International Business and Technology Blog

A rose is a rose is a rose – except when it’s not. English is the most widely spoken language in the world, especially for business. So it might make sense to have just one English website for all English speakers. But in the online world, detail matters. Different English dialects use different keywords and getting the right keyword is essential to being found, understood and doing business globally. Some 63 countries claim English as a national language but having one English-language website will not give you instant access to those 1.5 billion English speakers. But the good news is that you don’t have to build 63 distinct English-language websites. In practice, regions can be grouped together and with some sharp proof-reading and keyword optimization for the local market, content can be re-used for multiple regions. In this blog, we look at some of the larger English-speaking regions and their distinct online linguistic profiles. 

We all know that China has the world's largest population (1.4 billion and counting) and that it is the world’s largest exporter. But China is also one of the world’s leading importers of goods. This means that for companies with export ambitions, China is too big to ignore. Companies looking to export in today’s global economy know that many of their prospective clients, suppliers, competitors… are probably Chinese. So the good news is that a website localized for the China market, gives exporters great access to this huge market. The key is to make sure that website is perfectly localized – allowing your company to be found, understood and able to do business in China. Language is a critical criterion for a localized Chinese website. This blog sets out some of our key findings of using online tools to help exporters access and succeed in China. 

Domain registration is one of the first steps you need to take when creating localized websites for your export markets. South America is not an exception, but which domains should you register?

Geolocation is the "identification of the real-world geographic location of an object", one example of this is Internet Protocol (IP) mapping where a device (mobile, computer…) is connected to the internet. So far, so good and so simple. But it is not! Geolocation is actually extremely controversial with regards to today's ever changing internet connected, legal, commercial, political and societal world. Hence it is complex and has spawned a multi-billion $ solutions industry delivering a range of products, software and service providers that affect as well as provide solutions for your website(s)…

Hosting websites is a massive, technological, fast evolving and growing global business. Website hosting is all about managing and optimizing the rapid rise in the number of websites: there are over 1.8 billion websites today compared to just 3,000 in 1994. These zillions of webpages compete for prized online real estate, to attract the more than 6 billion targeted internet users worldwide. To succeed, companies, organizations and individuals demand that the website hosting service providers deliver for their websites the four key S’s of website hosting success: speed, security, scalability and support.

The hosting industry is yet another deeply technological subject for those concerned to master and manage. At IBT Online we want the best for our clients online business and this includes getting the best hosting experience in global markets. Service delivery from hosting providers ranges from good (5) to bad (1) (see below for criteria). We see averages of 4 in home markets, but 2 when it comes to global website hosting! The IBT Online Global program best practice for website hosting, is to get our clients a top 5 score in all their markets.

When you go online today to use one of your Apps, you are one of more than 3.4 billion App-empowered users – that’s 40% of the world’s population. By 2021, that App utilization figure is expected to be >6.3 billion users; some 80% of the projected 7.8 billion world citizens. This means that over the next 3 years, a further 2.9 billion people will be using Apps, implying a doubling of the penetration rate to 85%. The big picture therefore and the message of this blog, is that we are all, the world’s billions of citizens, going to be App users. The details, and the focus of this IBT Online App blog-series, concern geographic location, the rate of uptake, which devices, platform and use.

An important insight is that globally, users are increasingly accessing Apps through their mobile smartphones (today >2.5 billion users) rather than their desktops. Innovative, easy to roll out and cost effective technologies facilitating the mobile 1^st world (think China, India and Indonesia…), have enabled these countries to leap-frog the infrastructure dependent PC route, of users in mature Western countries. Let’s take a dive and see where all the App users are in this world and then make a case study of the world’s largest App market, China.

I have always loved the letter S: it is the best letter in the alphabet. It is always, all about that "S". In fact, S is such an important letter that we added it to our web browser, so we are HTTPS, to make it safer for you! And everyone in the online community, should be doing the same. The online world and internet of things are fundamentally insecure, with cybercrime rising exponentially and now reckoned to be the second most reported economic crime, costing billions.

Could cybercrime happen to you? Yes. Worried? You should be. If not secured, “when you load a website someone else on the network can look at or modify the site before it gets to you”. And that happens all the time, with most users blissfully unaware. The not-so-elegantly named solution is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), denoted by an S in your web browser. Just glance up now and check it out: does it read HTTP or HTTPS? You will see that IBT Online is HTTPS = secure. This is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. Hence the online mantra is HTTPS good, HTTP bad! Add an S and you’re good. An HTTPS website should make you smile as it is has three essential qualities: identity, confidentiality and integrity. So you know where you stand; safe and secure.

Try counting the number of apps on your mobile devices and then add up the hours and money spent. Surprised at how large it all is? Bravo! You are a relatively early adopter and contributing member of the incredible Online Global App Story. Today, you choose from >10 million apps, are one of >3.4 billion app users worldwide who spend >1.6 trillion hours and >$1.3 trillion annually. By 2021, those numbers are projected to double, triple or more with > 25 million apps available, 6.3 billion app users, 3.5 trillion hours and an astounding $6.3 trillion. Apps are the latest new digital thing. And those big and fast-growing numbers can, if you embrace the Online Global App Story, drive your global sales, brands and business growth.

The digital economy delivers. It lowers costs and barriers to markets, as well as providing access to an unprecedented number of customers (both business and consumer). The traditional routes to markets have eroded. Smart companies, notably web savvy businesses, have created and leveraged technologies to grow their online global sales, brands and businesses.

In any given “home market” there is a truism that the vast majority of your potential clients are located in, by definition, outside in those global markets. Sow the two together, online and global, and you have the driver that ensures B2B and B2C online global retail will represent >$10 trillion of transactions by 2020. And the #1 beneficiaries of the digital economy are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). If you are a decision maker in an SME, please do read on, think through the sales opportunities and the potential value to your brand and business.

Googling away on my iPad mini, while stuck at yet another airport somewhere, I found reference to a book called “Think Outside the Country”. The subject matter looked interesting, promising to be “A Guide to Going Global and succeeding in the Translation Economy”. I wanted to know more, clicked to my Amazon account and for $29.00, two days later in yet another hotel somewhere, the hard copy was mine to hold and read.

IBT Online provides website localization and international online marketing services to help companies grow their sales, brands and businesses online globally, and that since 2002. So at IBT Online we all think outside the country, and perhaps more importantly, we all do Online Global outside the country, as we have delivered more than 1,000 localized country specific corporate websites through our succesful Online Global program. 

When I read about the author, it stated that John Yunker is “the world’s leading expert on web content globalization”. Now that is an ambitious claim that sets expectations. So this blog turns out to be something of a book review.