You need to be thinking about website translation

The CMS Myth had an interesting post this week about the changing face of computing worldwide and what that means to website owners. Quoting the Economist, they point out the increasing number of people who will have access to the web and that's going to have a huge impact on your web content management system.

"Almost a quarter of the world's population--1.5bn people--will use the Internet regularly in 2009. Half of them will make online purchases. A further 400m people will join the online world by 2012."

As I wrote in my Editor's Corner last November and as The CMS Myth concurs, that means you need to be thinking about translation in a big way. There is a huge new market of people out there just waiting to find you, but if you don't speak to them directly in their language with their cultural touchstones, the opportunity could pass you by.

If you haven't been thinking about translation, you should be and be sure you connect with an organization that has native speakers who understand the culture. While you're at it, you need to think about how your website looks in a mobile environment. If the website isn't usable on a mobile phone, the means by which many users will access the web in coming years, users will find one that is and you could lose sales.

For more information see:
- The CMS Myth post

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