact a web design company with experience designing websites for audiences across different languages, currencies, customs, and expectations. Leverage their expertise to gain your global foothold and strengthen it.
For you, multilingual web design is not just a luxury; it is a necessity!
A word of caution!
Implementing localization and translation techniques will help you meet the unique expectations of your global users. However, creating a successful multilingual web design can be challenging, and sometimes, web designers make mistakes when attempting to create a travel agency website. This can result in a loss of user engagement and reputation. Hence they are best avoided.
Common Multilingual Web Designing Mistakes a Web Design Company Should Avoid
Let us make this a little easy for you!
Below are some common mistakes a web design company might make while designing a multilingual website. Take cognizance of these and ensure your web designer does not make them.
Designing a Website without Conducting Audience Research
Every place is different, as are its language, cultures, traditions, and habits. So why opt for a one-website for all approach? Research the life patterns and thought processes of the geolocation you want to target. Then customize your web design based on the same.
Localization is not limited to offering a translated version of your website. It goes beyond that to include content that can connect locally with your targeted region. This concept will not only help you gain user engagement and cater to a large audience but also enhance the travel experience for your customers.
Automatic Geo-IP redirection is another point you should discuss with your preferred web design company in NY. Ensure they do not use this to drive users to different location versions of your website. This is illegal, will result in a bad user experience, and confuse search engines. A more appropriate way is to offer your audience the flexibility to choose their location independently.
Opting for Machine Translation
Never underestimate the power of professional translation. Machine translation tools are cost- and time-effective but sometimes produce inaccurate or awkward translations. This will lead to misinterpretations and misunderstandings, alienating your customers and potentially driving them to your competition.
To make a mark with your target audience, leverage the skills of good web design companies in New York. Understand if they have the required linguistic expertise to generate content in multiple languages. You should only transfer the responsibility of designing a multilingual website for your travel company to them once they confirm this. Such people will enable high-quality translations that will establish trust and credibility among your audience. It will also elevate your brand image while enhancing user experiences.
Ignoring Cultural Nuances with a Literal Translation
If you think language is a mere combination of words, think again! The cultural, social, emotional, and traditional nuances associated with words and their correct usage helps give meaning to a language. When used correctly, these nuances can help you build a long-term relationship with your audience. Alternatively, when ignored, these nuances will generate a wrong perception of your messages among your users and successfully drive away your target audience.
A web design company in NY should research extensively to understand the different connotations associated with the language of a place. Upholding the cultural sensitivity of a language is one of the best practices for multilingual websites. So these companies should analyze their research and then apply the insights to their design.
Remember that translating websites is as good as creating a new one. But it is not the words or sentences that need translating. Their meaning must be conveyed in the language prevalent in the targeted geography.
A short note on bad information architecture. Opt for a flexible information architecture. If you force your web design company to fit all languages using the same information architecture, your website will lose its ability to connect. So opt for a simple, clutter-free, grammatically correct, and error-free website scripted to follow the script appropriate to the targeted region.
Overloading the Website with Numerous Languages
We know that any excess is not a good concept to implement. Similarly, overloading your website with multiple languages can also be counterproductive. It is admirable that you want your travel website to cater to every conceivable language spoken worldwide. But think of the consequences before implementing it because this concept will only clutter your website, leading to confusion among your users and visitors.
Additionally, it is also a resource-intensive task that will enhance the costs of your web designing exercise. Instead, research and prepare a list of your primary target regions and ask your web design service to focus on the languages prevalent there. You should stress more on quality than on the number of different languages you cater to.
Making Multilingual Websites without Multilingual SEO
If you forget this, then despite your best efforts, you cannot drive organic traffic to your website. SEO or search engine optimization is vital in increasing your website’s reach and visibility. Your web design company should conduct language-specific keyword research and optimize your travel website accordingly.
Translating your main website keywords and using them to optimize your language-specific website is a common mistake made by many web design companies. But this will not align your website with the search intent generated in other languages. You should collaborate with SEO specialists with the expertise to understand the nuances of multilingual SEO and apply them.
Deploying without Testing for Localization
Never assume anything in the travel business. Every travel company follows this mantra. So why should you assume that your multilingual website will work flawlessly across geographies and demographics without explicitly testing for it?
Before launching your multilingual website, ensure that your web design company in new york tests it extensively and rigorously for localization. Doing this will eliminate the chances of design and layout errors that might impact the seamless working of your website. So test each language version for common functionality, readability, and layout errors like variation in character sets, reading direction, etc.
You should ask your web designer to organize a test group comprising users from different linguistic backgrounds. Gather their feedback, analyze them, and use the insights to identify and rectify potential localization errors.
Multilingual website designing stops with its launch
Like any other website, a multilingual website must also be maintained and updated regularly. Talk about this aspect with your web design company. Failing to do so might lead to outdated content and broken links. Regularly updating your multilingual website will showcase your professionalism and commitment to target audience personalization. New content and concepts will arouse users’ interest, so they keep returning to your website.
Conclusion
A multilingual web design is a powerful tool for a travel company to expand its global reach and engage with a broader audience. But to maximize its benefits, you should avoid the common mistakes most web design companies in New York make. Avoid them to offer a truly multilingual web design that captivates and converts users across the globe.
Finally, remember, a well-crafted multilingual website is a bridge that connects your travel company with amazing opportunities present worldwide! So don’t miss out!
