International Business and Technology Blog

The ability to access the internet is increasingly seen as a fundamental human right. Tim Berners-Less, one of the inventors of the WorldWideWeb and a director the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) notes that “The power of the Web is its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect”.  Accessibility for the disabled, is a growing concern. While the United Nations set out guidelines as far back as 2006, countries have been slow to adopt them. But the tide now looks to be turning. 

The European Union (EU) implemented the accessibility best practices in 2010. In 2017, over 400 U.S. companies were served with lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because their websites were not deemed accessible to the disabled. Websites are increasingly  recognized as public places, and therefore need to be more mindful of public accessibility. Today, more than 4 billion people use the web for: “education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, access to information and more” (Source: United Nations). To be denied access to the web is an impediment to normal life and life’s opportunities in our 21st century world. Companies need to take note.

Growing your international business takes a collaborative effort. And as everyone knows who has ever worked on a project involving multiple people and resources, the key to success is communication. We at IBT Online have been successfully delivering collaborative projects for nearly two decades: building localized websites and delivering international online marketing for our clients. While communication is key, we also want to make sure we do the heavy lifting on the project, allowing you to focus on growing your exports, sales, brand and business globally.

Arabic is one of the world’s major trade languages. Combine that with the dominance of the internet in many Arab-speaking countries and it’s clear that companies need Arab language websites to get found, be understood and do business across the Arabic speaking markets. In countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, over 90% of the population access the internet regularly. Social media and ecommerce are well developed. In fact, Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest online spenders worldwide. So getting your Arab website right is vital for your company’s success in these markets.  

But what should that Arab-language website look like? Do you need one Arabic website for all Arabic speaking countries? What are the main differences with your English-language website? How about search engine optimization and keyword research for online Arabic? This blog shares some of our experiences building and managing corporate websites and social media marketing for Arab-speaking countries, but if you want more information, just get in touch!

Is it worth having a dedicated French website for France and if so, does that one website cover all other French-speaking markets? The answer is a clear yes to the French website and no to global coverage. France is a major economy that merits its own dedicated website to showcase your company and drive sales. But the website built for the French market is just not relevant for reaching your Quebecois or West African target customers. French is the 6^th most widely spoken language in the world but like most aspects of the worldwide web, it is being relevant to the local market – localization – that gets your company found, understood and doing business globally.

France is one of the largest economies in the world and French one of the most spoken languages, so it’s no wonder that so many companies looking to export globally opt for a French website. But the French spoken in France is dramatically different to that spoken in Quebec or in West Africa. This blog explains why your French website is not relevant to your other French-speaking business targets and sets out some tips on where and how to get you started on building sales, brands and business in the French-speaking world.

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.